UPDATE: I’m told that Focus Features indeed closed a distribution deal for one of Toronto’s hottest acquisition titles, the Derek Cianfrance-directed The Place Beyond The Pines. The negotiations between the Focus acquisition team and the sellers at WME and CAA went into the wee hours of the morning before the deal was made. I’m still trying to confirm the numbers, but it was a few million dollars commitment for a film that has gotten good reaction but which might need to be honed and trimmed a bit for maximum theatrical bang. The big question now is whether this will prime the pump and get the deal volume going. I’m hearing such good things about the acquisition titles that have screened so far that I’m going to say it is inevitable and that sellers and buyers have a lot of late night negotiations ahead of them over the next few days.
RELATED: Toronto: Insider Says No Weinstein Company Offer On ‘Place Beyond The Pines’
EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, SATURDAY 9:17 PM: Focus Features has become the frontrunner and is in serious negotiations to acquire The Place Beyond The Pines, the Derek Cianfrance-directed drama that came into the Toronto Film Festival as one of the highest profile acquisition titles. I’m hearing that a deal could close by tomorrow morning. Focus was among several suitors that sparked to a film that stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Rose Byrne. Gosling plays a motorcycle stunt rider who considers committing a crime in order to provide for his wife and child, an act that puts him on a collision course with a cop who is on a political track. CAA and WME have been brokering the sale together since the film premiered Friday at the Princess of Wales Theater.
I’m not surprised that the picture is selling quickly in Cianfrance’s follow up to the Sundance sensation Blue Valentine, also with Gosling. For Cooper, it’s the second strong performance here at the festival. I saw Silver Linings Playbook tonight, and Cooper is superb alongside equally good Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and a scene stealing Chris Tucker in a David O Russell-directed film that will figure strongly in Oscar season.
As for the acquisitions, I expect the pace to pick up, with action on films like What Maisie Knew and several others.
