Let's make a deal

"Little Miss Sunshine" was the first of the class of Sundance '06 to land a distribution deal, as Fox Searchlight snapped up the audience favorite for a reported $10.5 million plus 10% of the gross (going to who? The producers? The directors? The key grip?). While it was hard to find anyone who had anything bad to say about the adorable comedy, it was also hard to find anyone who didn't think Fox had overpaid. Indeed, immediate second-guessing from the industry hordes on the shuttle buses raised the specter of "Happy Texas" and other festival favorites of years past that were bought for big amounts and went on to make bupkus in theaters. Will the Sundance high-altitude fever translate to a collective shrug from real-world moviegoers? Hard to say. Marketed correctly, "Sunshine" could be a genuine word-of-mouth indie hit. Mismanaged, it'll be just another festival success that died on the vine.

Some good celebrity sightings today: the cast of "Friends with Money" caused a near-riot on Main Street during the afternoon, which really means that Jennifer Aniston caused a near-riot. Crowds blocked the busy street for a chance to see the actress get into an SUV limo, which took off with paparazzi sprinting behind. How come this stuff never happens to Frances McDormand?

Guy Pearce, Danny Huston, and rocker-screenwriter Nick Cave were seen at a soiree celebrating "The Proposition," the gritty Outback western that summons up the ghosts of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah; First Look will be releasing it in May. My favorite star-spotting of the day, though, was seeing Crispin Glover ("Back to the Future," "Willard") striding unnoticed through the throng on Main St. wearing a natty pin-striped suit and a purposeful stare.

In the evening, the big premiere was "The Night Listener," a creepy little number starring Robin Williams as a gay radio celebrity and Toni Collette as a woman who may or may not be the guardian of an ailing young fan. Based on the novel by Armistead Maupin ("Tales of the City"), the movie's both unsettling and unsatisfactory, playing like a version of "Misery" that doesn't want to stoop to being a horror film. Collette's terrific, though, and this marks the second (and third and fourth) fine performance I've seen her in today. I'm beginning to wonder if there's nothing the woman can't do. Williams is also effective, but overall "Listener" is a little too reminiscent of "One Hour Photo" in too many ways: it doesn't trust the genre it's flirting with.

Tomorrow: more deals, more movies, and maybe a bit of sleep.