Indie nabs 'Tie Me Up'

Distrib to re-release pic theatrically

By JOHN HOPEWELL

Euro distribution consortium Indie Circle has acquired all rights to Pedro Almodovar's 1990 kidnap drama "Atame" (Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down) from Pedro and Agustin Almodovar's El Deseo production company.

"Tie Me Up," starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril, will be re-released theatrically in all Indie Circle territories prior to its DVD launch.

"Pedro Almodovar is obviously still maturing as a director. We want to introduce new generations of film lovers to films nearer to his origins so that they can see where he comes from," said Indie Circle coordinator Chris Mercier.

Indie Circle is made up of Belgium's A-Film, the Netherlands' Cineart, Switzerland's Frenetic Films, France's Haut et Court and Italy's Lucky Red.

Previously, Indie Circle acquired Siddiq Barmak's Golden Globe winner "Osama" at Cannes last year, where it played in Directors Fortnight; Iciar Bollain's "Take My Eyes" at San Sebastian; and Hany Abu Assad's "Paradise Now," its first script-stage pickup.

"Osama" has been released by Indie Circle, chalking up 200,000-plus admissions in France.

In a novel agreement struck between Mercier and Chris Tirtaine, Technicolor's head of business development, all prints for "Take My Eyes" by Indie Circle partners will be struck at Technicolor Rome from inter-negatives made up by Madrid Film Lab, which has just been acquired by Technicolor parent Thomson.