Even though Park City is back to the sleepy town it is for the most of the year, where snow bunnies and Robert Redford's friends go to play, the ripple effect of the Sundance Film Festival is still being felt as deals continue to be made for a handful of films that premiered there. So let's get started.
First up, the raunchy, ribald "Bachelorette," starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan and Rebel Wilson, has been snatched up by The Weinstein Company for $2 million. But there's a caveat. The film will be coming to you via their new VOD shingle Radius, which means this will likely be mostly a digital release followed by a very brief and small theatrical run, before landing on DVD. It was only a few days ago that we laid out the case that for many indie distributors, this would be a model we'd be seeing more and more of, and that certainly appears to be happening. No release timeframe has yet been disclosed. As for the film, we liked it okay, but found that it quickly ran out of the energetic steam it starts off with.
Image Entertainment has taken Christopher Neil’s directorial debut and coming-of-age film "Goats." An adaptation of Mark Jude Poirier's 2000 novel of the same name, the story centers on the teenage Ellis (Graham Phillips), as he transfers to the East Coast prep school where he reconnects with his father (played by Ty Burrell) who made his mark as a student before him. Vera Farmiga, Keri Russell, Minnie Driver and Will Arnett round of the cast of the film that we thought brought nothing new to the genre. "Goats" will be released later this year.
Sundance Midnight Movie "Excision" has found a home with Anchor Bay. Directed by Richard Bates Jr. and starring AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart and John Waters, the horror film centers on an outcast teen whose decision to lose her virginity and try and save her sister who is suffering from cystic fibrosis goes to some dark and weird places.
Finally, Wolfe Releasing acquired Aurora Guerrero's debut feature "Mosquita y Mari," about the blossoming relationship between two L.A. Chicanas in high school. [THR/Deadline/Deadline/Indiewire]
