Sony Pays Seven Figures for International Rights to Buddy
Summary
The killer-mascot comedy, made for $3 million and grossed $27 million domestically, drew multiple suitors before Sony beat them out for everywhere outside North America
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has picked up all international rights to Buddy, the horror-comedy that marked Too Many Cooks creator Casper Kelly's feature directorial debut, in a deal reported as mid-to-high seven figures, Deadline reported exclusively. Sony beat out multiple suitors for the rights. Buddy premiered in Sundance's Midnight section before Roadside Attractions and Saban Films acquired North American rights and released it wide on August 28; made for roughly $3 million, it has grossed $27 million domestically, closing in on a distributor record for Roadside. A sing-along theatrical version arrived October 2. The film, about a beloved children's-show mascot who turns violent when a child refuses to play along, stars Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon and Patton Oswalt. It is produced by Weapons outfit BoulderLight Pictures and Emily the Criminal outfit Low Spark Films, in association with Sipur Studios and Substance; UTA Independent Film Group and Range Media Partners negotiated the sale on the filmmakers' behalf.
The Kinolime Lens
A $3 million film that grosses nine times its budget domestically before a single international ticket sells is exactly the kind of result that makes a competitive international auction inevitable, and Sony beating out multiple suitors confirms buyers were watching Buddy's domestic numbers in real time rather than waiting for a finished run to make their case. For producers structuring financing on a contained, high-concept horror film, keeping international rights separable from the domestic deal, as BoulderLight and Low Spark did here, is what let this second payday exist at all; a single all-rights sale at the festival stage would have left this upside entirely on Sony's side of the ledger instead of the filmmakers'.