Lionsgate has won a bidding war between several studios for the distribution rights to “Freeheld,” a drama chronicling the legal battle by lesbian couple Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree against anti-gay discrimination.
Julianne Moore will play Hester, a New Jersey police officer with over two decades on the force, who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2005. Hester fought for pension benefits for Andree, played by Ellen Page, who would otherwise have been unable to keep up the mortgage payments on the home they shared.
The drama was sold for “high seven figures,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Impressively, the bidding war for the film was based only on a 12-minute sizzle reel, since the project is still in post-production.
“Freeheld” is based on Cynthia Wade’s Oscar-winning documentary short of the same name. Wade is a producer for the film, as is Page.
[via THR]