Who wants to make a deal?

While breezy late summer weather reigns over the Toronto International Film Festival, the behind-the-scenes deal-making is going about as slow as molasses in January, Variety is reporting.

Deadline Hollywood, headed by Hollywood insider/dragon lady Nikki Finke, was the first to report the more sluggish than usual environment at a festival which prides itself of being the place where Oscar-worthy films and nifty independents are discovered, fought over and sold to the highest bidder.

Both report that even the few deals consummated to date are at prices that could be considered discounted.

“A few years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for a pic to be snapped up within hours of its premiere,” reports Variety correspondents Pamela McClintock and Diana Lodderhose.

Deals to date include Quebecois filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, snapped by Sony Pictures Classics.

The Weinstein Company has purchased international rights to Dirty Girl by Abe Sylvia for a reported $3 million after inking the first deal of the fest for North American rights to Sarah’s Key, a French film starring Kristen Scott Thomas.

IFC Films has closed a deal for James Gunn’s Super, starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page.

-- Bruce DeMara