Overture, Maximum bask in 'Sunshine'

February 27, 2008 Overture Films has picked up U.S. rights and Maximum Films has netted Canadian rights to the seriocomic drama "Sunshine Cleaning," starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn and Alan Arkin. The Overture sale on the $7 million Big Beach project -- which did not sell immediately after its premiere at January's Sundance Film Festival -- was for about $2 million plus substantial backend participation for the filmmakers, and the Maximum deal was in the mid-six figures. The high-wattage cast, prescreening expectations of a comedic tone, the title's similarity to the $10.5 million 2006 Sundance seller "Little Miss Sunshine" and the films' shared producers and Oscar-winning star Arkin led to high hopes for a heated bidding war.

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