I'd been hearing rumors that Buried, the Ryan-Reynolds-in-a-box thriller that debuted last night, had ignited the first bidding war of Sundance, and now a buyer has emerged. Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Lionsgate has picked up the debut film from Rodrigo Cortes, which spends 90 minutes with Reynolds' character trying to find a way out of the coffin in which he's been buried alive.

No word on how much they paid for the film or how they plan to release it, but Lionsgate, with their experience distributing genre stuff like Saw and even the upcoming Kick-Ass, sound like the right people to handle it. Horror audiences will likely show up to see just how scary 90 minutes in a box can be, while movie nerds will appreciate Cortes' obvious filmmaking skill. I'm still waiting for my pet favorite Catfish to get picked up, but Buried is a worthy winner as well.

UPDATE: THR is reporting that the deal was for $4 million-- presumably much, much more than it cost. Lionsgate plans to release it later this year. Nicely done everyone.

For more of our Sundance 2010 coverage, click here.