Every major film festival ends with films being gobbled up by distributors, and the Cannes Film Festival is no different.
The most interesting and exciting acquisition of the lot has to be Fox getting the U.S. rights to French New Wave icon Jean-Luc Godard’s newest film, “Goodbye to Language 3D.” As the title suggests, the film was shot in 3D, a format that Godard has previously expressed interest in and one that fellow auteurs, Werner Herzog and Martin Scorsese have previously dipped their toes in. There’s no official release date yet, and the only synopsis we have is Godard’s own hilarious rambling description of it, but this is something that we’re definitely anxiously awaiting. Now, just to clarify, this will probably shift down to one of Fox's subsidiary shingles (hello Fox Searchlight), but it's easily the biggest distributor to bank on Godard in quite some time, with the filmmaker's movies mostly going to tiny arthouse labels over the past few years. [Variety]
IFC Midnight has acquired North American rights to Im Sang-Soo’s “The Taste Of Money,” his quasi-sequel to his last effort “The Housemaid.” The story centers on the male secretary to a middle-aged industrial heiress who must choose sides to survive in a world of sex, money, and power. Kim Gang-woo, Baek Yoon-sik, Youn Yuh-jung and Maui Taylor star. [Variety]
The house that Adam Yauch built, Oscilloscope Laboratories, acquired the U.S. rights to "Gomorrah" director Matteo Garrone’s “Reality.” Although our review called the film “ideologically and narratively lightweight,” Garrone’s seventh feature about a man who becomes obsessed with starring on "Big Brother" should fit nicely within Oscilloscope’s diverse catalog.
Leos Carax’s first feature in over a decade, “Holy Motors,” has a U.S. distribution deal in place, courtesy of the Indomina Group. The film, which our review called “brilliant in small flashes . . . but also wildly uneven,” received a robust reception in Cannes last week, with some even hoping the film would win the Palme d’Or. Either way, the film is undoubtedly a distinct work, and those looking forward to it will be glad to know they'll be able to catch it on the big screen. [Deadline]
Finally, Sundance Selects has announced that they've acquired all U.S. rights to Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s “Like Someone In Love.” The film, Kiarostami’s follow-up to last year’s Euro-set “Certified Copy,” centers on a young Japanese woman who finances her studies through prostitution, and her relationship with a brilliant, elderly academic, who is also one of her clients. [