Given the fraught financial situation, studios and distribution companies have been holding their purse strings a little tighter in recent years at Sundance, with fewer big deals and less splashy purchasing. But clearly Relativity Media feels confident in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction, as the company has plunked down $4 million plus a hefty $25 million in prints and advertising to get the movie out on 2000 screens in the US this summer.
It’s a big commitment for what could be a niche comedy about the online porn-addicted Jon Martello (Gordon-Levitt), who has no trouble picking up women but finds everything else pales in comparison to the jollies he gets in front of his laptop. But when he sets out on a quest to find something more fulfilling, he gets more than he bargained for.
The film has had some mixed reviews at the festival, but with Gordon-Levitt writing, directing and starring plus a cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Brie Larson and Tony Danza it's something that should get people talking - even if it might need a little editing to score the coveted R-rating for that ambitious release plan.
“I always intended this to be a movie for a mass popular audience,” Gordon-Levitt said in a statement picked up by Deadline. “Everyone told me it was a long shot. Now Relativity is making it happen. I admire them for putting their money where their mouth is. And I couldn’t possibly be more grateful.”
In other big Sundance news, The Weinstein Company has snapped up the rights to real life drama Fruitvale. The film, which delves into backstory behind the police shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant at the titular San Francisco subway stop in 2009, features the likes of Chronicle’s Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand and Chad Michael Murray.
Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale will now hit screens this year.