IFC Acquires Controversial Lindsay Lohan Pic 'The Canyons'

BREAKING: ifc has acquired rights to The Canyon, the Paul Schrader-directed film that pairs Lindsay Lohan and porn star James Deen in a drama about decadence and debauchery in Los Angeles. The film has gotten a lot of attention lately, including for its being rejected publicly by SXSW, which prompted an angry response on Deadline from Schrader over the festival's lack of discretion. The challenges of making the film with its high maintenance star Lohan was also the subject of a New York Times article.

At the time Schrader was sounding off on SXSW, the film's reps at WME Global were already fielding offers for the movie, and so it did not need a festival to build the kind of awareness needed to make a sale these days. If anything, a provocative sexy film with Lohan at this point needed, in Schrader's opinion, a quick path to the release to capitalize on all of the attendance publicity. And a company that could release on a multi-platform was a must. The film cost $90,000, with another $170,000 raised free and clear on Kickstarter, and another $200,000 in actor deferments. The rest goes to the principals of the film, which include Lohan and Schrader.

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