UPDATE #1: Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have picked up Arbitrage and IFC Films has acquired Liberal Arts. Both films are listed at the beginning of Page 3.
UPDATE #2: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Samuel Goldwyn Films are partnering on the U.S. theatrical release of Robot & Frank, which stars Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler and Peter Saarsgard. I have also added it to Page 3 along with a look at Langella in the film.
UPDATE #3: Magnolia Pictures has picked up the horror collaboration V/H/S bringing directors Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg and Ti West together for a new horror anthology. I have added a preview for the film to Page 3.
UPDATE #4: IFC Films has picked up distribution rights to Simon Killer. Details on the film can be found at the bottom of Page 3.
UPDATE #5: IFC Midnight has picked up the horror film The Pact and the National Geographic Channel has picked up the documentary Chasing Ice. I have added images and details on both films to the top of Page 4.
UPDATE #6: IFC Films has picked up the AIDS-centric documentary How To Survive a Plague. I have added images and details on both films to the top of Page 4.
The original article continues below.
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival has four more days to go, but already several titles have been picked up for distribution and several others have been discussed following their debuts.
Of the first eleven titles listed I am featuring ten movies that were picked up out of Sundance, plus The Raid, which was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, but played in Sundance ahead of its upcoming New York and Los Angeles debut on March 23. It wasn’t until today that I added it to the database so I figured I would feature it now.
In addition to those eleven titles, all of which I have images for, I am featuring nine more films that may find distributors before the Festival comes to a close on January 29. Among them is the much buzzed about dramatic thriller Arbitrage starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling and Nate Parker, Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in New York in which she co-stars with Chris Rock, Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, the documentary The Imposter, Josh Radnor’s Liberal Arts and Wrong, the latest film from Quentin Dupieux, the eclectic director of Rubber.
Over the next four pages I have pictures, clips and trailers where available for each film. You can also click on the provided gallery links to browse additional photos from several of the films listed. Films with distribution all have the distribution company listed directly under their title.
Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble on a film that will end up on your top ten at the end of the year. If you see anything you’re particularly interested in seeing please share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of this post.
Red Lights
Millenium Entertainment
Directed By: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Olsen, Toby Jones, Leonardo Sbaraglia
Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional sceptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Directed By: Benh Zeitlin
Starring: Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry
Hushpuppy (Wallis), an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in “the Bathtub,” a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack–temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
Black Rock
LD Distribution
Directed By: Katie Aselton
Starring: Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, Katie Aselton
Sarah invites her old friends, Abby and Lou, on a reunion trip to a remote island in Maine. There will be laughter, tears, and a boozy catharsis. It’s the sort of weekend that can transform the three into fully realized, grown-ass women. You already know this movie, right? Wrong.
Celeste and Jesse Forever
Sony Pictures Classics
Directed By: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Emma Roberts, Elijah Wood
Celeste and Jesse Forever is about two people who met in high school, married young and are growing apart. Now thirty, they decide to get divorced and attempt to stay best friends while pursuing other relationships. This plan is not as simple as they had imagined. Celeste–imperious, successful and driven– is convinced that divorcing the boyish Jesse is the right thing to do. Jesse passively accepts this transition into friendship, even though he still is in love with her. As the reality of their separation sets in, Celeste slowly and painfully realizes she has been cavalier about their relationship. But her timing with Jesse is less than fortuitous. While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, these two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go. The film is a humorous and honest examination of a broken heart and the long, hard road it takes to heal it.
