EXCLUSIVE: Fox Searchlight has acquired worldwide rights from Indian Paintbrush to Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom follow-up The Grand Budapest Hotel and has come on board as co-financier.
The studio is understood to be exploring release dates either in late 2013 or 2014 and reunites with Steven Rales’ finance and production company following their collaboration on Park Chan-wook’s Sundance hit Stoker, which opened earlier this month.
The Grand Budapest Hotel marks the first time Searchlight has distributed an Anderson film since 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. It also released The Darjeeling Limited in 2007.
Anderson [pictured] is producing The Grand Budapest Hotel with Scott Rudin, Rales and Jeremy Dawson and recently wrapped production after shooting at Studio Babelsberg in Berlin and other German locations. Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg provided a $600,000 subsidy.
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé.
The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
A powerhouse cast features Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan, Tom Wilkinson, Mathieu Amalric, F Murray Abraham, Bob Balaban and Tony Revolori.
Fox Searchlight svp of business affairs Megan O’Brien negotiated the deal with Peter McPartlin of Indian Paintbrush.
Focus Features handled worldwide distribution on Moonrise Kingdom, which earned Anderson and Roman Coppola a best original screenplay Oscar nomination at the recent 85th Academy Awards.
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