Momentum Pictures has acquired the UK rights to Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads, the company confirmed this week.

Momentum, which has slated the film to open March 29, joined other international buyers such as Sogepag in Spain, Constantin Film in Germany and Egmont in Scandinavia in an unusual auction. Distributors were invited to pitch for the project by outlining how much they would spend on p&a. Maximising the upside for Spears, the $10m production is being released for a fee and is being sold without a minimum guarantee.

"We were very keen to acquire this film for the UK and pursued it aggressively," said David Kosse, managing director of Momentum Pictures. 'I am confident that Britney's acting debut will mirror her impressive musical career.'

The deal for the UK was negotiated by Sally Caplan, Momentum's senior vice-president acquisitions and business affairs, and David Garrett, of international sales agents Summit Entertainment. Paramount Pictures is handling North America.

Crossroads features the tracks Overprotected and I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman from Spears' number one album, Britney. Billed as an "upbeat story about friendship and love", the film stars Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning and Anson Mount alongside the more established likes of Dan Aykroyd and Kim Cattrall. Tamra Davies directs.