Sundance has its first big buy!

...and it's an ensemble cop drama by the director of Training Day, which as a random aside, filmed partly in Coney Island, minutes from my homefront. The story broke in Variety, and here it is:

Senator Distribution nabbed North American rights to Antoine Fuqua's cop drama "Brooklyn's Finest" on Saturday night, 24 hours after its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.Sources close to the deal said Senator paid under $5 million, but made an eight-figure P&A commitment. Senator says it will release the film in the fourth quarter for awards consideration.Pic's cast includes Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, and Don Cheadle as cops battling their own ethical and moral dilemmas."We went into aggressive pursuit right after Friday's screening," said Senator president Mark Urman.Stressing that the film is a work in progress, Urman said talks continued the next day with Fuqua, focusing on delivery issues. The music is still temporary and there are discussions about reworking the ending."It strikes me that the ending will be different," said Urman. "But Antoine must be happy with it."Urman touted the film's award potential, noting that Hawke received an Oscar nomination for Fuqua's previous cop drama, "Training Day.""Being from Brooklyn, this film is important to me," said Urman. He wouldn't comment on the purchase price, except to say it was a "strong, muscular figure."Deal was brokered by CAA and William Morris with Urman and Senator CEO Marco Weber.

-Work in progess is a phrase that scares me, but I'm very interested to see where this film goes...what about all of you?