New Line Cinema has acquired North American distribution rights tothe ensemble comedy The Upside Of Anger, which was co-financed and sold by Media 8 Entertainment.

Written and directed by Mike Binder, the film stars Joan Allen asa single mother of four teenage daughters who starts to have a relationshipwith her neighbour played by Kevin Costner. Erika Christensen, Evan RachelWood, Keri Russell and Alicia Witt play the daughters.

The deal, estimated at $3m, was brokered by Guy Stodel,senior vice president of acquisitions for New Line & Fine Line, and MarkOrdesky, executive vice president and COO of New Line Productions with Endeavornegotiating on behalf of Media 8.

The film was produced by Alex Gartner, Jack Binder andSammy Lee.

"We are delighted to be in business with New Line,"said Lee, who is vice chairman of Media 8. "They are the ideal partnerbecause they are passionate about the film and are committed to releasing thefilm to the widest possible audience."

Rolf Mittweg, New Line's president and COO, worldwide distributionand marketing, said that no release date has yet been set. "We're lookingforward to working with the film-makers in its marketing and distribution," hesaid.