At Searchlight, Little Miss Slumdog?

By Steven Zeitchik

Don't look now, but Fox Searchlight may be coming back with another December surprise.

The studio that had the sleeper crowd-pleasers of the past two autumns in "Juno" and "Little Miss Sunshine" appeared to be taking this fall off, or at least taking its foot off the gas pedal. The unit was, after all, offering just one major release, the respectable but more prestige-oriented and dramatic "The Secret Life of Bees," along with a few mid-range comedies ("Choke" and "500 Days of Summer"). That pointed to a year in which the company might land some nice box office and a few award noms, but not another crossover blockbuster of the season.

But then a funny thing happened -- Jeff Bewkes became the CEO of Time Warner. That shouldn't, on its face, impact what goes on in the land of Rothman and Rice. But the ascendancy of the new Time Warner CEO set off a chain reaction that led to the shuttering of one Warner Independent, which in turn led to the freeing of domestic rights for one "Slumdog Millionaire," Danny Boyle's India-set comedy about young people, love, live competition and other themes that just might have popped up in "Little Miss Sunshine." Boyle collaborators from way back, FSL quickly snapped up rights to the movie (it will distribute in a joint arrangement with Warners) and, sources say, is planning an elaborate campaign for the smart but feelgood dramedy (which, incidentally, was shot in India and features an all-Indian cast).

If some of the creative elements strike "Sunshine" notes, from a release standpoint it's hard to avoid the comparisons to "Juno." For a long time that movie, too, wasn't even considered a fall release until Jason Reitman crashed on the film and finished in time for Telluride, where the company took the fest by storm. "Slumdog," too, wasn't an '08 release, for Searchlight or anyone else, until a few weeks ago. Now it's suddenly making a studio-backed, buzz-heavy debut in Toronto.

Aslo helping is that the early word on the pic itself is very good, and Searchlight, always savvy about embracing its big titles, will probably go all out with a a shrewd platform release when the film opens Thanksgiving weekend. Don't be surprised if the new year rolls around and we're talking about Oscar noms and significant box office for "Slumdog." Like their studio brethren, the specialty world could find that in a  tough year, they, too, have Indians coming to the rescue.