Atom Egoyan's sexual thriller Chloe , starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried, finally secured U.S. distribution Friday in a deal with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group.
Like many other producers who wrapped the Toronto International Film Festival without finding an American distributor, Chloe 's makers had been in talks with many interested parties, none of whom took the bait before the 10-day event ended in mid-September.
Yesterday, Toronto-based Egoyan said he was "thrilled" with the Sony purchase, adding that "the film has done incredibly well in terms of international sales. We have sold out in every territory now."
"Given the nature of the market right now, given the fact that distributors are certainly taking their time in making their offers, we've managed to survive really well," he added. "And the film has entirely recouped its initial investment, which I'm thrilled with, given that this is [Paris-based]StudioCanal's first international co-production that they've fully financed."
During the film festival, Egoyan said he was looking "for substantial money" for Chloe , which went through a turbulent time late last winter when Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, died from a head injury while on a ski trip in Montreal.
Toronto plays starring role in Chloe Atom Egoyan had an unusual ally in helping to find the intimacy at the core of his new erotic drama Chloe - a harsh Canadian winter
Scripted by Erin Cressida Wilson ( Secretary), the sexually charged suspense film involves a woman who doubts her husband's fidelity and enlists a seductive girl to test him, leading to dangerous consequences.
Montecito Picture Co.'s Ivan Reitman, who co-produced Chloe , said recently that Richardson's death cast a pall over the production, adding "it didn't change the film, but changed all of us as human beings."
E1 Entertainment will distribute the film in Canada, expected in the first half of 2010.
Gayle MacDonald