According to The Hollywood Reporter, marking the first big buy at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Fox Searchlight acquired worldwide rights Saturday to Little Miss Sunshine, the audacious comedy debut from husband-and-wife rookie filmmakers Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton.

Sources placed the deal at north of $10 million, the record set by Miramax Films' purchase of Happy Texas in 1999. The dark comedy, which stars Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano and Greg Kinnear as a dysfunctional family taking a little girl (Abigail Breslin) to a California beauty contest, drew a standing ovation at the Eccles Theater Friday evening.