(Variety) Picture Tree Intl. Reveals Sales on Romantic Comedy ‘Love Thing,’ Starring Elyas M’Barek (EXCLUSIVE)
Berlin-based sales agent Picture Tree Intl. has sold romantic comedy “Love Thing,” starring top German actor Elyas M’Barek, to several territories. It has also closed the first deal for Austrian horror movie “Smother.”
“Love Thing” has gone to Flins & Piniculas in Spain; A2 Distribuidora in Latin America; Cinemart A.S. in Czech Republic; and AV-Jet in Taiwan. Spafax & Anuvu took airline rights. PTI is in negotiations with buyers in France, Italy, CIS and Hungary.
“Love Thing,” which also stars Lucie Heinze, Peri Baumeister and Alexandra Maria Lara, is directed and written by Anika Decker, whose last feature “High Society” sold widely. Decker scripted box office successes like “Rabbit Without Ears,” which grossed $85 million. The film was produced by Constantin Film, which released it in Germany earlier this year.
In the movie, it’s red carpet time in Berlin, and everyone at the premiere is waiting to catch a glimpse of Germany’s biggest movie star, Marvin Bosch (M’Barek). But they’re all waiting in vain, because there’s no way Marvin is going to show up after his interview with the snippy and ruthless tabloid journalist Bettina Bamberger (Lara) goes horribly wrong.
The star goes on the run and takes shelter at a feminist LGBT+ theater called 3000, which is run by Frieda (Heinze), and is on the verge of bankruptcy. Will Marvin, Frieda and their friends manage to save the theater, restore Marvin’s reputation and give true love a chance?
Home entertainment/VOD rights for “Smother,” which will be released theatrically in Austria in spring 2023 via Filmladen, have been sold to Tiberius Film for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
“Smother,” directed by Achmed Abdel-Salam and produced by Glitter and Doom, centers on Michi, a recovering alcoholic. After the death of her father, she stays in his summer house for a few days with her daughter. Long repressed memories of her childhood overshadowed by her mother’s suicide haunt her. Trying to numb herself with alcohol accelerates her paranoid state.