Gaga Communications is understood to have picked up Japanese rights to Cube director Vincenzo Natali's Company Man, one of the US projects attracting most interest from international buyers at the AFM.

Sales agent Pandora was apparently aiming to secure between $1.5m and $2m for Japanese rights to the project after psychological sci-fi thriller Cube was particularly successful in the territory. Company Man, a futuristic thriller currently in pre-production, is understood to be budgeted south of $10m.

Shebnem Askin, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Pandora, refused to comment on the deal, although Pandora is expected to close a series of territories on the project by the end of the AFM. Pandora was last year restructured following its acquisition by Nashville-based entertainment group Gaylord, shifting its base from Paris to Los Angeles. Company Man marks one of the first productions to go under the new set-up.