Sundance: Lovelace rights bought by Weinstein Company
The US rights to a new biopic of porn star Linda Lovelace have been snapped up following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
RADiUS-TWC, a division of The Weinstein Company, bought the rights to the fact-based drama on Tuesday night and now plans to release it in the autumn. Les Miserables' Amanda Seyfried plays the title role in Lovelace, one of two new films about the Deep Throat star. The other, Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story, sees Malin Akerman play Linda. Reviews of Lovelace from Sundance have been broadly positive, with the Hollywood Reporter describing it as "surprisingly good on several fronts". Screen International praised the film for being "both breezy and weighty at the same time", though Variety's critic felt it reduced "an immensely disturbing... tale to a series of cartoonish vignettes". Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Lovelace explores the relationship between the titular actress and her husband and manager Chuck Traynor. Peter Sarsgaard portrays Traynor in the film, a role that Matt Dillon will be seen playing when Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story is released. Robert Patrick and Sharon Stone play Seyfried's parents in Lovelace, while James Franco appears as Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Franco previously collaborated with Epstein and Friedman on their 2010 film Howl, in which he played US beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Audiences at Sundance have seen Ginsberg portrayed again, this time by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, in new film Kill Your Darlings. They have also had the chance to see The Look of Love, another new biopic involving adult entertainment starring Steve Coogan as British porn baron Paul Raymond. Sundance, which showcases independent films made on a limited budget, runs until 27 January. Its UK sister festival, Sundance London, returns to the capital in April having made its debut last year.