SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 2012


TODAY Byzantium www.ScreenDaily.com


Market mixed on eOne- Alliance deal


BY JEREMY KAY Industry sources polled by Screen are unanimous in their belief that eOne’s acquisition of Alliance Films will create a rupture in the landscape, though opportunities exist for smart new operators to move into the space. Privately everyone agrees Cana-


dian regulators will most likely approve the $230m transaction, ushering in a monopoly that elimi- nates a well-established buyer in Canada and the UK and drives up prices. “In Canada, the combination —


and the recent acquisition by Alli- ance of Maple Pictures — creates a virtual monopoly in the independ- ent sector,” said Amir Malin, the Qualia Capital founder and former Artisan CEO. “In the short run this will present diffi culties for a great many independent features striving for distribution in the territory. In the long run it may create a compel- ling opportunity for another entity to enter the Canadian landscape.” Foresight Unlimited’s Mark


Damon has known eOne top brass Patrice Theroux, David Reckziegel and Bryan Gliserman for years. “I do agree they will be stronger and will probably have more power in getting screens and keeping fi lms on screens because they will be a bigger force,” Damon said. “What I am sorry about is that a buyer is gone and usually that means less competition for fi lms.” “We have got great relationships


with both companies,” Exclusive Media sales chief Alex Walton said, adding, “It is a powerhouse and we want to be a key supplier.” Privately, some sources were not


so welcoming of the news. “There is no upside to the independent industry at all,” one prominent sales executive said, while another opined: “It’s scary. The interna- tional sector is volatile and this takes away a major distributor.” Malin noted that lack of leverage


in the fi lmed entertainment space continues to affect valuation, par- ticularly for private equity fi rms. As a result, strategic buyers like eOne were more likely candidates for these types of transaction.


Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling appeared on the red carpet last night with the world premiere of The Place Beyond The Pines, which reunites Gosling with Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance.


Cage goes south with Worldview


Christopher Woodrow and Molly Conners’ busy Worldview Entertainment has come on board to finance and produce David Gordon Green’s southern drama Joe to star Nicolas Cage. WestEnd Films will introduce the project to buyers here and CAA


packaged and arranged financing on the project and represents domestic rights. Principal photography is scheduled for early November in Texas on the story of an ex-con who becomes an unlikely role model for a teenager. Jeremy Kay


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Buyers eye busy weekend


BY JEREMY KAY The distribution community buzzed into life on Friday heading into a packed weekend of screen- ings as FilmDistrict moved on US rights to Good Universe’s Oldboy remake and Anchor Bay picked up North America and the UK on Billy Bob Thornton’s Toronto entry Jayne Mansfi eld’s Car. In the hours leading up to the


evening world premiere of The Place Beyond The Pines, that fi lm’s domestic co-representative Gra- ham Taylor of WME Global was fi elding interest from at least one US studio in pursuit of remake rights to Baltasar Kormakur’s sur- vival story The Deep. Meanwhile Submarine Enter-


tainment boarded North American sales rights to Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s Vanguard entry Here Comes The Devil, The Cinema Guild acquired the US on Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Par- avel’s documentary Leviathan and MPI Pictures took US rights to Claude Miller’s Thérese Desquey- roux starring Audrey Tautou. Buyers were poring over a pleth-


ora of acquisition titles that screened on Friday, led by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Ber- man’s Kristen Wiig comedy Imo- gene, Derek Cianfrance’s reunion with Ryan Gosling on The Place Beyond The Pines, Noah Baum- bach’s Frances Ha with Greta Ger- wig, Scott McGehee and David


Hubert Boesl Cast speared


by Aja’s Horns Juno Temple, Joe Anderson, Kelli Garner and Max Minghella are in talks to join Horns, Red Granite and Mandalay Pictures’ supernatural thriller that stars Daniel Radcliffe and is being directed by Alexandre Aja. Jeremy Kay


Buyers drive off with Rover


BY JEREMY KAY David Michod’s drama The Rover has sold to eOne for the UK, Can- ada and Benelux; Nordisk for Scandinavia; Sun Distribution for Latin America; Italia for the Mid- dle East; and Revolutionary Releasing for Eastern Europe excluding Russia. The Lava Bear and Porchlight


Films drama — Michod’s follow- up to Animal Kingdom — is set in a dystopian near-future Australian outback, and will star Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson. As previously announced, Vil-


lage Roadshow picked up The Rover for Australia and New Zea- land. FilmNation acquired the majority of worldwide sales rights and co-represents the US with UTA Independent Film Group.


Siegel’s What Maisie Knew starring Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan, Sally Potter’s Ginger & Rosa star- ring Elle Fanning, and Sarah Pol- ley’s documentary Stories We Tell. Saturday’s top picks include Stu-


art Blumberg’s Thanks For Sharing with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Ruffalo, Ramaa Mosley’s The Brass Teapot with Juno Temple, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Noth- ing, Nick Cassavetes’ Yellow and Nicolas Lopez’s Chilean earth- quake horror film Aftershock, which Dimension Films is believed to be tracking. It also emerged on Friday that


Open Road is closing in on a domestic deal with Emmett/Furla Films for the thriller Fair Trade.


NEWS Love bites Stephen Woolley and Neil Jordan return to their vampire roots with Byzantium » Page 4


REVIEW Scam artists Ben Affleck takes another step forward as director with Argo » Page 8


PROFILE Copland David Ayer and Nigel Sinclair on the kinetic police thriller End Of Watch » Page 34


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Corsan launches $100m fund


BY WENDY MITCHELL Belgian production and finance company Corsan, the outfi t behind The Devil’s Double and Paul Haggis’ forthcoming Third Person, is start- ing a $100m fund that will invest in up to fi ve new fi lms per year. Corsan will run the fund to


fi nance fi lms that have been devel- oped and will be produced out-of- house. The fi rst project backed by the new fund is expected to be signed by the end of the month. Percentages of budgets for


investment will vary on a case by case basis, but projects backed will likely to be in the $15m-$30m budget range. Corsan CEO Paul Breuls noted the fund would invest in international projects “in the English language and with a glo- bal ambition for distribution”. “We are basically motivated by


story and a good script that will attract a good director and good tal- ent,” Breuls told Screen. “There isn’t a genre that we prefer or exclude.” Meanwhile, Corsan World Sales


has sold Killing Season, its produc- tion with Millennium starring John Travolta and Robert De Niro, to Eastern Europe (Ablo), Latin Amer- ica (California Filmes), Middle East (Eagle Films), Portugal (Luso- mundo), Turkey (Media Vyzion), Thailand (M Pictures), Germany (Splendid), Scandinavia (Take One), CIS (Top Film) and Canada (VVS). Nu Image has sold to the UK (Lionsgate), France (Metropolitan), Australia (Roadshow), South Africa (Sabido) and Japan (Showgate).


ISSUE 2


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