February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“Breakfast on Pluto,” the latest film from acclaimed Irish director Neil Jordan, has signed with distribution giants Sony Pictures Classics in a deal that will guarantee American, Latin American, German, Austrian and South African distribution. To date, the film has also sold rights in Spain, Japan, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, Eastern Europe and Israel.
The film is based on a novel by Patrick McCabe. Cillian Murphy heads the cast as a young Irish transvestite in 1970s London. The film also stars Brendan Gleeson and Stephen Rae and is scheduled for release in November.
“We as a team have wanted to release a Neil Jordan movie ever since ‘Company of Wolves,’ over 20 years ago,” a spokesperson for Sony Pictures Classics said in a statement. ” ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ is one of those rare scripts: bold and fresh and richly picaresque.”
Said producer Alan Moloney: “Both Neil and I are delighted with this arrangement with Sony Pictures Classics. They are ideally placed to bring this extraordinary film to the widest possible audience.”
Scandinavian company Svensk has acquired distribution rights to Noel Pearson’s big-budget production “Tara Road,” which stars Andie MacDowell, Stephen Rae and Ruby Wax.
Based on the best-selling novel by Maeve Binchy, “Tara Road,” tells the story of two women from Dublin and Connecticut who swap houses for the summer in order to escape their personal problems. It has just finished shooting in Rathgar, Dublin, and will go on release in Ireland this year through Buena Vista International.
Xtra-Vision, an Irish subsidiary of Viacom, has bought video and DVD rights to the low-budget Irish film “Adam & Paul.”
Producers of the film also signed distribution deals with companies in Spain, Greece and the UK following its double win at the Sofia International Film Festival in March.
A bleak story about two Dublin heroin addicts, “Adam & Paul,” made history upon its national release last year, becoming the first Irish Film Board-backed production to recoup its costs at the Irish box office. The film, which cost