Latest in Austenland

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor. Some crowds headed to see Sundance debut Austenland this weekend, opening in 4 theaters and grossing just over $42K. The film got TV ad treatment and hilariously even had its trailer show twice at NYC’s Chelsea Clearview before a showing of another SPC title, Blue Jasmine…

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor. Filmmaker David Lowery moved up the filmmaker food chain with his latest feature, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, opting to ditch a micro-budget plan for one that included stars and more resources. Still, the film is hardly a big budget production though the production team has…

Keri Russell strays just a weensy bit from her badass Soviet spy character in FX’s The Americans for her latest film role. In the Sundance rom-com Austenland, she plays Jane, a single gal with a borderline-unhealthy Jane Austen obsession who’s looking for her very own Mr. Darcy. She books a pricey stay at the resort…

It’s titled “Unmentionables”. Sony Pictures Wide World Acquisitions picked up the movie earlier this week at Sundance. Sony Pictures Classics plans a summer release of the Jerusha Hess-directed film that stars Keri Russell as a Jane Austen fanatic who visits a theme park where the action in the clip takes place. Austen…

UPDATE: Just got an update on Austenland. The deal is north of $4 million, midway between $4 million and $5 million, and Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in the summer, and they will rely heavily on producer (and Twilight Saga author) Stephenie Meyer, Jerusha Hess and Shannon Hale, along with star Keri…

The films The Way, Way Back played strongly at Eccles, and tonight is The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman. Sounds like another late night for buyers, sellers and the journos who stalk them. Negotiations continue on Austenland, but not with original first position suitors FilmDistrict and Exclusive Media. There…

Agencies CAA, WME and UTA held their parties last night, but forgive the dealmakers for being distracted. They worked late into the night trying to close deals. Deadline told you last night that FilmDistrict (with Exclusive Media) was zeroing in on Austenland, a deal that would have closed last night if not for the…

The Sundance acquisition logjam appears to be breaking. Deal-making is close on Austenland, and a deal just closed on The Look Of Love, with offers starting to be made on several other films. Word is that FilmDistrict is in talks for Austenland, which stars Keri Russell as an obsessed Jane Austen fan who visits a…

Best known as the author of The Twilight Saga novels, Stephenie Meyer has brought the first feature from her Fickle Fish Films to the Sundance Film Festival this year. Based on Shannon Hale's novel of the same name, Austenland focuses an obsessed Jane Austen fan's search for love and visit to a theme park based on the…