We have another horror acquisition from Sundance to report on. IFC Midnight has officially announced that they have acquired The Pact. The film is directed by Nicholas McCarthy, and stars Caity Lotz and Casper Van Dien. According to reports, the plan is for The Pact to have a pre-theatrical video-on-demand release, followed by a 12-city theatrical run. IFC had a similar rollout plan for their release of The Human Centipede 2.
We have the official press release and we've also included a teaser trailer below:
"Park City, UT (January 26, 2012) – IFC Midnight announced today from the 2012 SundanceFilm Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights, to writer-director Nicholas McCarthy’s THE PACT. The film, which premiered in the festival’s Midnight section on January 20, stars Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Haley Hudson, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sam Ball, and Agnes Bruckner. The film was produced by Preferred Content’s Ross M. Dinerstein, and executive produced by Jamie Carmichael at Content, as part of a new multi-film financing deal between Preferred Content and Content Film.
THE PACT follows sisters Nicole and Annie who reluctantly return to their childhood home when their mother passes away to pay their last respects. While staying overnight in the house, the sisters sense a mysterious presence in their midst: noises startling them in the night, objects moving about, a fallen picture of an unknown woman posed next to their mother. Annie begins experiencing a series of intense and disturbing dreams visions that lead her to uncover something terrible about her mother’s past that is finally revealing itself. This feature film was inspired by an acclaimed 2011 Sundance Film Festival short of the same name directed by McCarthy. It is one of the first films to be conceived, and premiere, as a narrative short, and just one year later return to the festival feature film.
President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films Jonathan Sehring said: “Nicholas McCarthy makes a bold directorial debut here, and turns the vintage haunted house story into a modern and terrifying film. McCarthy also offers up an exciting young cast led by Caity Lotz who, deservedly so, has been one of the breakout stars of this year’s festival. It’s also great to see Casper Van Dien here.”
“I am psyched to be working with IFC Midnight on this film,” says McCarthy. “After meeting with their team, we all knew they are the perfect home for our film.”
Content’s Carmichael said, “This is just such a fantastic way to start our deal with Preferred. It’s been such a pleasure working with Nick and Ross on The Pact, and to have IFC Midnight joining our team is the icing on the cake.”
The deal for the film was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films, and Jeff Deutchman, Director of Acquisitions, with Kevin Iwashina and Christine D’Souza of Preferred Content along with Rick Kwak of Content Media Corporation on behalf of the filmmakers. Content handles international sales and will screen the film at the upcoming Berlin market."
[Teaser via Dread Central]