Sundance Deals: Miramax buys Night Listener

All week long, I've been hearing the same querie of panic: "Where's Harvey Weinstein?" The usually voracious festival buyer has so far been a no-show in Park City, and whilst I hear his Weinstein Company is looking seriously at the awesome feature Wristcutters: A Love Story, Harvey's ex-shingle has beaten him to checkout line on another high-profile Sundance pic. Miramax (now led by Daniel Battsek) has spent $3 million on the rights to The Night Listener, directed by Patrick Stettner (who made some noise here several years ago with The Business of Strangers), based on a novel by Armistead Maupin and starring Robin Williams and Rory Culkin. Williams (bearded, so you know it's a serious film) plays Gabriel, a public radio storyteller who forms a relationship with a young call-in listener and his social worker guardian (Toni Collette) – before beginning to doubt that the boy actually exists. The deal was brokered on the ground here in Park City; no release date has yet been announced.