Paramount Vantage saw strong sales in Cannes for director Breck Eisner’s The Crazies, the reinvention of George A Romero’s 1973 horror thriller that has just wrapped production.

Paramount Vantage’s senior vice-president of international sales Alex Walton showed footage for the first time in Cannes and closed deals in the UK (Momentum), France (SND), Germany (Kinowelt), Latin America (Gussi), Benelux (A-Film), South Korea (Entermode), Malaysia (Suraya), Singapore (Cathay), Philippines (Pioneer), Thailand (Media Film), and Taiwan (SSG).

Rights also went to Indonesia (PT Amero), Poland (Monolith), the Czech Republic and Hungary (Hollywood C.E.), Bulgaria and Romania (ITV), Iceland (Myndform), Greece (Spentzos), the Middle East (Gulf Film), Portugal (Ecofilmes), and Turkey (D Productions).

Overture Films will release The Crazies in North America on February 26, 2010. The story is about quarantined inhabitants of a small town who fight for survival after a mysterious toxin unleashes a wave of insanity.

Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker and Joe Anderson star. Ray Wright wrote the screenplay from an earlier draft by Scott Kosar.

Romero serves as executive director and Michael Aguilar, Rob Cowan and Dean Georgaris are producing. Eisner previously directed Sahara.

“With Breck’s new vision for Romero’s original classic and the solid cast, The Crazies has tremendous commercial potential which has really resonated with our international buyers,” Walton said.

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