Irish film wins €1m distribution deal in US

IRISH FILM The Guardhas won a major distribution deal in the US following its world-premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

The movie, starring Brendan Gleeson and American actor Don Cheadle, has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics in a deal worth more than €1 million.

The last Irish film to receive such a distribution deal was Once which became a surprise hit and won an Oscar for best song.

The Guardhas been sold on to 20 territories and has made back most of its €5 million budget in distribution deals ahead of its going on general release.

The film opened the Sundance festival and won very favourable reviews. Variety,the industry's trade magazine, described it as "rudely funny and faintly melancholic".

Hollywood Reporter, another trade press publication, described it as a "twisted and exceptionally accomplished variation on the buddy-cop format".

The film was shot in Connemara and stars Gleeson as a rather unorthodox Garda sergeant who gets mixed up in a transatlantic feud.

Co-producer Ed Guiney said the premiere at Sundance was “packed with buyers” and a bidding war with three major distributors ensued.

“The word of the mouth and buzz about the film was so strong beforehand that we had all the major US distributors at the world premiere of the film.”

Separately, the Government announced yesterday that the section 481 tax breaks for film will be retained until December 2015 in a bid to give certainty to investors in the Irish film industry.