Sundance 2010: Sony Pictures Classics will inhabit an ‘Animal Kingdom’

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Sony Pictures Classics has acquired domestic and Latin American rights to the Australian drama ‘Animal Kingdom’ in a deal that could be worth as much as $1 million for the film’s makers. The movie about Melbourne’s underworld, which premiered in Sundance’s world cinema dramatic competition, won the festival’s jury prize in the category and attracted buyer interest from SPC, the Weinstein Co. and Oscilloscope Pictures, among others.

While the sales price was in the six figures, potential incentives and bonuses could boost the transaction’s value to as much as $1 million, according to a person familiar with the deal. The film attracted mostly positive reviews out of Park City, as did the film’s first-time director, David Michod.

“There is nothing more exciting than the birth of a major filmmaker,’ SPC said in a statement. ‘David Michod is about as major as they come.’ The sales deal was negotiated by the United Talent Agency.

-- John Horn