Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to Rian Johnson's "Brick" in a $2 million deal that was announced Sunday at Sundance. Its the latest deal at a market that was busy with buyers paying big bucks for fest films.

"Brick," honored on Saturday here in Park City with a Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision, is a high school fim noir that stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Nora Zehetner, Matt O'Leary, Noah Fleiss, and Richard Roundtree.

Following Saturday's awards ceremony, insiders were watching for deals from a numbers of fest favorites. Eugene Jarecki's "Why We Fight", which received a standing ovation at Sunday's Eccles showing in Park City, will no doubt gain acquisitions momentum after winning the doc Grand Jury Award, while the doc audience award winner "Murderball" already has a deal at ThinkFilm. Company distribution head Mark Urman told indieWIRE that the company is still pondering a partnership with a larger company to guarantee a larger release for the movie when it hits theaters this fall.

Other docs that could see increased buyer interest after receiving awards on Saturday night include Jessica Sanders "After Innocence", Jeff Feuerzeig's "The Devil and Daniel Johnston", and Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt's "The Education of Shelby Knox".

Noah Baumbach's "The Squid and the Whale" is the hot Sundance narrative title without distribution deal as of yet. The film, winner of both the top directing and writing prizes at Sundance, has been quite well-received here at Sundance and is perhaps the most highly regarded of the competition entries, in informal polling, alongside Miranda July's "Me and You and Everyone We Know" which already has a distribution deal at IFC Films. Insiders will be watching to see what happens to Ira Sachs' "Forty Shades of Blue" following the film winning the top jury award in the American competition.

Cinetic Media, in the spotlight after a high-profile New York Times profile of company head John Sloss last week, repped Rian Johnson's "Brick," they negotiated with Avy Eschenasy and Jason Resnick for Focus Features. "Brick" was produced by Ram Bergman and Mark Mathis.

"This film is one of the most dynamic directorial debuts we've seen in years," said Focus co-president David Linde in a statement. "Rian's fresh, original approach to the genre will attract filmgoers worldwide.

The pact marks the second for Focus at Sundance '05, last week the company nabbed North American rights to Gaby Dellal's "On A Clear Day", which screened in the festival's World Dramatic Competition.

Other deals closed in Park City included the major pact for Craig Brewer's "Hustle & Flow" that was inked shortly after the film's first screening. Paramount and MTV nabbed the movie as part of a $16 million deal that includes financing for two more films to be produced by John Singleton. Paramount Classics also figured in a deal for the Slamdance doc, "Mad Hot Ballroom" and will release the movie with Nickelodeon.

Comedies made an impact, with ThinkFilm closing a deal for "The Aristocrats", Samuel Goldwyn & Roadside Attractions getting "Pretty Persuastion", and Warner Independent acquiring "Strangers With Candy". Warner's specialty division also acquired "The Emperor's Journey", while Lions Gate acquired both "Hard Candy" and "Rize".

While many considered Miramax to be a dormant distributor due to its continued instability at the top of the company, and continuing speculation that chiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein will soon leave the company, the Indiewood outfit made two big deals. The Weinstein's made a pre-fest deal for "Wolf Creek" for a reported $4 million, and also acquired "The Matador" during Sundance that was said to be worth $7.5 million.

Strand acquired the Sundance title "Tony Takitani", while in a TV deal, USA Networks acquired the doc, "Ring of Fire".