After turning out to be the first major surprise of the Toronto International Film Festival, Chris Rock’s Top Five started a bidding war among distributors. It now looks like Paramount may win out and for an unbelievable sum.
The film earned positive responses from critics, but came into the festival without a distributor. It looked like mini-major Lionsgate or Relativity Media and CBS Films could come out on top, but Deadline is now reporting that Paramount is now in the picture. The studio saw the film on Sunday and were immediately impressed, so much so that they are willing to shell out $12.5 million for it.
Now that Paramount is nearing the finish line, it seems like that studio would have been the obvious landing place for Top Five. Chief Brad Grey already has a long relationship with Rock and Scott Rudin, who co-financed the film with Barry Diller.
Top Five is being considered a major turning point in Rock’s long career, but other studios might have balked at paying a big price for it since he is not that well-known outside of the U.S., notes Variety. It also comes with a large promotional commitment, so the fear is that the only way to make the money back would be through domestic gross. (Although considering Rock is still popular and the film is earning critical praise, earning over $12.5 million at the box office doesn’t sound like a stretch.)
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com