Entertainment One stable mates Maximum Films International and Maximum Films Distribution have picked up international sales and Canadian releasing rights to the upcoming Australian crime saga Animal Kingdom. Written and to be directed by debut feature filmmaker David Michôd, the film has a January 2009 start date, with Guy Pearce in the lead.

‘The film is a genre piece, but like a Sexy Beast, it will also garner terrific critical response and festival attention,’ said MFI’s Charlotte Mickie, who signed the deal in L.A. during the AFM. Michôd made a splash with his short film Crossbow, which screened to acclaim at Sundance.

Pearce plays a police officer who believes he can save a boy from a life of crime, but underestimates the power of the teen’s violent relatives. Set in the Melbourne underworld, the film also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton and Jackie Weaver.

Liz Watts of Sydney-based Porchlight Films is the producer. The film is financed by Screen Australia, Film Victoria, the New South Wales Film and Television Office, and Showtime Australia. Madman is the distributor in Australia and New Zealand.

As well, MFI picked up international sales rights on a finished Australian title, Beautiful, featuring Peta Wilson of La Femme Nikita fame. Directed by Dean O’Flaherty and produced by Kent Smith and Elene Pepper, the film is an erotic thriller about a shy young teen who falls in with a slightly older and slightly dangerous Lolita.