John Carney’s ‘Sing Street’ has been acquired for US distribution by the Weinstein Company (TWC) in a deal worth $3 million.
Open audition were held yesterday in Dublin’s Temple Bar for ‘Sing Street’, which will begin production this summer in Dublin. The musical film will be produced by Carney through his company Distressed Films, along with Anthony Bregman of Likely Story, Kevin Frakes from PalmStar Media, Raj Brinder Singh from Merced Media Partners, as well as Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass from FilmWave. WME Global is handling the sale with FilmNation dealing with international rights.
The upcoming production helmed by ‘Once’ writer/director Carney will feature an original soundtrack from U2′s Bono and the Edge. The semi- autobiographical film follows a fourteen year old teenager named Cosmo who struggles to express himself through music and desires to escape from his conflict-ridden family. Set in 1980’s recession-ridden Dublin, Cosmo forms a band with school mates, whom he writes songs and shoots videos with. When trouble strikes, he absconds to London with his girlfriend to escape his dysfunctional family.
TWC deal with ‘Sing Street’ was finalised on Saturday morning in Cannes. The company is already collaborating with Carney on his next hit film ‘Begin Again’, which generated much excitement at the Toronto Film festival last September when Weinstein bought the international rights for $7 million with a $20 million P&A commitment for US rights. ‘Begin Again’ will be released in the US on June 27 and in Ireland on July 11.
Following a fierce bidding war, TWC are also in exclusive negotiations to acquire North American rights to ‘The Coup’, starring Irish actor Pierce Brosnan and Owen Wilson. The John Eric Dowdle - directed title follows an American family that relocates to South East Asia to find themselves caught up in the middle of a violent political uprising. The company is expected to pay between $5 million to $6 million for the project financed by Bold Films. Paramount and Open Road were part of the early sale process, before dropping out as TWC and Relativity Media raised the stakes. The deal marks the second biggest acquisition of Cannes 2014; following the $20 million that Paramount paid for sci-fi film ‘Story Of Your Life’, starring Amy Adams.
The trailer for Carney’s ‘Begin Again’, starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine, can be viewed below: