Magnolia Pictures hasswooped on Bong Joon-ho's left-field monster movie The Host, acquiring rights for the US, UK and Australia to thefilm that screened in Director's Fortnight.

Sales agent Cineclick Asiahas also sold the film to France's Ocean Films, Spain's Notro Films andDiscovery for former Yugoslavia. Other territories closed in Cannes includeBrazil and Argentina (Providence), Mexico (Gussi) and Thailand (J-pics).

Cineclick will distributedirectly in Singapore and Malaysia and Chungeorahm Film, the Korean productioncompany behind the film, will handle distribution in China.

Magnolia will line upsub-distributors for the film in the UK and Australia.

'The Host has the potential to become a classic of thegenre,' said Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles. 'The creature is oneof the most impressive and imaginative movie monsters I've seen in a longtime.'

The deal with Magnolia wasnegotiated by the US company's head of acquisition Tom Quinn, head of legal andbusiness affairs Jason Janego and acquisitions manager Ben Stambler withCineclick managing director Young-joo Suh and sales manager Sang-eun Chi.