This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
More deal-making at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival:
• Paramount has grabbed the worldwide rights to the comedy "The Intervention," the writing and directing debut of Clea DuVall. The movie centers on a weekend gathering of friends, where three couples (Melanie Lynskey and Josh Ritter, Ben Schwartz and Alia Shawkat, and DuVall and Natasha Lyonne) intend to tell a feuding married couple (Cobie Smulders and Vincent Piazza) that they should get divorced.
• Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to "Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected Word," Werner Herzog's documentary about the internet. Herzog's statement in Magnolia's press release is priceless (and imagine Herzog's funereal German accent as you read it): "My dream at Sundance to take off from the Olympic ramp on skis remains unfulfilled, but I am even more exhilarated by the fact that my film now is taking flight through Magnolia."
• The Orchard has bought up the North American rights to "Hunt for the Wilderpeople," the New Zealand comedy about a kid (Julian Dennison) and his cantankerous foster uncle (Sam Neill) going missing in the New Zealand bush. The movie is written and directed by Taika Waititi, who made the vampire comedy "What We Do in the Shadows" and is signed to direct Marvel's next "Thor" movie.
• Netflix has bought the worldwide streaming video-on-demand rights to the Indian nerd comedy "Brahman Naman." It centers on a college quiz team with two goals: Winning the all-India tournament, and losing their virginities.
• Netflix also has acquired the rights to the documentary "Audrie & Daisy," directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk. The film profiles two cases of teen girls sexually assaulted by schoolmates and then harassed online and at school.
— Sean P. Means