As we reported last week, the first film bought at Sundance was the documentary Waiting For Superman, however the first feature film to get a distribution deal is the Ryan Reynolds thriller, Buried, which sparked a bidding war after its premiere on Saturday.
Although THR reports that some distirbutors were worried about how to market a claustrophobic thriller that’s largely about Reynolds trying to escape from a buried coffin for 90 minutes, Lionsgate, Fox Searchlight and Screen Gems all put in bids for the North American distribution rights, with Lionsgate coming out the victor after offering just under $4 million. They also had to promise an eight-figure promotion and advertising spend on the movie when they do release it.
Many are hoping the sale will spur other deals at Sundance. Whereas last year the festival got off to a slow start because distibutors didn’t want to spend money during the economic slump, this year most are there with the chequebooks, but it’s being suggested the films themselves aren’t wowing anybody. As a result, rather than everything being done in a rush, potential distirbutors are taking their time to put in offers.
In fact so far the biggest buzz has been about the low-fi documentary Catfish, which has provoked more studio interest than the likes of the Ben Affleck starrer, The Company Men, or Kristen Stewart’s Welcome To The Rileys.
A lot more deals will probably be done on the back of Sundance, but it’s certainly not like the old days where the festival became a free-for-all, with distibutors lining up to offer ridiculous sums for the films on offer.