From Variety

By Ramin Setoodeh

IFC Films has acquired North American distribution rights to the drama “Donnybrook” out of the Toronto Film Festival, Variety has learned.

The deal was in the seven-figure range, according to sources. Five companies were circling the project, which stars Jamie Bell as a former Marine grappling with economic hardships. He enters a bare-knuckle fighting contest where the winner walks away with $100,000.

The rest of the cast includes Frank Grillo, Margaret Qualley and James Badge Dale.

IFC will release “Donnybrook” in theaters in 2019.

The film, directed by Tim Sutton (“Dark Knight”) and based on the novel by Frank Bill, premiered to strong reviews at Toronto’s Platform Competition. It was produced by David Lancaster and Stephanie Wilcox at Rumble Films with financing from Backup Media. Executive producers include Joel Thibout, David Atlan-Jackson, Jean-Baptiste Babin, Andrew Schwartzberg and Jon Shiffman.

“It is both an honor and a thrill to partner with IFC Films, a distributor with intelligence, integrity and the respect of so many filmmakers I admire,” Sutton said in a statement. “They’ve released some of my favorite films and I couldn’t be more proud to have ‘Donnybrook’ in their hands.”

The deal was negotiated Arianna Bocco, EVP of acquisitions and production at IFC Films, and UTA Independent Film Group.