Fox Searchlight Pictures

' Fresh off his best picture Oscar triumph, "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle has signed a three-year deal with Fox Searchlight, which will co-finance and co-distribute the British filmmaker's future films. The director already has identified a possible initial production under the first-look deal, a drama about Aron Ralston, the American mountain climber who amputated part of his arm when it was pinned in a 2003 backcountry hiking accident. Boyle's long relationship with the studio includes "28 Days Later," "Millions" and "Sunshine."

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Boost Mobile, a service provider that targets young adults, began selling advertisements on its phones to bolster sales. Boost will initially display ads from News Corp.'s Fox Searchlight Pictures and Honda Motor Corp.'s Acura line. The promotions will appear in software for Internet access and music downloads.

Fox Searchlight is one of the premiere specialty labels in Hollywood, releasing successful movies such as "Little Miss Sunshine," "Sideways" and the pop-culture juggernaut "Juno." But lately Searchlight has been in the dark. The unit of News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, known for picking quirky films that resonate with the public, has released only a handful this year, far fewer than in the recent past. Two pictures it had high hopes for flopped.

The Los Angeles Film Festival is not known for high-profile movie sales, but Fox Searchlight is working to change that by buying the award-winning festival documentary "Young@Heart" for $1.5 million, the studio announced Tuesday. A British documentary that was shown on U.K. television last year, "Young@ Heart" offers a backstage look at a group of elderly Massachusetts singers rehearsing for a concert.

Every step of the way, Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" has challenged convention. It sold for a record $10.5 million at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Released in the middle of summer, it has become an enduring national hit. And now, it is trying to enter territory where comedies rarely venture -- the Oscar race for best picture.

Director Ivan Reitman walked into an elevator here Sunday afternoon and was embraced by actress Maria Bello. "Congratulations," she said. "I hear it sold." "It did," he said, grinning, the proud papa. "To Fox. It's a good company." Reitman and Bello were referring to his son, Jason's, directorial debut, "Thank You for Smoking," a satire about a tobacco-industry lobbyist (played by Aaron Eckhart).

After months of discussions, Fox Searchlight Pictures has decided to release Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" with an NC-17 rating, which could make marketing of the movie difficult. The decision to release the erotic romance in its European version -- with some scenes involving full frontal nudity and explicit sex -- is a gamble because some theaters in the U.S. won't play NC-17 pictures. Newspapers in Cincinnati, Seattle and Salt Lake City will not run advertisements for such films.

NC-17 may represent a scarlet letter to most movie marketers, but for Bernardo Bertolucci, it's a badge of honor and artistic integrity. "This is a victory," Bertolucci said Tuesday. "And not just for me -- it's a victory for freedom of expression." The Italian director was exulting in the decision of Fox Searchlight Pictures to release his controversial, erotic new film "The Dreamers" uncut with an NC-17 rating (no one younger than 17 admitted).

One film stars several of the hottest young actors -- in Australia. The directors include one of the most promising filmmakers -- from France. And another movie already has sold tons of tickets -- across Britain. It's hardly a typical summer slate, but Fox Searchlight is hardly a typical summer player. While the major studios throw huge stars and exorbitant budgets into the summer season, Fox Searchlight is navigating a far different course.

Responding to restrictions on the distribution of DVDs and videos during Oscar season, Fox Searchlight Pictures said Thursday that it would get its next film seen by awards voters the old-fashioned way: in theaters. Searchlight, the art-house arm of 20th Century Fox, plans a heavy schedule of screenings starting next week of its November release, "In America." The company said it would show the film every Thursday night at four Los Angeles theaters, including the upscale Arclight in Hollywood.