Anchor sets sail with Kutcher's 'Spread'

Ashton is putting down an Anchor.

Overture sister company Anchor Bay has picked up U.S. and Australian rights to "Spread," the Kutcher dramedy that played Sundance last weekend, for an area in the neighborhood of $3.5 million. CAA and Endeavor repped the sale.

"Spread" centers on a male gigolo, played by Kutcher, who tries to become a one-woman man. A number of distributors were circling the pic, with Summit at one point also in the mix to buy the film.

Liberty Media subsidiary Anchor Bay Entertainment in October formed Anchor Bay Films, designed at releasing as many as ten films per year in theaters to augment its robust homevideo platform. "Spread" will go into this pipeline.

With Kutcher as the star and an appealing premise, the title is thought to have a lot of home video upside, making a DVD powerhouse like Anchor Bay a logical choice.

Anchor Bay Entertainment is overseen by CEO Chris McGurk, who also serves as chief of Overture; Anchor Bay Entertainment president Bill Clark heads the theatrical unit.

Anchor Bay previously released Zak Penn's poker comedy "The Grand" in theaters as well as on DVD.

The unit was also circling thriller "The Killing Room" earlier in the fest.