UPDATE: Roadside Attractions closed the deal for The Future. It’s the third deal for Roadside, which teamed with Lionsgate to acquire the JC Chandor-directed financial crisis drama Margin Call, and will release the documentary Project Nim for HBO, which acquired all rights to the film by the team behind the…

(Sharon Swart is assisting Deadline's Sundance coverage) Sundance has a reputation for putting new acting talent in the spotlight. Recent years have yielded more break-outs on the distaff side, such as Carey Mulligan (2009’s An Education and The Greatest) and Jennifer Lawrence (2010's Winter's Bone). Both went on to…

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire The Devil’s Double, the Lee Tamahori drama about the man who was forced to become the body double of Saddam Hussein’s thuggish son, Uday. Lionsgate team has been pursuing the film since it first aired last Saturday at the Eccles Theater, as had…

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to director David Mackenzie’s romantic thriller Perfect Sense, which debuted in the Premieres section this…

Musicians spiced up the 2011 Sundance Film Festival last weekend, with films involving Lou Reed, James Taylor and the Grateful Dead. And then there was iconic ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who spent the weekend meeting potential studio partners for three new horror films he has  set under his Slasher Films…

The road for Sundance films is often paved with adversity, but worthy films usually find their way through. Here’s a trailer for Happythankyoumoreplease, the directorial debut of How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor. I met Josh when he launched the film at 2010 Sundance. Though the film won last year’s Audience…

In other Sundance news… The action on the Paul Rudd comedy My Idiot Brother began right after the premiere screening finished. The two parties chasing it hardest were Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company, with talk of a third bidder as well. The discussions were still taking shape around 2 AM, and the feeling…

On the second day of Sundance, buyers were beginning to get antsy. The first screenings generated moderate interest, but buyers haven’t loved anything and only liked a few films. So far, the consensus is that the unveiled crop of films can’t be released on a high screen count. Deals will be made on these initial…

Kevin Smith is already challenging established acquisition protocol by trying to auction distribution rights in the Eccles Theater right after Sunday’s Sundance premiere of Red State. Some buyers say that gimmicky play isn’t what’s annoying them most. They’re especially peeved that the film’s 6:30 start coincides with…

SUNDANCE OVERVIEW From Mike Fleming: Is Dealmaking Avalanche In The Forecast? Handicapping The High Priority Acquisitions (Freelancer Sharon Swart is helping Deadline’s Sundance coverage.) Sundance officially kicked off this evening in Park City with the festival's first screenings of films, many with various rights…

PARK CITY, UTAH: The acquisitions crowd rolls into the 2011 Sundance Film Festival today with a sense of optimism that dealmaking could pick up where it left off at the Toronto Film Festival last fall. On paper, the signs are encouraging: new buyers and hungry established distributors; plenty of titles with name casts…

Sony Pictures Classics has made a preemptive acquisition of North American, Australian and Latin American, Australian and New Zealand rights to Take Shelter, a drama that stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. It’s directed by Jeff Nichols, who previously worked with Shannon on Shotgun Stories. The film debuts in…