IFC Midnight has acquired domestic rights to director Alexandre O. Philippe’s “78/52,” the Sundance documentary that deconstructs the infamous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Psycho,” TheWrap has learned.
This is the second pickup for IFC’s midnight label at the festival, after acquiring “The Killing Ground.”
Philippe’s movie takes its title from the 78 setups and 52 cuts that were required to construct Hitchcock’s meticulously choreographed two-minute shower sequence in “Psycho.”
The scene, like the 1960 movie, has become a landmark of cinema. Hitchcock dared to upend his own acclaimed narrative structure by violently killing off his heroine a third of the way through his film, without explanation, justification, or higher purpose.
Philippe breaks down the scene shot for shot, enlisting the help of film buffs and filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Karyn Kusama, Eli Roth, and Peter Bogdanovich.
“78/52” is an Exhibit A Pictures production, produced by Kerry Deignan Roy; and co-produced by Oliver Schwehm of ARTE G.E.I.E., Chad Herschberger of Milkhaus, Annick Mahnert of Screen Division, and Robert Muratore of EXA.
Executive producers are Felix Gill of Sensorshot Productions, Joey Porcelli, and Randy Pharo.
Arianna Bocco from Sundance Selects/IFC Films and Preferred Content’s Kevin Iwashina and Zac Bright negotiated the deal.