Ascot buys eight U.S., international titles

Cannes acquisitions include 'Cash,' 'One Week'

By ED MEZA

BERLIN — Swiss distrib Ascot Elite has picked up a slew of North American and international productions for German-speaking territories, including Stephen Milburn Anderson's thriller "Cash," starring Chris Hemsworth and Sean Bean, and Michael McGowan's biker road movie "One Week," starring Joshua Jackson.

Also among the eight titles acquired by Ascot in Cannes are Joel Bergvall and Simon Sandquist's thriller "Possession," with Sarah Michelle Gellar; Christopher Smith's high-seas actioner "Triangle," starring Melissa George and Liam Hemsworth; and John Inwood's black comedy "ExTerminators," with Heather Graham and Jennifer Coolidge.

Additional pics include Paul Gross' World War I drama "Passchendaele"; Vladimir Bortko's "Taras Bulba," the Russian epic based on Nikolai Gogol's famed novel; and "La Vida Loca," Christian Poveda's documentary about the rival Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs that originated in Los Angeles and spread to El Salvador.

Ascot will release the titles this year as well as in 2010.