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Coen Brothers' music drama 'Inside Llewyn Davis' picked up by CBS

Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake star

By Dave Lewis Tuesday, Feb 19, 2013 4:59 PM

'Inside Llewyn Davis'

Credit: CBS Films

The Coen brothers' upcoming music drama "Inside Llewyn Davis," starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake, will be hitting screens later this year, as CBS Films has close a deal to acquire the North American rights distribution rights.

"Davis" centers on the 1960s NYC folk music scene, where an aspiring singer-songwriter ("Drive's" Isaac) attempts to launch a Dylanesque career. It also stars Isaac's "Drive" co-star Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake.

T Bone Burnett -- who worked on the brothers' "O Brother Where Art Thou?" -- is the film’s executive music producer, while Timberlake also contributed to the soundtrack.

Interestingly, the film skipped the traditional film festival route and instead was screened for Hollywood insiders last week. A bidding war inevitable erupted, with CBS coming out on top, picking up "Davis" for a reported sum close to $4 million, according to Deadline.

No release date as yet been set for "Inside Llewyn Davis," but it's assumed that CBS will roll out the film toward the end of the year to capitalize on potential awards buzz. Supporting players include Coen regular John Goodman, Garret Hedlund and Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham.

"Davis" is the Coens' first film since 2010's Oscar-nominated hit "True Grit."

Dave Lewis
Producer

Dave Lewis has been a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer and editor for nearly ten years. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, he moved to L.A. in 1996 to attend USC, before working for various periodicals and web sites including a lengthy stint at Variety.com. He joined the HitFix staff in 2011.

Related Searches: Awards Campaign, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Coen Brothers, Oscar Isaac, Carey Mullgan, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, T Bone Burnett

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Jonnybon

I can't wait for this. I loved each of their last four films - to me, their best four.
February 19, 2013 at 6:59PM EST Reply to Comment
- Jonnybon Actually, throw Fargo into the top 2 and make it a best five.
  February 19, 2013 at 7:00PM EST
Guy Lodge

CBS Films? For the new Coen brothers? Something smells funny here.
February 19, 2013 at 7:53PM EST Reply to Comment
- Marco G. Is this bad news for the film? Or is CBS Films just trying to break out into a major minor studio?
  February 19, 2013 at 8:20PM EST
- Liz CBS is also handling the remake of "Gambit" that the Coens wrote, so maybe they see this as the start of some sort of partnership. Although, "Gambit" supposedly sucks, so maybe it's more like a do-over.
  February 19, 2013 at 11:40PM EST
- Guy Lodge Wow, I'd forgotten that Gambit hasn't opened in the States yet. It's... er... not good.
  February 20, 2013 at 10:46AM EST
- Evan Didn't you know? CBS="Coen Brothers' Studio" ;-)
  February 20, 2013 at 3:05PM EST