A pair of movies that have been getting a fair amount of press lately were picked up for North American distribution yesterday. First, the increasingly controversial Edie Sedgwick biopic Factory Girl was acquired by the Weinstein Company, whose representatives apparently found time amidst all the Sundance festivities to sign a contract. According to a company spokesman, they are "thrilled to be distributing this complex story portrayed by an incredibly talented cast." Gee, that's a shock. As if they would say "Eh. It might suck, but we didn't want someone else to get it, so we dropped a few mil on the rights. No biggie. Look, Paris Hilton!"

The second acquisition is perhaps the more exciting one: Picturehouse bought the rights to distribute Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth in the US. Though del Toro's profile is now high enough that a theatrical run for the film was never really in doubt, it's nevertheless reassuring to know that the film is in good hands. Picturehouse, you may recall, have been busy - they bought the rights to Silk last week, and also will be distributing Robert Altman's widely anticipated A Prairie Home Companion later this year.