Lionsgate bought Rodrigo Cortes’ indie thriller Buried this afternoon, amongst several bids for the film which features Ryan Reynolds as a American truck driver buried alive in an Iraqi desert. These reports come after a palpable amount of midnight screening buzz praising Reynolds’ performance and Cortes’ direction.
In other bidding news, the word on the street is that movie business vet John Wells’ corporate drama The Company Men (starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Affleck) is generating a lot of heat. One has to wonder how much of the positive buzz comes from the nice-looking teaser that came out online about a week ago? Could the film get the highest bid at the festival?
Also, Anne Thompson’s reporting a deal for the social networking doc Catfish to close today, along with significant action paid to Howl, Winter’s Bone, Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil and How I Met You Mother‘s Josh Radnor’s directorial debut happythankyoumoreplease.
More news to come.
Is all of this bidding action a good sign for independent film? Or just the usual Sundance heat?