Yes, the dealmaking has begun at the 18th edition of Robert Redford's Utah wingding, with Miramax--the 800-pound gorilla of the indie film scene--opening its checkbook to snap up one of the fest's early buzz films.
Besting all competitors, the studio plunked down a cool $5 million for Tadpole, Gary Winick's Graduate-esque comedy starring Sigourney Weaver and John Ritter that has drawn rave reviews from critics and festival-goers. The film follows an eccentric 16-year-old (newcomer Aaron Standford) who returns home to New York for the holidays and initiates an affair with his stepmother (Weaver) unbeknownst to his dad (Ritter).
With every would-be Soderbergh hawking a film and studios always vigilant for the next Memento or Blair Witch Project, many other deals are getting done as Sundance unspools into its sixth day.
Fox Searchlight spent $4 million to outbid Paramount Classics for the worldwide distribution rights to The Good Girl, a low-budget dark comedy from Mike White, the writer-director of 1999's Chuck and Buck.
Keeping with the older woman-younger man theme, The Good Girl features Jennifer Aniston playing against type as a bad girl stuck with a deadbeat husband (John C. Reilly) and a deadbeat job who initiates an affair with a much younger man (Jake Gyllenhaal from Donnie Darko).
Black comedies seem to be all the rage this year. Another one, Lucky McKee's May, starring Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna Faris and James Duval in a tale of a young girl's search for love and friendship, was sold to Lion's Gate for $1 million.
Miramax has also picked up the rights to Karen Moncrieff's lyrical coming-of-age drama Blue Car. Featuring David Strathairn and Frances Fisher, the film centers around an 18-year-old girl who escapes the heartbreak of her broken family through her poetry and her relationship with her English teacher.
Another film that has found a home is Patricia Cardoso's Real Women Have Curves. HBO snatched up rights to the film--about the relationship between a Latina and her mother--which received a standing ovation after its screening.
With a done distribution deal, Cardoso, who had a short film screen at the festival six years ago, says this year's festival has provided her with an opportunity to showcase her work to a larger audience, as well as hobnob with fellow artists and Industry folk.
"We had the premiere on Monday and it was really amazing. I've never seen an audience react to it as well," the Colombian-born director tells E! Online. "I've seen amazing films, and I've met a lot of filmmakers...after so many years of struggling, it's great to be back."
Filmmaking twins Alex and Andrew Smith, attending screenings of their coming-of-age drama The Slaughter Rule, say that this year's Park City party has been "placid" given the post-September 11 vibe, but people are still making the most of it.
"It seems a little more subdued and calmer than usual," says Alex Smith. "People are keeping it festive, but it's not a huge party scene either. It's not the be all, end all compared to what's going on in the world events...but it's been relatively stress-free."
Smith should know, having once served as a volunteer and staff member of the festival several years ago and attended the Sundance Institute's Writer and Director's Lab with his brother.
The Slaughter Rule stars Ryan Gosling as a football-playing fatherless teen in rural Montana who becomes involved with a waitress.
Other films expected to be off the block soon include: Better Luck Tomorrow, Justin Lin's look at a group of "perfect Asian students" in an L.A. suburb who prefer the excitement of a crime spree to doing their homework; Steven Shainberg's Secretary, about a young woman whose office punishment of being spanked evolves into a comically sadomasochistic relationship with her boss (James Spader); Gus Van Sant's Gerry, starring Matt Damon; and John Malkovich's directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs, starring Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls).