Sundance: Magnolia Buys ‘The Guilty’
Magnolia Pictures has picked up North American rights to Gustav M?ller’s “The Guilty” at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film centers on an alarm dispatcher and former police officer who answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman. After the call disconnects, the dispatcher tries to piece together the clues to find the woman only to discover that he is grappling with a crime that is far more serious and expansive than he imagined.
In a largely favorable review, Variety’s Guy Lodge compared the film to “Locke” and “The Call,” two telephonic dramas, and called it “…a high-concept, low-budget and skilfully muscle-tensing Danish thriller to which you can imagine more than a couple of eager Tinseltown execs angling for the remake rights.”
In a statement, Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures said, “Gustav M?ller has devised an ingeniously executed thriller with ‘The Guilty.’ This is an incredibly accomplished feature debut, and Magnolia is excited to introduce him to American audiences.”
The film’s cast includes Jacob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen, Omar Shargawi and Katinka Evers-Jahnsen.
The deal was negotiated by John Von Thaden, SVP of acquisitions at Magnolia Pictures, and Susan Wendt, director of international sales & marketing at TrustNordisk. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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