This year’s Slamdance was a slam dunk for the makers of Weirdsville, who saw their oddball black comedy open the festival to some acclaim and, riding that wave, have closed a U.S. distribution deal with Magnolia Pictures.

The picture went to Magnolia (Jesus Camp) for an undisclosed sum following talks with sales agent Shoreline Entertainment and producer Nicholas Tabarrok of Toronto’s Darius Films (The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico).

‘We had interest from a bunch of parties, but Magnolia took the lead early on,’ Tabarrok tells Playback Daily. ‘They were the very first company that contacted me.’

The picture — about the misadventures of dimwitted druggies in a no-horse Canadian town — stars Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley and Taryn Manning and was directed by Allan Moyle (Pump Up the Volume, New Waterford Girl).

A release date is not likely to be set until the picture finds a new Canadian distributor, Tabarrok says. Weirdsville was originally held by ThinkFilm, but must be dropped because of that company’s sale last year to U.S. investor David Bergstein.

Tabarrok says it’s taking longer than expected to get away from Think, but notes that a number of its former competitors have expressed interest in the movie.