Toronto Deals: IFC Grabs Neil Jordan’s ‘Byzantium’

Vampire drama stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan

IFC Films is sinking its teeth into  "Byzantium," grabbing North American rights to the vampire tale, a studio spokeswoman told TheWrap.

The sales price was not disclosed.

"Byzantium" finds director Neil Jordan returning to the fangs-and-blood terrain he previously mined in 1994's "Interview With the Vampire." In place of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise mooning about lifelessly, Jordan's latest is a female-centric vampire story, starring Gemma Arterton ("Quantum of Solace") and Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") as blood-suckers who sink their incisors into various necks over a 200-year span.

Reviews of the film have been lackluster, with some complaining that it is a handsomely mounted dud.

" … Jordan’s return to territory he traveled in Interview with the Vampire and to a lesser extent The Company of Wolves is sluggish and lacking in bite," David Rooney wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. "It has neither thrills nor suspense."

WME and CAA represented domestic rights for the film.

Deadline first reported the sale.

 

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