CBS buys "The Words", "Tupelo 77" gets a director

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) - Buying activity at the Sundance Film Festival ramped up on Sunday after late-night negotiations on Saturday. CBS Films announced that it had acquired "The Words," a drama starring Brad Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Jeremy Irons.

The movie stars Cooper as a writer who at the peak of his literary success discovers the price he must pay for stealing another man's work. Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal co-wrote and co-directed the film.

Mickey Liddell's LD Distribution bought North American rights to the midnight entry "Black Rock."

And there was plenty of noise continuing around the hottest film in the feature competition, "Beast of the Southern Wild," which insiders said had Fox Searchlight, Focus Features and others seeking the rights through WME.

"Filly Brown," a fierce hip-hop drama, handled by WME, was also said to be in play.

Also on Sunday:

Julie Dash, who directed the television movie "The Rosa Parks Story," is in final negotiations to direct Angel Entertainment's feature "Tupelo 77," Angel's Bob Crowe said Sunday.

The movie is set in a small town in Mississippi in the summer of 1977. It tells the story of a group of women of various ages and races who are regulars at a roadside diner. The summer of 1977 -- the year Elvis Presley died -- is the hottest on record in Mississippi.

Casting for the film is under way. Crowe and Sean Hewitt are producing the movie, which begins shooting this summer.

Rich Mancuso wrote the screenplay, which shows the women as they struggle to "transcend the obstacles of poverty, racial and religious differences, and the persistent wounds of war."

Dash's "Daughters of the Dust" was selected as one of the "From the Collection" screenings at the Sundance Film Festival. That film first screened at the 1991 Sundance festival, where it earned the Excellence in Cinematography Award.