Acquires Cannes Gran Prix winner for under $1 million
IFC Entertainment, one of the more active film buyers at the recently concluded Festival de Cannes, has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the Gran Prix winner "Gomorra" for under $1 million.
Directed by Italian Matteo Garrone ("Primo Amore"), "Gomorra" is based on the best-selling Italian novel.
"Just when we thought we had seen it all, Matteo Garrone has reinvented the Italian Mafia picture with such originality and invention that it seems entirely new," IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring said. "We think that this completely fresh take on a well-known genre ... will take American audiences by storm as it did in Cannes."
"Gomorra" interweaves five stories rooted in the reality of mob-ruled society around modern-day Naples. Fandango Portobello Sales handled the transaction for "Gomorra" producers Domenico Procacci and RAI Cinema.
IFC, which obtained all U.S. rights, plans a multiplatform release day-and-date with its as-yet unslotted theatrical limited release by IFC Films. The company intends to release the film on its proprietary video-on-demand service simultaneously with the theatrical bow and also strike a cable TV deal, but a spokeswoman said that wouldn't necessarily result in the film's debuting on the IFC cable net.
Also at Cannes, IFC previously announced its acquisition of films including Arnaud Desplechin's "A Christmas Tale," starring Catherine Deneuve, and "Hunger," whose director Steve McQueen won the Camera d'Or for best first film at the fest. The fest was marked by modest film bidding this year, with U.S. rights to high-profile films including Steven Soderbergh's "Che" going unsold.
The Gran Prix is considered something of a runner-up prize to the fest's Palm d'Or, which this year went to the Parisian high school drama "The Class." U.S. rights to "The Class" are still up for grabs.
By contrast to this year's quiet fest market, Sony paid $11.5 million for the Joaquin Phoenix-Mark Wahlberg starrer "We Own the Night" at last year's fest.
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