The Weinstein Company's boutique label RADiUS has acquired North American rights to "Blue Ruin," which premiered on Saturday in the Cannes Festival's Director's Fortnight.
An executive close to the deal told TheWrap that Weinstein paid $500,000 for the rights.
Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, whose first feature "Murder Party" was a cult hit, "Blue Ruin" tells the story of a man who finds his quiet life upended by unwelcome news and subsequently sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of revenge. Proving an improbable assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
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The film was produced by Anish Savjani, Richard Peete and Vincent Savino. RADiUS will release the film theatrically this fall, according to the company.
Co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego said in a news release: "'Blue Ruin' is a masterpiece and a future cult classic. It is one of the most exceptional discoveries of the last few years thanks to Jeremy's deft hand. Having worked with him on 'Murder Party,' we couldn't be more excited for our second collaboration."
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Saulnier goes on to say: "Tom and I go way back when he championed my first film 'Murder Party.' I'm thrilled that my new film has found a home with him. RADiUS is absolutely the perfect fit for 'Blue Ruin.'"
This is The Weinstein Company's second acquisition at the festival, after buying "Philomena" for $6 million.
In other acquisition news, IFC Midnight announced that it had acquired North American rights to Cinipix’s action/thriller RAZE, directed by Josh Waller. The film, written by Robert Beaucage, stars Zoe Bell, Rachel Nichols, Tracie Thoms and Sherilyn Fenn, and made its world premiere at last month’s Tribeca Film Festival. Cinipix financed RAZE. The film was produced by Kenny Gage and Andy Pagana.
RAZE follows Sabrina, a woman who is mysteriously abducted and findsherself in an underground lair, forced to do battle with other innocents for the amusement of unseen spectators. Each of these reluctant warriors has something to lose, but only one will remain when the game is done.
Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: "Josh Waller has crafted the most intense and unique action film that we have seen in a longtime. With the magnificent Zoe Bell leading a strong female cast, RAZE delivers and then some. We can’t wait to unleash it upon audiences."
Said Cinipix CEO Todd Slater, “The IFC Midnight team are particularly adept at bringing this type of unique, crowd pleasing film to the marketplace so naturally, this feels like the perfect home for RAZE.”
Josh Waller, director, continued with saying "As a filmmaker, one of the biggest things that you can hope for your film, besides getting it made, is that a distribution entity and creative integrity is going to take it ‘under their wing’ and help to get it out to the masses. With IFC Midnight, we get exactly that.
The deal for the film was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman, Director of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers. Celluloid Dreams is currently selling the film’s international rights at Cannes.