11/09/2007

Thursday, September 13---------As the Toronto International Film Festival moves into its final weekend, more distribution deals were announced. While the film trades have dubbed this session a little underwhelming in terms of acquisitions, expect news to trickle out in the coming weeks. As one film buyer I talked to said: "With the marketplace so difficult for international films and documentaries doing less than last year, it is difficult to fall under the pressure to pick up something at the Festival for a price that you will later regret." So, after the frenzy of the Festival is over, and cooler heads will prevail, more deals should be forthcoming.

In the last few days, a few significant pick-ups have been announced. THE VISITOR, the latest film from Thomas McCarthy (whose THE STATION AGENT was a major Sundance find in 2004), has been acquired by new distribution shingle Overture Films. According to news reports, the film was picked up for more than $1 million plus boxoffice bonuses for the filmmakers once the film goes into profit. In the film, Richard Jenkins (SIX FEET UNDER) stars as a lonely widower who bonds with the Syrian street musician who is squatting in his Manhattan apartment. The film's backdrop is the alienation and suspicion of "the other" in the final months of the Bush Presidency. The Weinstein Company has closed a deal for North American rights, including Mexico, for the zombie film GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD. The film, which premired in the Midnight Madness section of the Festival, brings veteran director Romero (whose NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is one of the most successful indie films ever made) back to the genre that he practically invented. A small group of College students shooting their low-budget horror film in the Pennsylvania woods awake to a living nightmare when the dead begin walking the earth.

The Weinsteins have also purchased JOY DIVISION, a UK/USA co-production directed by Grant Gee. The documentary profiles the ups and downs and personal tragedies of the UK art rock group Joy Division. The film debuted this week in the Real To Reel section. The company will also be releasing CONTROL, a fictionalized account of the band's meteoric rise and fall, directed by UK photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn, which it acquired at the Cannes Film Festival. The latter film stars Sam Riley as Ian Curtis, the band's leader and one of the most mythical personas in post-punk music.

ThinkFilm has acquired U.S. rights to BATTLE IN SEATTLE, a collage of fictional stories connected to the World Trade Organization's 1999 meeting in Seattle, which was met with widespread protests and civil disobediance. The film is directed by Stuart Townsend and stars Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta, Andre Benjamin, Rade Sherbedzija, and Connie Nielsen. The film will be released theatrically by the end of the year.

Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto FF Dailies Editor