Major Acquisitions by Distributors:
The Weinstein Company (TWC)
TWC pid $4 million for distribution rights to John Cusack starrer “Grace is Gone,” represented by William Morris Independent and Cinetic Media. Made by director-writer James C. Strouse, the storyline follows a father of two daughters whose wife is killed in Iraq.
TWC and First Look paid $4 million for Justin Theroux's romantic drama “Dedication,” starring Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore. UTA and Cinetic represented the film, which was produced by Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Galt Niederhoffer. (The same producers of the above “Grace is Gone.”)
Partnering with Fox Searchlight, TWC picked up worldwide rights to Patricia Riggin's illegal immigration drama “The Same Moon” (“La Misma Luna”), represented by Cinetic. Riggin produced the film with Gerardo Barrera.
TWC and Lionsgate partnered to pick up rights to the writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstien's coming-of-age horror picture “Teeth,” about a girl who has teeth in her vagina. Joyce Pierpoline produced the picture, which was represented by CAA.
Fox Searchlight
Fox Searchlight paid nearly $4 for rights to director George Ratliff's psychological thriller “Joshua.” UTA repped the film, which was produced by Johnathan Dorfman.
Searchlight also paid down $4 to $5 million for writer-director Adrienne Shelly's drama “Waitress,” produced by Michael Roiff starring Keri Russell.
Paramount Vantage
Paramount Vantage paid over $7 million for rights to British coming-of-age film “Son of Rambow,” from writer-director Garth Jennings and produced by Joel Collins. The picture was repped by William Morris Independent.
Partnering with sister division MTV Films, Paramount Vantage also paid $3 million for rights to director Ian Iqbal Rashid's urban dance drama “How She Move,” produced by Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Sereny and Brent Barclay. Film was repped by UTA and Celluloid.
Warner Independent Pictures (WIP
WIP paid $4 million for U.S., U.K. and German rights to Cheri Nowlan's quirky romance “Clubland,” penned by Keith Thompson. Rosemary Blight produced the film, which was repped by WMI.
Magnolia
Magnolia Films paid $2 for rights to horror film “The Signal,” from directing-writing team David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush. WMI repped the film. Gentry produced with Alexander Motlagh.
ThinkFilm
Thinkfilm paid $2.5 million for film rights to David Sington's documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon,” a festival favorite, after TV rights were sold to Discovery Films. Docu was repped by CAA and Submarine.
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC)
SPC put down $1 million for rights to Amir Bar-Lev's documentary “My Kid Could Paint That,” about a four-year-old child prodigy. The reps were CAA and Submarine.
