Drafthouse Films and Cinedigm have jointly acquired North American rights to documentary The Dog.

Allison Berg and Frank Keraudre’s film premiered in  Toronto and chronicles the true story of John Wojtowicz, whose infamous attempted robbery of a Brooklyn bank to finance his male lover’s sex-reassignment surgery inspired Dog Day Afternoon.

The partners have earmarked a theatrical and VOD release for summer 2014.

The Dog was made over the course of a decade, but we knew it was something special from day one,” said the directors. “The story was surreal, the characters unique. We wanted to let them be themselves and knew that audiences would feel that authenticity, as we did.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Drafthouse and Cinedigm. Their enthusiasm for the film combined with their expertise and forward-thinking approach to distribution is the best we could have hoped for, and we are very excited to be ‘unleashing’ The Dog with them in 2014.”

Josh Braun of Submarine represented the film-makers in the deal.