Big studios such as Lionsgate, Paramount and Sony were crunching the numbers for a dramedy directed by Rock.
- Sep 8, 2014
AceShowbiz - The most-buzzed movie at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend was Chris Rock's "Top Five". It was reported that the film sparked a bidding war among Sony, Paramount, Open Road, A24, Relativity, Lionsgate and Fox Searchlight with the price tag going as high as $10 million.
"Top Five" premiered on Saturday, September 6 night to great applause. Rock directs and stars in the movie which tells the story of a comedian trying to reinvent himself as a serious actor. It also stars Gabrielle Union as his reality-TV star fiancee who wants their wedding televised. Rosario Dawson plays a reporter who stands by the actor when his serious movie about a Haitian revolution drama, "Uprize", hits theaters.
"The character, it's not exactly me, but I've been through that," said Rock when asked whether it was inspired by his own life. "Hey, this movie will come out some week and I'll pretty much have - I won't have Rosario - but I'll have a similar day to the day the guy has in the movie."
The movie is being repped by UTA which also handles the sales of another hot movie, "While We're Young". Directed by Noah Baumbach, the drama is about a 40-something couple who befriend a 20-something hipster couple. Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts are the older couple while Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver are the young couple. Bids for this movie reach $4 million.
