The Grand Jury prize for
Like Crazy at the Sundance Film Festival represented a considerable upset. The director and co-writer
Drake Doremus has previously enjoyed only mixed success with a slightly uneven comedy drama Douchebag, and the little watched and even less loved debut feature Spooner. His victory was also supplemented by a special prize for the performance of lead actress
Felicity Jones (Cemetery Junction). Given this unprecedented critical acclaim, in addition to the press coverage that accompanied these awards, it was inevitable that Like Crazy would not need to fight for a distribution deal, and so it proved as a deal
has now been struck with Paramount Vantage. Jones stars alongside promising young counterparts
Anton Yelchin (Terminator Salvation) and
Jennifer Lawrence (Winters Bone) as an English exchange student whose romance is put under immense strain when she is denied the right to return to the United States by its draconian immigration officials having over-stayed her Visa on a previous trip. Paramount will countenance a limited theatrical release on October 28th in the US with additional screenings being subject to demand. Worldwide things are less clear, but there will be a theatrical run orchestrated between Paramount and Indian Paintbrush who paid $4million for the right to distribute the film internationally.