Andrew Niccol

Netflix is understood to have paid around $4m for Andrew Niccol’s sci-fi thriller Anon, which screened out of festival in Toronto.

The streaming platform acquired the US and select international rights in a deal with CAA and international sales agent Sierra/Affinity announced on Friday.

The deal is the latest in a trickle of modest business in Toronto since the weekend. On Tuesday it emerged that A24 and DirecTV had picked up US rights to Richard Eyre’s drama The Children Act starring Emma Thompson. CAA brokered that deal on behalf of FilmNation, BBC Films and the filmmakers.

Anon stars Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried – seen in Toronto, Venice and Telluride selection First Reformed – in the tale of a world where privacy has ended and memories are recorded by the authorities.

When a murder investigator learns a woman that may hold the answer to the crimes has vanished, it sets in motion a chain of events that threaten to overthrow the system. Niccol produced with Oda Schaefer, Oliver Simon, and Daniel Baur.

Niccol directed Toronto 2014 selection Good Kill and his credits include The Host and Gattaca. He earned a screenplay Oscar nod in 1999 for The Truman Show.

This has been a busy Toronto for Netflix after it paid around $4m for road movie Kodachrome, and the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – With A Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention Of Tony Clifton.

The company pursued I, Tonya but lost out when the producers opted for a broader theatrical and awards season play and settled on a deal understood to be in the region of $5m with Neon and 30West, which will put up the P&A.