U.K.'s Chelsea takes 'Blackthorn'

"Blackthorn"MADRID -- Chelsea Films, Curzon Artificial Eye's genre label, has acquired all rights to the U.K. and Ireland on Sam Shepard starrer "Blackthorn." Chelsea's Daniel Cooper and 6 Sales' Marina Fuentes closed the deal Monday in the run-up to the American Film Market, which kicks off Wednesday in Santa Monica. The film will be released in the U.K. next year. An integrated cinema theater and film distribution group, Curzon Artificial Eye mixes high-profile art film and crossover pickups -- such as "Melancholia" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin"-- with choice buys of lesser-known titles. Produced by Arcadia Motion Pics. and Aiete Films, the Mateo Gil-helmed "Blackthorn" reprises the Butch Cassidy legend, imagining the outlaw, played by Shepard, to have survived his supposed death in Bolivia in a 1908 shoot-out with the Bolivian army. World preeming at April's Tribeca festival, "Blackthorn" has emerged as one of Spain's sales hits of 2011. Magnolia Pictures has just released "Blackthorn" in the U.S., where it garnered positive reviews and a first 24-day $124,289 on limited release. In France, the film is still on a 70-print release after Bac Films put it out in an August bow. Ascot Elite has acquired German-speaking territories, and Non Stop took Scandinavia. "We are positive that our current negotiations with Italy, Japan, Latin America and other territories will be closed during the American Film Market," said Mar Abadin, 6 Sales head of sales. "Blackthorn" makes its last market appearance at early December's Ventana Sur. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com