Kaufman and Sony in sync on "Synecdoche"
By Gregg Goldstein and Steven Zeitchik
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Sony Pictures Classics is in advanced negotiations to acquire "Synecdoche, New York," writer Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut and one of the more buzzed-about titles from this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The film chronicles 40 years in the life of a writer played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who sets out to stage the ultimate play. He spends decades creating an enormous set with actors who mirror him and the many women in his life (Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson and others).
The special effects-filled $20 million film received mixed reviews at the French festival, where it premiered in a two-hour, four-minute version, pared down from an original cut that ran a little over four hours. Kaufman -- whose screenwriting credits include "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich" -- said after the film's Cannes debut that he might whittle it down further.
The talks with Sony Pictures Classics involve a price tage in the low seven figures.
Producers apparently are aiming for a late 2008 release for awards-season qualification.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
