The Family Fang, a new comic drama starring Jason Bateman (This Is Where I Leave You) and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (Paddington), has been acquired by Starz Digital. Bateman, along with starring in the dysfunctional family dramedy, also directed the feature- he made his directorial debut with the 2014 comedy Bad Words.
The Starz acquisition follows The Family Fang‘s world premiere at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival. Starz picked up U.S. rights to the title and plans to release the movie theatrically as well as handle the films’ digital and on-demand release. The film received mostly favorable reaction after screening in Toronto. The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney stated the film was “acutely observed and graced with equal parts humor and honest feeling.”
Based on the novel by Kevin Wilson, The Family Fang centers around a brother and sister (Bateman, Kidman) who meet up for a family reunion hosted by their performance artist parents- played by Oscar winner Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can) and Maryann Plunkett (The Squid and the Whale). The events goes awry when the parents go missing. David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) adapted the screenplay.
Starz is quietly building up a film library that includes recent releases Boulevard (which featured one of the last performances of the late Robin Williams), the Amy Berg drama Every Secret Thing and the upcoming Momentum starring Olgy Kurylenko (To the Wonder). There’s no word yet as to when The Family Fang will be released.
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