PARK CITY -- Warner Independent Pictures acquired its second film of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday as it picked up "Strangers With Candy," starring comedian Amy Sedaris.

The film, in which Sedaris plays an ex-con who returns to high school after 32 years in jail, couldn't be more different from WIP's first acquisition, the penguin documentary "The Emperor's Journey."

In other acquisitions action late Thursday, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions acquired domestic rights to the provocative high school comedy "Pretty Persuasion," starring Evan Rachel Wood and James Woods, for something less than $1 million.

WIP purchased North American rights to "Strangers," produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company and Lorena David and Mark Roberts of Roberts/David Films. The brainchild of Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, "Strangers" began as a cult television show on Comedy Central. Dinello directed the feature film.

" 'Strangers With Candy' completely caught me off guard," WIP president Mark Gill said. "It is rude, hilarious and bizarre. We loved it."

WIP intends to release the film in the fall.

Andrew Kramer negotiated the deal on behalf of WIP. John Sloss and Micah Green of Cinetic Media negotiated for the filmmakers.

"Strangers," which some have compared to an R-rated "Napoleon Dynamite," received a lot of interest in the festival after its initial midnight screening Monday. Newmarket Films also was in on the bidding.

"We are extremely proud of our association with Amy, Paul and Stephen," Worldwide Pants president and CEO Rob Burnett said. "They are immensely talented and their work deserves as large an audience as possible."

"Strangers" is Worldwide Pants' first feature film.