Magnolia Pictures Picks Up Joaquin Phoenix Documentary

A few weeks back we reported that the Casey Affleck documentary I’m Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix was close to finding a distributor. While the making of the film was quite public (as were Phoenix's antics) studios were balking due to some of the film's more obscene content. Apparently Magnolia Pictures doesn't really care all too much, as the studio has sent out a press release saying that they have picked up the film for distribution and that it now has a release date of September 10.

It's kind of hard to figure why this was such a tough sell. All one has to do is look at the box office numbers for Borat to see that insane, mockumentary filmmaking can find an audience. The press release, which you can read in full below, seems to paint the movie as an exploratory drama, but considering the film features a scene in which the hobo-bearded Walk The Line actor does blow off a hooker's chest. That's comedy, folks.

Magnolia Pictures Takes World Rights to I’M STILL HERE

New York – July 14, 2010 – The Wagner/Cuban Companies' Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired world rights to Oscar-nominee Casey Affleck’s directorial debut, I’M STILL HERE, a striking portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of internationally acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, I’M STILL HERE follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and always riveting, the film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.

Magnolia will release I’M STILL HERE on Friday, September 10th.

The deal was negotiated by Magnolia’s SVP Tom Quinn, Acquisitions VP Dori Begley and Head of Business Affairs Chris Matson, with Liesl Copland for WME Global.