Palm Pictureshas picked up North American and Caribbean rights to Sebastian Cordero's Spanish-languagecrime thriller Cronicas,which is set to receive its North American premiere at Toronto after a worldpremiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Palm plans a second quarter 2005 release followed by DVDroll-out later in the year.

Cronicas centres on a sensationalist Miamireporter who travels to Ecuador to cover the story of a serial killer and endsup engaging him in a battle of wits.

John Leguizamo,Damian Alcazar and Alfred Molina star in the picture, which earned Cordero theSundance NHK Award for Best Latin American Screenplay

Alfonso Cuaron,Guillermo Del Toro, and Jorge Vergara produced through their AnheloProductions, along with Bertha Navarro and Isabel Davalos, with FridaTorresblanco serving as executive producer.

The deal wasnegotiated by David Koh, head of acquisitions & production for Palm,company chairman Blackwell, and chief operating officer Steven Lehrhoff, alongwith Cinetic Media and Cuaron, Vergara, and Torresblanco.

"We arethrilled to be working with Sebastian, Alfonso, Jorge, Frida and the Anheloteam," Koh said in a statement. "We hope to get Cronicas out to the largest audience possible.Cordero is a real talent and this is a breakout role for Leguizamo."

Focus Featurespicked up international sales rights to the film prior to Cannes.