UPDATED 9/14 (3:45 PST): The mystery company that has acquired Colossal appears to be the one formed by Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League and Radius co-founder Tom Quinn. The unnamed company first entered last year after acquiring the Michael Moore documentary Where to Invade Next. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report.
EARLIER: Anne Hathaway‘s sci-fi film Colossal co-starring Jason Sudeikis is another among the unusual deals made at the Toronto Film Festival this week. The Nacho Vigalondo directed film has sold its US rights to an unspecified Chinese-based media company. Sold by CAA and Voltage, this China-based company promises a big 2017 release and will reveal itself in the next few weeks when it announces its investment in a new U.S. studio.
The story of Colossal follows Hathaway, a woman who is convinced that the recent catastrophic events caused by a giant lizard wreaking havoc in Seoul are somehow connected to the mental breakdown in which she suffers from. She alone believes she is the only person who can put a stop to the destruction. Austin Stowell and Dan Stevens also star in the film.
This sale marks the second high-seven to eight-figure deal for a finished film at Toronto. While finished films at the festival are just starting to find distribution, massive pre-buys for unfinished films have been making headlines. The pre-buys started with Focus Features deal for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Untitled film with Daniel Day-Lewis and Lionsgate’s deal for Jonathan & Josh Anderson’s directed Kin.
Going into Toronto it was well-known that the pre-buy deals would cause a bigger splash in media outlets, but in the next couple of days, finished films at the festival should find a home. One film deal to keep an eye out for this week is George Nolfi’s Birth Of The Dragon which depicts the no-holds-barred private fight between the then, up-and-coming, martial artist Bruce Lee and Kung Fu Master Wong Jack Man.
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