Film will have its World Premiere this evening in the Premieres Section of the Sundance Film Festival
Park City, UT (January 22, 2009) – IFC Films, one of the leading American distributors for independent and foreign films, announced today at the Sundance Film Festival it has acquired U.S. distribution rights to IN THE LOOP, a comedy about politics set in London and Washington. Directed by acclaimed British comedy writer, Armando Iannucci and written by the team who created the award-winning BBC TV series "In The Thick of It" and produced by Kevin Loader and Adam Tandy, IN THE LOOP stars James Gandolfini, Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, Mimi Kennedy, David Rasche, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky and Steve Coogan. The film is having its World Premiere this evening in the Premieres section at the Sundance Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Arianna Bocco and Betsy Rogers for IFC Films with Cassian Elwes of William Morris Independent and Ben Roberts of Protagonist Pictures on behalf of BBC Films, Aramid Capital and UK Film Council.
IN THE LOOP tells the story of a mild-mannered British government minister (Tom Hollander) who inadvertently backs a war on prime-time television, immediately alerting the attention of the Prime Minister’s aggressive communications chief (Peter Capaldi), who latches onto him like a hawk. Soon, the Brits are in Washington, where a US General (James Gandolfini) thinks war is a crazy idea; the British minister’s new advisor (Chris Addison) has his eye on an ambitious government intern (Anna Chlumsky); and soon there’s to be a crucial vote at the UN.
Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment said, "We are going to celebrate tonight. IN THE LOOP is one of those rare movies that you know is destined to be a classic. It’s not often that you get to introduce such a major talent as Armando Iannucci to American audiences. This is comedy at it’s best with an amazing cast that brings one of the best scripts in recent memory to life. Its going to do incredibly well on all of our platforms."
Armando Iannucci, Director said, "This is a great climax to a fantastic time at Sundance. I was so excited by IFC’s excitement for the film. I’m really pleased we’ve done the deal with them, and I can’t wait to start working with them on the release of the film later this year."
Paula Jalfon, Executive Producer, BBC Films said "We are thrilled to partner with IFC Films on IN THE LOOP. We see our film as perfectly compatible with their market leading distribution model."
IFC Films plans to release IN THE LOOP via its IFC In Theaters program in 2009. IN THE LOOP will also go through IFC Entertainment’s exclusive deal with Blockbuster. The agreement enables IFC Films to reach a broader audience for its titles through Blockbuster’s stores, by-mail subscription services and digital downloading service at Blockbuster.com.
HYPERLINK http://www.ifcfilms.com
About IFC Entertainment
A leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment consists of multiple brands that are devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: IFC Films, Festival Direct, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a leading distributor of independent film. Its unique day and date distribution model, ’IFC In Theaters,’ makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View, reaching 50 million homes. ’IFC Festival Direct’ features a wide selection of titles acquired from major international film festivals and offers them exclusively through Video on Demand. IFC Productions is a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects. IFC Center is a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.