Posted: Thu., Jan. 25, 2007, 5:32pm PT

Sundance deals aplenty

'California' the latest to sell

By Pamela McClintock, Steven Zeitchik

Corrections were made to this article on Jan. 25, 2007.

PARK CITY -- The unexpected buying frenzy that dominated the 10-day Sundance Film Festival has begun to wind down, although another bidding war could ensue over Jake Paltrow's debut feature "A Good Night," which didn't preem until Thursday night.

All told, well over $40 million has been spent on a diverse group of films: comedies, dramas, a docu about the Apollo astronauts, thrillers, and coming-of-age titles, including one about a girl who has teeth in a very special place.

And the latest: On Thursday, First Look acquired Michael Douglas-starrer "King of California" for $3 million.

"The level of commitment that buyers are making exceeds any festival in recent memory in terms of the breadth and scope of their investment," Sundance Film Fest director Geoff Gilmore told Daily Variety.

"Companies aren't just purchasing one film, they are going onto the next deal," Gilmore said. "It is terrific for the independent film community."

Heading into the fest, many buyers complained that the lineup was too serious. Gilmore has learned to let people speculate all they want, so kept mum. On the eve of the fest, many in the media pronounced it would be the year of docus; and while documentaries have done well, features did even better.

Some of the titles nabbing the most pre-fest buzz have failed to find a buyer so far, including opening night docu "Chicago 10," from filmmaker Brett Morgen, and the controversial Dakota Fanning starrer "Hounddog."

Two years ago, and again last year, there were only one or two acquisitions making headlines. Last year, it was for rights to "Little Miss Sunshine," a breakout hit and Oscar nominee. In 2005, the big buy was "Hustle & Flow."

This year, there were multiple deals falling in the $4 million to $7 million range for features. Docus also commanded impressive prices.

Sundance 2007 has witnessed the return of Harvey Weinstein in full Sundance fashion after being distracted the past two years by the split from Disney and the formation of the Weinstein Co.

The major buys, listed by distributor:

• The Weinstein Co. plunked down $4 million for distrib rights to John Cusack starrer "Grace is Gone," repped by William Morris Independent and Cinetic Media. From director-writer James C. Strouse, storyline follows a father of two whose wife is killed in Iraq.

• TWC and First Look paid $4 million for Justin Theroux's romantic drama "Dedication," starring Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore. UTA and Cinetic repped the film, which was produced by Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Galt Niederhoffer. (Trio also produced "Grace is Gone.")

• Partnering with Fox Searchlight, TWC picked up worldwide rights to Patricia Riggin's illegal immigration drama "The Same Moon" (La Misma Luna), repped by Cinetic. Riggin produced the film with Gerardo Barrera.

• TWC and Lionsgate partnered to pick up rights to the writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstien's outrageous coming-of-age pic "Teeth," about a girl who has teeth in her vagina. Joyce Pierpoline produced the pic, which was repped by CAA.

• Fox Searchlight paid nearly $4 for rights to director George Ratliff's sophisticated psychological thriller "Joshua." UTA repped the film, which was produced by Johnathan Dorfman.

• Searchlight also plunked down $4 million to $5 million for writer-director Adrienne Shelly's drama "Waitress," produced by Michael Roiff and repped by Cinetic. Film toplines Keri Russell.

• Paramount Vantage paid over $7 million for rights to British coming-of-age film "Son of Rambow," from writer-director Garth Jennings and produced by Joel Collins. Pic was repped by William Morris Independent.

• Partnering with sister division MTV Films, Vantage also paid $3 million for rights to director Ian Iqbal Rashid's urban dance drama "How She Move," produced by Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Sereny and Brent Barclay. Film was repped by UTA and Celluloid.

• Warner Independent Pictures paid $4 million for U.S., U.K. and German rights to Cheri Nowlan's quirky romance "Clubland," penned by Keith Thompson. Rosemary Blight produced the film, which was repped by WMI

• Magnolia Films paid $2 for rights to horror film "The Signal," from directing-writing team David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush. WMI repped the film. Gentry produced with Alexander Motlagh.

• ThinkFilm paid a hefty $2.5 million for film rights to David Sington's docu "In the Shadow of the Moon," a fest favorite, and even after TV rights were sold to Discovery Films. Docu was repped by CAA and Submarine.

• Sony Pictures Classics plunked down $1 million for rights to Amir Bar-Lev's docu "My Kid Could Paint That," about a four-year-old child prodigy. Reps were CAA and Submarine.