Bradley Cooper's THE WORDS and BLACK ROCK Make Deals at Sundance
Bradley Cooper's The Words and Black Rock are two of the most recent sales at Sundance. THR reports that CBS Films has picked up The Words, after a heated bidding war. Director and screenwriter Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal walked away with about $2 million with a $1.5 million P&A commitment. The literary thriller centers on "a hot young author (Cooper) who plagiarizes from a forgotten manuscript." Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, and Ben Barnes also star in the film. A number of studios dropped out of contention after Klugman and Sternthal demanded a traditional theatrical release over a day-and-date VOD release. What helped seal the deal for CBS, was the "commitment in the awards season" and the back-end deal.
Deadline reports that LD Entertainment has paid around six figures for North American distribution rights to Black Rock, a thriller directed by Katie Aselton and written Mark Duplass. The film stars Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, and Aselton. Black Rock is reportedly a mix of Deliverance and Thelma and Louise. It's story follows "three female fiiends set aside personal issues and organize a girl getaway weekend on a remote on the coast of Maine. One wrong move turns into a deadly fight for survival." A number of studios were interested in Black Rock, including Gold Circle, Lionsgate, Magnolia and IFC.