Let the Deal-Making Begin

It’s Saturday night, when everything under the sun (snow?) is typically scheduled, making Sundance even more frenetic than normal—so it’s only fitting that, finally, there is some action stirring on the deal-making front. The first big bid (around $2 million, according to Nikki Finke's Deadline) is heating up around Like Crazy, from 27-year-old Drake Doremus, who looks like the next breakout Sundance kid, putting him in the esteemed directing ranks of Quentin Tarantino, Darren Aronofsky, and the Coen Brothers.The film is a pitch-perfect love story, never cloying, with terrific performances by its two young stars (Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, a British actress who thankfully doesn’t annoy in the way that Minnie Driver does on film). Adding to the movie’s allure: Coming in at 89 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.The story follows the relationship between Jacob (Yelchin) and Anna (Jones), who meet in college in L.A., but are torn apart by the INS (Anna is a British student). It sounds simple, but as Doremus pointed out in his opening remarks at a screening on Saturday, love never is.Judging by the audience’s reaction after the screening—lots of grateful mumbles that after a disappointing first two days, finally a home run—Like Crazy will be going, going, gone, very soon. Stay tuned.Gabe Doppelt contributed to this report.

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