Mountain Queen

Source: TIFF

Mountain Queen

Netflix has picked up worldwide rights to Lucy Walker’s TIFF documentary Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa in its second buy of the festival.

The streamer plans a 2024 launch for the story of the first Nepali woman to scale Mount Everest. SK Global Entertainment, OBB Pictures, Avocados and Coconuts produced and CAA Media Finance represented the filmmakers in the deal.

On Monday night Netflix snapped up US and select territories on Woman Of The Hour in a deal understood to be valued at $10m.

At time of writing there were signs of life in the US acquisitions market after the traditional opening weekend lull.

Among titles known to be attracting attention were Thea Sharrock’s Wicked Little Letters starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, and Hit Man, Richard Linklater’s dark comedy which received its North American premiere yesterday here in Toronto after debuting in Venice.

Anthony Hopkins drama One Life directed by James Hawes has also won admirers, as have Michael Keaton’s noir Knox Goes Away and Azazel Jacobs’ His Three Daughters starring Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne.

As Screen reported earlier in the festival, there has been sustained interest on Christy Hall’s directorial debut Daddio and Ava DuVernay’s Origin.

Daddio stars Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn and has been high on buyers’ must-see list since it premiered in Telluride. It screens again on Thursday.

Neon’s new sales division has been fielding interest on DuVernay’s Venice premiere Origin, which got its North American premiere on Monday and screens again on Wednesday. Neon will distribute Origin in the US.