Chris Rock's film Top Five screened at TIFF on Saturday night, followed by glowing reviews from outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter, which predicted it would be on many a distributor's wish list. According to Deadline, following a bidding war between Sony, Fox Searchlight, Open Road, A24, CBS Films, Relativity and Lionsgate, Paramount has purchased the film, which was written by, directed by and starring Chris Rock, for an estimated $12.5 million. That shatters the previous amount paid for a film at TIFF, when Harvey Weinstein bought Can a Song Save Your Life? starring Keira Knightley for $7 million. It was released earlier this year with a new name — Begin Again.
Top Five tells the story of New York City comedian-turned-film star Andre Allen (Rock), who is forced to confront both the career that made him famous and the life he left behind. ~Alexandra Heilbron
Comments:
Saw this movie at TIFF....laughed from start to finish and then some when all the actors hit the stage for a Q&A. What can I say, Chris never disappoints.
I also saw Chris Rock. He and his crew joined on stage and totally entertained us before the movie and after the movie played. He is a super comedian with some savvy.