Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael wrote and star in director Chris Nelson’s lowbrow road-trip comedy, which Gravitas Ventures will release September 30 on VOD and in theaters November 8. Ass Backwards follows two self-proclaimed stylish New Yorkers with a fragile grip on reality who take a road trip back to their…

Los Angeles, CA (December 6, 2011) — Chris Ball, President and CEO of LA-based film production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment, and Joel Weinshanker, President and CEO of the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), a movie merchandising powerhouse that has become an essential…

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Bruce Beresford’s dramatic comedy Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, which stars Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Elizabeth Olsen and first screened at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. The plot centers on an uptight New York lawyer…

Variance Films has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to The Trouble With Bliss, the Michael Knowles-directed film that stars Michael C. Hall, Brie Larson, Peter Fonda, Lucy Liu, Brad William Henke, Sarah Shahi, and Chris Messina. The film will get a theatrical release on March 23, 2012, per Variance founder Dylan…

Dimension Films has landed U.S. distribution rights to director Joseph Ruben’s thriller Penthouse North, which stars Michael Keaton and Michelle Monaghan and begins shooting in December in Ottawa. David Loughery wrote the script and is producing with Ruben, Jeff Sackman and Michael Baker; Jon Shiffman is executive…

Magnolia Pictures bought U.S. rights to 360, the Fernando Meirelles-directed ensemble drama that stars Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Ben Foster, Jamel Debbouze and Moritz Bleibtreu. The film is a series of intersecting storylines that deal with love and infidelity, written by Peter Morgan and inspired by…

Magnolia Pictures has landed U.S. rights to the Michael Cuesta-directed drama Roadie, which stars Ron Eldard as a longtime Blue Oyster Cult roadie who is fired and returns home to Queens, where he has a wild encounter with a pair of old high school buddies. Bobby Cannavale, Jill Hennessy and Lois Smith co-star. The…

IFC’s Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to writer-director Julia Loktev’s festival drama The Loneliest Planet, which stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg and Bidzina Gujabidze in the tale of a young couple backpacking in the Caucasus mountains who find their love tested when the threat of…

IFC’s Sundance Selects has landed North American rights to Bess Kargman’s documentary First Position, which offers a glimpse at six aspiring ballet dancers in training for a prestigious competition. The film bowed at last month’s Toronto International Film Festival and was first runner-up for best documentary, and has…

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline’s Mike Fleming virtually called this deal on Tuesday (then delayed confirmation after sellers indicated that their auction wasn’t fully done). Now it’s official: Friends With Kids, the hot Toronto Film Festival romantic comedy co-starring Jennifer Westfeldt — which she directed, wrote and…

BREAKING: IFC has acquired North American and Latin American distribution rights to Your Sister’s Sister, the Lynn Shelton comedic drama that premiered Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival.  At the same time, Studio Canal acquired UK rights and Madman acquired Australian and New Zealand rights. In the film, a bereft…

Palisades Tartan Films has acquired U.S. and UK rights to This Is Not A Film, whose subject is Iranian director Jafar Panahi, under house arrest in his native country after being jailed and banned from filmmaking for 20 years for supporting the opposition party in Iran’s 2009 elections. Essentially, he was vilified…