Pick-Up Heads-Up: Night, Manda Bala Headed to Theaters

Sony owns them: Wahlberg and Phoenix in We Own the Night (Photo: Anne Joyce / 2929 Productions)

A pair of noteworthy distribution deals went down for New York filmmakers over the weekend -- particularly James Gray, whose We Own the Night first awed the Cannes press and then captivated Sony Pictures. According to Variety, the studio sunk $11.5 million into the Joaquin Phoenix/Mark Wahlberg crime drama (plus a $25 million P&A commitment, notes Gregg Goldstein and Tatiana Siegel) for a late fall release. The film will be distributed under the Columbia Pictures banner.

Back in the States, NYC indie City Lights (Brooklyn Rules, Descent) picked up Jason Kohn's Sundance-winning doc Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) for a summer release. A brilliant, disturbing study of corruption, crime and poverty in Brazil -- complete with reconstructive ear surgery and cannibalistic frogs -- Manda Bala is set for its New York premiere next month during Sundance at BAM; don't forget you can check out our classic pre-Sundance interview with Kohn as well as the film's screening and awards coverage on The Reeler's Sundance '07 page.

Finally, as if you couldn't guess, Cinetic Media repped both films domestically.

Posted at May 21, 2007 9:55 AM