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Will Ferrell's Indie 'Everything Must Go' Acquired by Roadside

by Alex Billington
September 18, 2010
Source: Deadline

Good news, film fans! Deadline reports that Lionsgate and partner Roadside Attractions have acquired the Toronto Film Festival indie dramedy Everything Must Go from first-time writer/director Dan Rush. It stars Will Ferrell as a alcoholic who returns home after losing his job to find that his soon-to-be-ex-wife has put everything he owns on their lawn. Although I didn't think it was a knock out, it has a brilliant script behind it, and I enjoyed it quite a bit (read my review). Roadside's deal was "north of a $3 million minimum guarantee" which means they'll be giving it a good limited release, but I don't think it will break out that big.

Despite starring Will Ferrell (as well as Rebecca Hall and Stephen Root), the flick is much less of a comedy, and much more of a drama with some comedic moments. Ferrell does a fairly good job but it's the script and story that really shine, as it touches more on some deeper subjects of life and relationships more than it does the comedy of the situation. Roadside will be releasing the film in 2011. In addition to nabbing Everything Must Go, Roadside also acquired Robert Redford's The Conspirator early in the fest. Their official twitter wrote a tweet recently saying: "Toronto has been good to us." Hope they do well releasing both of the films!

In other related Toronto Film Fest acquisition/sales news (via THR), IFC Films acquired Werner Herzog's documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Barry Blaustein's Peep World; Oscilloscope Laboratories picked up Kelly Reichardt's western drama Meek's Cutoff; and Lionsgate proper (not Roadside) acquired John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole, starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, which I've heard is an Oscar contender. Stay tuned for more Toronto acquisition news, as I expect there will be a few more sales.

Filed under Indies, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

Conor

I liked Everything Must Go, but it really needed a director. This film is the script on screen, with nothing else added. The performances are good, but the pacing is a little slow, and there is nothing else added to it. Its pretty boring in its aesthetics and the score is really mundane. Too bad they let the writer take all the reins.
Liz

Hmmm... The same story ('Why Don't You Dance' by Raymond Carver) was made into a wonderful short film called 'Everything Goes' in 2004. Hugo Weaving played Ferrell's role and Abbie Cornish played Rebecca Hall's character. Even the titles sound the same! 'Everything Must Go' is pretty good, but I honestly prefer the original short film.