13/02/2007

The story of Dead in Three Days (In 3 Tagen bist du tot) by Vienna-born Andreas Prochaska (who mostly directs for television but has also collaborated as an editor with Austrian maestro Michael Haneke) is truly one of success.

Starring a mostly young amateur cast and produced by Helmut Grasser for Allegro Filmproduktion, the horror film with a budget of less than €2m attracted attention in Austria after its release through Filmladen in September, garnering close to 14,000 admissions after only three days on 44 screens.

The film came in fourth at the box office, trailing behind such blockbusters as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Cars, making it one of the most popular Austrian box office titles of 2006.

Thanks to this success and the film’s screening at several international film festivals such as Locarno, Copenhagen and Brussels, the story of Dead in Three Days – about a group of high school students who receive a text message promising their imminent death, from a murderer whose motivations, though not determination, are a mystery – quickly had foreign distributors intrigued.

French outfit Celluloïd Dreams – who are handling sales on the title (Dead in Three Days is also the first feature to be made under the outfit’s new label, Celluloïd Nightmares) – have already sold the rights to the film to over 30 territories, including the Middle East, all of Latin America, Turkey and several Asian countries.

In Europe, Spain (Vertigo Films), Greece (Strada Films) and Italy (Delta Films) have bought the title, while Delphi have acquired rights in Germany and Frenetic Films in Switzerland.

Territories still up for grabs are France and the UK. However, the presence of lead actress Sabrina Reiter at the 2007 Shooting Stars in Berlin (see interview) is expected to help lure new buyers.

(Translated from French)