This time around, that film would be The Eclipse, written and directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson, and starring Ciaran Hinds (who kicks various assortments of ass in the enviable role of Julius Caesar on HBO's impeccable series Rome). Reuters is reporting that a slew of distribution execs turned out Friday for the world premiere, with companies such as Magnolia, Roadside and the ever-reliable Liongate circling the picture for a possible shot at distributing it in the States.
The creepy tale of a widower in an Irish seaside village who develops a relationship with a visiting horror novelist while being haunted by supernatural entities, The Eclipse also stars Aidan Quinn, and is being seen as a movie with potential "word-of-mouth-hit" written all over it. If The Eclipse does indeed get signed, it would be the first Tribeca offering to land a major American distribution deal since Transamerica did so in 2005.
So you heard it here first, folks. The Vault championed [Rec] in 2007 and Let the Right One In in 2008. Might The Eclipse become my pet project for '09??