Lionsgate scores 'Winning Season'

Emma Roberts at the Sundance premiere of 'The Winning Season'

Credit: Peter Kramer/AP

Dealmaking is all the rage as the Sundance Film Festival moves into its closing days.

The latest film to grab a distribution deal with "The Winning Season," which has been acquired by Lionsgate for distribution in North America and the United Kingdom.

Written and directed by former Sundance award winner James C. Strouse, "The Winning Season" stars Sam Rockwell, Emma Roberts, Rob Corddry, Shareeka Epps and Emily Rios and focuses on a former basketball star who returns to coach the girls hoops team at his local high school.

"I’m delighted about joining forces with Lionsgate, a studio that personifies the value of teamwork," Strouse says in a statement. "This is a great day for our movie."

Adds Lionsgate's President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions Jason Constantine, "'The Winning Season' is a winner of a movie. It has lots of heart, and is terrifically funny. We are thrilled to bring it home to Lionsgate."

As seems to happen every year, the market at Sundance started off slow, but has been accelerating. Other recent high-profile deals have seen Magnolia pick up "Humpday" and Sony snag "Black Dynamite."