CriterionCast

Whit Stillman’s Latest Now Has Distribution Through Sony, Steve James’ The Interrupters Through Cinema Guild

So far, this week’s been quite good if you’re a director in the Criterion Collection.

First off, director Whit Stillman has found a home for his upcoming film, Violet Wister’s Damsels in Distress (formerly known as simply Damsels In Distress). Deadline has revealed that Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the worldwide rights to the hotly anticipated film, starring Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody and Analeigh Tipton.

The film will follow a group of girls in college, who teach a new student their ‘ways of helping people,’ all coming after a series of failed romances.   Here’s the official synopsis:

Violet Wister’s DAMSELS IN DISTRESS is a comedy that follows a trio of beautiful girls who set out to revolutionize life at a grungy East Coast university ‘“ the dynamic leader Violet Wister (Gerwig), principled Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and sexy Heather (Carrie MacLemore).   They welcome transfer student Lily (Tipton) into their group which seeks to help severely depressed students with a program of good scent and musical dance numbers. The girls become romantically entangled with a series of men’”including slick Charlie (Brody), dreamboat Xavier (Hugo Becker) and the mad frat pack of Frank (Ryan Metcalf) and Thor (Billy Magnussen)’”who threaten the girls’ friendship and sanity.

Sans a release date, the film is expected to hit sometime this fall, so likely after a TIFF 2011 premiere.   Personally,   I absolutely can’t wait for this film.   Stillman is far and away one of my favorite filmmakers, and this sounds like a perfect project for the director to take on.   Toss in a really wonderful cast, and this is a film that can’t get here soon enough.

In other rights news, the Cinema Guild has picked up the theatrical and non-theatrical rights to Steve James’ (Hoop Dreams) latest film, the absolutely stunning The Interrupters.   I got the chance to see the film a few weeks ago at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, and found it to be an absolutely breathtaking look at a group of people attempting to change the lives of troubled youths in Chicago.   It will hit your TV screen as a Frontline piece in 2012, but will hit this summer theatrically thanks to Cinema Guild.

I wouldn’t expect either of these to hit the Criterion Collection anytime soon (particularly The Interrupters, which I can confirm won’t be, at least for the near future), both are more than worthwhile ventures, with one (Interrupters) making good on the hype, with the other hopefully doing the same.

Source: Deadline / The Wrap

 

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.