TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 2012
TODAY
www.ScreenDaily.com Citadel Editorial +1 416 599 8433 ext 2512
AT THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL Advertising +44 7540 100 315
Market still waits for deals
Revolver takes four, reteams with Scalpello
BY WENDY MITCHELL Revolver Entertainment has con- fi rmed several acquisitions for UK distribution. They are John Stock- well’s diving thriller Crush starring Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez, Tsui Hark’s Chinese-language Fly- ing Swords Of Dragon Gate, and Ciaran Foy’s SXSW hit Citadel. The company has also taken on
Dominic Burns’ UK sci-fi action thriller UFO. The fi lm stars Jean- Claude Van Damme, his daughter Bianca Bree and Sean Brosnan. Revolver CEO Justin Marciano
said: “We are working on acquir- ing more ambitious titles, such as these, to add to our already diverse and eclectic catalogue. Festival audiences have responded really well to titles such as Citadel and Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, and we are thrilled to… give these titles the best possible launch in the UK.” Meanwhile, Revolver’s produc-
tion arm, Gunslinger, will follow its work with Ron Scalpello on Offender by producing his next film, Boot- neck, about marines in training. IM Global will handle sales on the fi lm and Gunslinger’s Nick Taussig will produce alongside Paul Van Carter.
Premium finds its Boy
Olivier Heitz’s Paris-based Premium Films has taken on worldwide rights excluding Greece to Ektoras Lygizos’ Boy Eating The Bird’s Food. The story is about a nearly starving young man struggling in modern-day Athens. The Greek drama is playing in TIFF Discovery. Giorgos Karnavas produced.
Wendy Mitchell
BY JEREMY KAY Four days into Toronto and deals were still slow out of the traps due to the intricacies of the post-crash landscape, intensified by what buyers privately concede have been unrealistic asking prices and ongo- ing concern over the dismal US box offi ce. At time of writing, acquisitions
teams had descended on the Elgin for the Monday afternoon world premiere of the Colin Firth-Emily Blunt drama Arthur Newman (see below) as the domestic sector waited for the fi rst emphatic break- out acquisitions title. A second major on-site deal was
yet to emerge since early Sunday morning when Focus Features, in aggressive mode to bulk up its 2013 slate, paid around $2.5m for US rights to The Place Beyond The Pines.
A deal on Thanks For Sharing
was believed to be imminent. Simi- larly, buyers were buzzing around Frances Ha and What Maisie Knew. Writers earned fans, though a per- ceived saccharine tone had some buyers walking out of screenings. Annapurna has been in talks
with distributors about Spring Breakers after Megan Ellison’s com- pany paid in the region of $2m for US rights on the eve of the festi- val. Byzantium has drawn interest and anticipation was rising in advance of Monday night’s pre- miere of The Lords Of Salem. Mon- day also marked the fi rst time many US buyers would get to see the Ven- ice duo of To The Wonder from Ter- rence Malick and Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman. As buyers and sellers continue their two-step, new players have
emerged. Exclusive Media finally unveiled Exclusive Releasing and p&a fund Outsource Media was meeting distributors after it unveiled a North American rights buy on Mike Newell’s Great Expectations. Several ambitious financiers
have begun to show their hand. Christopher Woodrow and Molly Conners’ Worldview Entertainment has invested in The Green Inferno, Joe and The Sacrament, while Kevin Frakes’ Palmstar and Raj Singh’s Merced Media Partners are raising their profi les. Not surprisingly for Toronto, the
international scene has been steady if unspectacular. “People are showing footage and buyers are watching completed movies,” Aldamisa International COO Jere Hausfater said. “The talk is about new product at AFM.”
Hubert Boesl Lenny Abrahamson
NEWS Irish times An omnibus project based on James Joyce’s Dubliners attracts directors including Lenny Abrahamson, Lance Daly and Kirsten Sheridan » Page 4
INTERVIEW Master class Paul Thomas Anderson says Scientology was the least of his problems on The Master » Page 16
This is the final print edition of this year’s Toronto dailies. For continued coverage, visit
ScreenDaily.com
QED books busy sales
BY JEREMY KAY QED International has been in the thick of things here, closing multi- territory deals on a slate that includes Zac Efron rom-com Are We Offi cially Dating? and John Tur- turro’s latest directorial outing, Fading Gigolo. Are We Officially Dating? has
been sold by QED’s newly ensconced president of interna- tional Daniel Diamond and his team for Australia (Hoyts), Ger- many (SquareOne), Benelux (eOne), CIS (MGN Paradise), Latin America (Gussi), Switzer- land (Ascot Elite), Middle East (Gulf ), Israel (United King), Tur- key (Aqua) and the Philippines (Pioneer). QED has licensed rights to Fad-
(From left) Colin Firth, Emily Blunt and director Dante Ariola in town with Arthur Newman Marisa Tomei and Sam Rockwell up for laughs
BY WENDY MITCHELL Marisa Tomei and Sam Rockwell are set to star in Why Now, a low- budget comedy to shoot in upstate New York this November. Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy’s
Parts & Labor is producing the film, which is the brainchild of Michael Godere and Ivan Martin, who wrote the script and will also star and direct. Brian Geraghty is also among the cast. Tory Lenosky will serve as lead producer. The project will shoot for three weeks on a budget of around
$500,000. Knudsen says the project is a bit “under the radar” and does not have a sales company attached. Parts & Labor is currently in
post on David Lowery’s Saints (aka Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), which The Weinstein Company is selling internationally. That film stars Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster in a character-driven drama about Texas outlaws. Van Hoy had high praise for
fi rst-time feature director Lowery: “David is incredibly talented.
Working with him was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as producer.” The other producers on the fi lm
are Amy Kaufman, James Johnston and Toby Halbrook. After working with WME Glo-
bal on that fi lm, Knudsen and Van Hoy have signed with the agency. Among other forthcoming
projects include a likely December or January start for Adam Rapp’s Red Light Winter, to star Kirsten Dunst, Ben Foster and a third piv- otal role out to cast now.
ing Gigolo in Germany (Tele München), Italy (Lucky Red), Scandinavia (AB Svensk), Latin America (Imagem), CIS (MGN Paradise), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Eastern Europe (SPI), the Middle East (Gulf), Israel (United King), Turkey (Aqua) and EIM for airlines and ships. Mac Carter’s upcoming horror
fi lm Haunt has gone to Germany (SquareOne), Latin America (Gussi), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), the Middle East (Gulf ), Israel (United King), Turkey (Aqua) and the Philippines (Pioneer). Hoyts will handle Australian
distribution on Ten from director David Ayer, whose police thriller End Of Watch premiered here. “I am thrilled to see the markets
respond so strongly to the film- maker-centric, star-driven slate we are building,” said Diamond.
ISSUE 5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16