Deal for Autobiographical Comedy-Drama Covers All U.S. Rights, Including Theatrical, DVD and VOD
Park City, UT (January 21, 2011) – In an acquisition deal coming out of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, MPI Media Group today announced it has acquired all U.S. rights to MR. NICE, a new comedy-drama based on the best-selling memoir by dope smuggler and raconteur Howard Marks. The film, written and directed by Bernard Rose (Immortal Beloved), stars Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigny and David Thewlis. A spring 2011 theatrical release is anticipated, to be followed by DVD and Video on Demand availability.
MR. NICE was released in the U.K. in October 2010. The agreement was negotiated by Independent’s head of sales, Abigail Walsh, and Greg Newman, executive vice president of MPI Media Group. “Howard Marks’ life story is truly stranger than fiction,” said Greg Newman, “and we are excited to bring Bernard Rose’s amazing film to a wide audience.”
MR. NICE tells the story of Howard Marks, a Welsh-born Oxford University student whose dabbling in marijuana dealing led to a career as international cannabis smuggler with supposed connections to the IRA, MI6 and the Mafia – all amid side jobs such as travel agent, teacher and spy. Marks’ adventures, conducted under countless alibis, brought him everywhere from London, Ireland and Germany to Pakistan, Thailand, Spain and America, and eventually to prison. At the height of his career, he was said to have controlled 10 percent of the world’s hashish trade.
Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the upcoming Spider-Man reboot) plays Marks in what Film4.com called “a serendipitous piece of casting that makes the most of Ifans’ hangdog charms.” The film co-stars Chloe Sevigny (Big Love, Zodiac) as Marks’ wife and award-winner David Thewlis (Naked, Harry Potter) as an IRA captain. The cast also includes Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire, Hemingway’s Garden of Eden) and Omid Djalili (Sex and the City 2, The Love Guru).
MR. NICE was produced by Luc Roeg (Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, David Cronenberg’s Spider). It was shown at the South by Southwest Film Festival as well as the festivals of Edinburgh, Seville and Turin.
MPI Media Group is a leading producer, distributor and licensor of films, home entertainment, historical footage and more. Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs. Recent MPI acquistions include PAPER MAN starring Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Jeff Daniels, the indie sensation IL DIVO, Hammer Films' WAKE WOOD and the highly anticipated film from Ti West, THE INNKEEPERS. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films, and the WPA Film Library. www.mpimediagroup.com
