Update: Ratner and Relativity Media have won the day – Relativity and Rogue Pictures will release the film in the US, Canada and the UK, while Ratner will get an executive producer credit on the film. The film’s producer Andrew Jarecki (director of “Capturing the Friedmans”) said “”Catfish” is a film that could never have been made even just a few years ago. It is a product of our generation, of miniature flip cameras, ‘sexting’ and social networking. Rogue Pictures has the attitude, irreverence and wide distribution to get this film seen by the masses. Moviegoers will be charmed by it, but more importantly, they will see themselves in it.”
Original story: Since its premiere a week ago at the Sundance Film Festival, the documentary “Catfish,” by first time filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, has been collecting an equal measure of praise and controversy. The film follows Schulman’s brother Nev, who develops a Facebook friendship with an 8 year old girl who appears to be a genius artist. He swiftly falls for the girl’s older sister, and, cameras in tow, goes off to meet her. At which point, by all accounts, there’s a doozy of a twist, which the filmmakers are keen isn’t revealed.
The film received great reviews, and plenty of buyers have been circling it, but there’s also been some controversy over how much of the film is real – some viewers have found it too perfect in the details, and exploitative of its subjects (more details can be found in Movieline’s piece here, but be warned, it pretty much gives the whole game away). We’re sure this controversy will continue for a while, but in the meantime, it looks like the film is very close to finding a buyer.
Variety are reporting that producers JJ Abrams and Jason Blum have personally requested that Paramount pick up the film, and the studio is going to test the film on the lot tonight (a story initially broken by First Showing and Cinematical, which both heard whispers about the screening on Twitter). It’s notable that both have produced pseudo-documentary breakout successes for the company – Abrams was behind “Cloverfield,” while Blum helped to turn Slamdance acquisition “Paranormal Activity” into a huge sleeper hit. The latter case is particularly relevant, as it was a test screening of the film that persuaded Dreamworks to release the original, rather than remake it.
Abrams isn’t the only big name director to be after the film though, as Deadline are reporting that Brett Ratner and Relativity Media have made an offer for the movie, without any need for test screenings first. Is it too much to think that remake rights are going to be part of the deal? We imagine that the filmmakers would be happy to have the marketing muscle of a big studio behind them, particularly one who’ve proved successful with the likes of “Paranormal Activity,” and we can imagine the “What’s the secret of “Catfish”?” marketing campaign already. We’re sure we’ll see a final decision in the next few days.
Original story published 10:06am, 02/02/10
