Sundance: Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Richard Linklater's 'Before Midnight'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
January 25, 2013 11:24 AM
1 Comment

With the big question around "Before Midnight" – will it stand alongside the beloved "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset"? – finally answered (it definitely does, read our review), the next question was where the movie was going to end up. It's a tricky one. The first two movies weren't exactly big box office smashes, each earning under $6 million domestically, and moreover, for anyone grabbing the movie, they wouldn't get any home video bump from the past movies as they are owned by Columbia ("Before Sunrise") and Warner Bros. ("Before Sunset"). But, those issues aside, the movie has landed at a big home.

Sony Pictures Classics has scooped up the movie in a deal that is apparently worth seven figures, and is likely one of the big buys of the fest. Some of us at The Playlist pondered if the movie might make more sense as a limited theatrical/VOD play, but this acquisition suggests that Sony are confident there are more than enough people out there who are going to want to head to theaters to catch up with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy's, Jesse and Celine. And frankly, we don't doubt that's true.

No word yet on when it will hit theaters, but we'd guess (and hope) that by the end of 2013 we'll be in Greece to see where these two are now in their lives. [Deadline]

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More: Sundance Film Festival, Before Midnight, Sony Pictures Classics

1 Comment

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James | January 25, 2013 12:15 PMReply

The first film is not owned by Columbia. If it were it would be a Sony company. It was merely distributed by Columbia in 1995. It is owned by Castle Rock, so it's a Warner property just like the 2nd film.

I'm sure they'll strike some deal to box all 3 together, especially since the first 2 have never been on Blu-Ray. Multiple studios box related films together all the time.

I wouldn't even be shocked if all three end up with Criterion, as they've handled Linklater's films in the past and they've released Sony films before and are about to start releasing Warner films with "Badlands".