WolfeReleasing has picked up US rights to the director's cut of Thom Fitzgerald'sglobal Aids drama 3 Needles starringLucy Liu, Chloe Sevigny and Stockard Channing.

Wolfeplans an autumn theatrical release followed by a home entertainment roll-out insummer 2007.

Thedirector's differs from the version of the picture that premiered at Torontolast autumn and is being distributed in Canada in that it reinstates 20 minutesof footage, including a sex scene involving Channing in a Montreal strip club.

Thepicture presents three stories of separate lives affected by the deadlyepidemic in rural China, South Africa, and Montreal. Olympia Dukakis and ShawnAshmore also star.

Wolfepresident Maria Lynn and director of acquisitions and theatrical distributionOrly Ravid brokered the deal for all US theatrical, broadcast and home videorights with Covington USA and Vicki McCarty of Flutie Entertainment.

"3Needles is a passionate andexquisitely beautiful film," Lynn said. "I have long admired Thom'sfilms and we are thrilled to be working with him on his best and biggest film yet.It is a breakthrough film, and Lucy Liu gives a performance that will never letyou think of her in the same way again."

Emotion Picutres producedthe Bigfoot Entertainment presentation, in association with Telefilm Canada, theNova Scotia Film Development Corporation, Astral Media, City TV, TMN- The MovieNetwork, Movie Central, Super Ecran, the Nova Scotia Film Industry Tax Creditand the Canadian Film and Video Tax Credit.