Sundance 2011: With ‘Martha Marcy,’ Fox Searchlight tops day of deals
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The acquisitions kept coming Monday at the Sundance Film Festival.
Fox Searchlight acquired its second picture of the festival, buying worldwide rights to Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” with plans for a 2011 release. The movie, which tells of a woman seeking to recover from time in a dangerous cult, has gained particular acclaim for star Elizabeth Olsen, who is emerging as one of the breakouts of this year’s festival.
The company last night also acquired the teenage drama ‘Homework,’ starring Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts.
The deal for ‘Martha’ came on the heels of several smaller buys. On Sunday night, IFC bought its first movie of the festival, scooping up the Patrick Wilson spiritual infidelity drama, ‘The Ledge.’ National Geographic Films will release Kevin Macdonald’s ‘Life in One Day,’ a distillation of numerous user-generated videos sent in from around the world. And Magnolia Pictures has teamed with Participant Media to buy the New York Times documentary ‘Page One.’
A number of key titles remain in play as of Monday afternoon, including the star-laden dark comedy ‘The Details,’ horror film ‘Silent Hose’ and fundamentalist comedy-thriller ‘Salvation Boulevard.’
— Steven Zeitchik in Park City, Utah
