EXCLUSIVE: In the first major deal on the ground at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Searchlight Pictures is closing a worldwide rights deal for around $12 million for the David Bruckner-directed thriller The Night House, sources tell Deadline. Scripted by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, the film stars Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Stacy Martin, Evan Jonigkeit, and Vondie Curtis-Hall.

Rebecca Hall plays a widow who begins to uncover her recently deceased husband’s disturbing secrets. Bruckner directed the Netflix film The Ritual. David Goyer, Keith Levine, and John Zois are the producers. Pic is financed and produced by Anton, whose founder Sebastien Raybaud is executive producer.

The deal is being closed up right now by Endeavor Content and Searchlight. Attempts to reach the parties were unavailing at this late hour.

Numerous buyers have been chasing hot and heavy since it premiered Friday at the Library Theater in the Midnight Section. Deadline predicted yesterday The Night House would be the first deal to close. At that time, four theatrical distributors and three streamers put bids on the table. Sources said Searchlight is closing the deal now.

This breaks the logjam, but there are plenty of other titles that have bids on the table and deals should begin closing tonight and tomorrow. As is often the case at Sundance, sometimes you just have to get that first one out of the way and the deal avalanche begins.