IFC Films Picks Up Winterbottom’s The Trip

IFC Films announced today that the company is acquiring the U.S. rights to Michael Winterbottom’s British comedy The Trip starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. The Trip premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and you can read our reaction here.

The film was produced by Andrew Eaton and Melissa Parmenter of Revolution Films. This marks the fourth time IFC Films is working with Revolution Films; and the third time working with Michael Winterbottom, following the releases of The Red Riding Trilogy, The Shock Doctrine, and The Killer Inside Me.

Reprising their hilariously fictionalized roles from Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reunite with director Michael Winterbottom for an acerbically witty trip through the English countryside. Coogan is asked by The Observer newspaper to travel through the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, dining in fine restaurants and visiting various historic locations from the life of William Wordsworth. But when his girlfriend backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him on the trip. Enter Brydon, his best friend and source of eternal aggravation. After a half-hearted invitation where Coogan explains he’s asked everyone else and that Brydon is his last resort, the two of them set off in the car, armed only with a map and incredible comic timing. They spend much of the trip trying to one-up each other with hilarious, canny dueling impersonations of Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Sean Connery and Woody Allen to name a few. Largely improvised, the film follows the pair through foodie heaven as they stop at some of the best restaurants and inns in the north of England. Though the laughs never cease, the film still manages to reveal something about the nature of comedy, friendship and connection.

Andrew Eaton, Co-Director of Revolution Films remarked, “We are thrilled to be working again with IFC. When they started doing impressions of Steve and Rob as Michael Caine, we knew we had found the right home for the film.”

Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Films commented, “Like the cheering audiences in Toronto, we fell in love with Michael Winterbottom’s ‘The Trip.’ Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon give the comic performances of the year in this deeply funny and unexpectedly moving film that shows Michael Winterbottom going in yet another unexpected direction. We’re thrilled to be releasing this film and are happy to continue a great collaboration with Andrew Eaton and our friends at Revolution Films.”

Movie News

Marvel and DC

X