![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/SwO2AV0ZMfI\/AAAAAAAADN8\/BGE89K0KL5g\/s1600\/agora-popejoan2.jpg\")
<\/a>Agora<\/a><\/i> finally has an American distributor, and the film may have its box-office success in its native Spain to thank for that.<\/span><\/p>\n
Directed by Alejandro Amen\u00e1bar, the film, which depicts the growing clash between the female philosopher Hypatia<\/a> and the \u201cunstoppable surge of the Christians<\/a>\u201d in 4th-century Alexandria, premiered at Cannes in May, and was then shown in a slightly shorter form at the Toronto film festival in September \u2014 but no American distributors picked it up.<\/p>\n They began to get interested<\/a>, however, when the film opened in Spain last month and began raking in<\/a> the dough<\/a>; its box-office total there currently stands at about $30 million. Fox and Sony were said to be eyeing the film two weeks ago<\/a>, but today<\/a> it was announced<\/a> that Newmarket \u2014 the distributor behind Memento<\/a><\/i> (2000), The Passion of the Christ<\/a><\/i> (2004) and the upcoming Charles Darwin biopic Creation<\/a><\/i> \u2014 had sealed the deal.<\/p>\n Newmarket plans to release the film in \u201cthe first half of 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n In quasi-related news, Pope Joan<\/a><\/i> also opened in Europe a few weeks ago \u2014 specifically, in Germany \u2014 and it topped the box-office chart<\/a> there in its first week, at least.<\/p>\n Based on a novel about a 9th-century woman who supposedly ruled the Catholic church while disguised as a man, the film version of Pope Joan<\/i> was first announced three years ago<\/a>, but it went on to have a somewhat troubled production history; among other things, its original director<\/a> and lead actress<\/a> were replaced, and there was some debate as to whether or not John Goodman would play Pope Sergius<\/a>. (In the end, he did.)<\/p>\n According to the IMDb, the film will be distributed in the United States by Summit Entertainment, the company behind the Twilight<\/a><\/i> phenomenon, and in Canada by Seville Pictures.<\/p>\n You can watch trailers for the two films below:<\/p>\n