In a move that will thoroughly shake up the Oscar race, Paramount Pictures has snagged the U.S. distribution rights to the hottest sales title that played at this year’s fall film festivals, an across-the-board contender called September 5, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
The studio, which has also acquired the worldwide distribution rights for September 5 (with the exception of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where it will be handled by Constantin Film), will release it in the U.S. on Nov. 27, the Wednesday of the Thanksgiving long weekend, and will expand its theatrical footprint into December, with a full-fledged awards push behind it.
Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Leonie Benesch star in the third feature from director Tim Fehlbaum (The Colony and Hell), a dramatic thriller about ABC Sports’ coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack in which Palestinian militants took hostage Israeli athletes. The resulting standoff became the first live-televised coverage of an act of terrorism, with all sorts of accompanying moral and ethical dilemmas for the journalists on the ground, including ABC Sports’ legendary chief Roone Arledge (Sarsgaard), the network’s young coordinating producer for Olympics coverage Geoff Mason (Magaro) and a German national who helped them navigate the language and culture (Benesch).
Paramount’s Republic Pictures acquired the global sales rights for September 5 back in July and began shopping its U.S. rights. Interest among distributors reached a crescendo after the film premiered at — and blew the roof off of — the recent Venice and Telluride film festivals, generating comparisons to past best picture Oscar winners Argo and Spotlight. Ultimately, the Paramount Film Group determined that it was a property that should be kept in the family. It now joins the studio’s already-formidable awards slate that also includes Gladiator 2, Better Man and Transformers One.
The Hollywood Reporter, in our review of September 5, described it as “an enlightening, altogether gripping experience” with a “terrific cast” that is “more than just a time capsule about how the news was handled in the pre-digital age; it’s an account that speaks to our time as well.”
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