New Order Information Service

Control picked up for North American distribution

The Weinstein Co. scored a triple play at the tail end of the Festival de Cannes, nabbing North American rights for Anton Corbijn's Joy Division biopic "Control," North American home video rights to Tom Shankland's detective thriller "Waz" and Australian rights to the animated "Persepolis."

"Control," the feature directorial debut of music video vet Corbijn, unspooled in the festival's Directors' Fortnight sidebar and earned three awards there: the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the Regards Jeunes Prize for best first or second feature film and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film. The black-and-white portrait of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, who committed suicide at age 23, stars Sam Riley and Samantha Morton.

First Independent Pictures and Wagner/Cuban Cos. were in serious negotiations to jointly acquire the film until late Thursday, but the Weinstein Co. stepped in and closed the deal Friday.

The company made another black-and-white feature purchase, nabbing Aussie rights to Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's animated "Persepolis." The adaptation of Satrapi's graphic novel about a girl growing up amid the Islamic revolution screened In Competition in Cannes and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics domestically.

Weinstein Co.'s video division picked up the British thriller "Waz," the story of a detective (Stellan Skarsgard) stalked by a serial killer. The film will be released in North America via the Genius Products home video label.

Weinstein Co. executive vp acquisitions Michelle Krumm and senior vp business and legal affairs Laine Kline negotiated the "Control" deal with Becker International's Iain Canning.

Thanks to Stephen Fontenot for the submission and informations

Excerpts taken from Hollywood Reporter.
© Copyright 2007 NewOrderOnline.com, except the works of other authors. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.