Paramount’s Republic Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights – in addition to Germany, Switzerland and Austria – to Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5,” starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Benesch, who broke through last year with the Oscar-nominated “The Teachers’ Lounge.”

The film will open the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition on August 29.

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Set during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, “September 5” follows an American sportscasting team that quickly transitions from reporting on sports to covering the live broadcasts of Israeli athletes held hostage.

Through this lens, “September 5” offers a new perspective on the live broadcast that was watched by an estimated one billion people worldwide at the time. The film “reveals the defining moment that changed media reporting forever and continues to influence live news today,” according to a statement.

The story centers on Geoff, a young and ambitious producer who wants to prove himself to his boss, the legendary TV director Roone Arledge. Together with Marianne, a German interpreter, Geoff unexpectedly takes over the helm of the live reporting.

As stories change, time ticks away, and conflicting rumors spread, while the lives of the hostages hang in the balance, Geoff struggles with difficult decisions while confronting his own moral compass. How do you cover a situation like this when what the perpetrators want is the spotlight you provide?

The writers are Moritz Binder and Fehlbaum. The producers are Philipp Trauer, Thomas Wöbke, Fehlbaum, Sean Penn, John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth.

“September 5” is produced by BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion and Projected Picture Works, in co-production with Constantin Film and ERF Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion.

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