Miramax announced last night that it had picked up US rights to Fernando Meirelles' thriller Blindness in a deal believed to be in the $4m-5m range.

Meirelles is currently shooting his adaptation of Jose Saramago's novel, about a doctor's wife who becomes the only person in a town who can see after a mysterious case of mass blindness.

Julianne Moore stars alongside Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Danny Glover and Sandra Oh. Don McKellar adapted the screenplay.

Niv Fichman, Sonoko Sakai and Andrea Barata Ribeiro produced and Gail Egan and Simon Channing-Williams served as executive producers.

Miramax's executive vice president of business affairs and operations Michael Luisi negotiated the deal in Toronto with producers Niv Fichman and Sonoko Sakai with Steve Saltzman at Loeb & Loeb on their behalf.

Miramax chief Daniel Battsek has a long-standing relationship with Meirelles and previously worked with the Brazilian film-maker when he headed BVI UK and released City Of God.