[MikeWaters]

Fox Searchlight has paid a reported $6.5 million for Jason Reitman's independently produced Thank You for Smoking, about a tobacco industry lobbyist (Aaron Eckhart), who is constantly trying to explain his occupation to his young son, played by Cameron Bright. The Toronto Star said that the audience response to the film on Saturday set off a bidding frenzy that led to the highest price ever being paid for a film at the festival. Reitman, the son of Canadian producer-director Ivan Reitman (Ghost Busters, Twins, Kindergarten Cop), told the Canadian Press wire service, "This has been a whirlwind. ... I'm kind of in a dream and I'm waiting to wake up."