Leaping on the wave of Partridge centric buzz following a new TV outing for the man last night the announcement has been made concerning the long awaited Alan Partridge Movie, giving both a synopsis and a summer 2013 release date.
Studio Canal have thrust the official word out to a waiting world today and it includes details of the full writing team of Coogan, Iannucci and Peter Baynham, a long time Iannucci man and the man who was Colin Poppshed in The Day Today. The synopsis, culled from the Studio Canal presskapow, is thus,
Alan Partridge has had many ups and downs in his life. National television broadcaster. Responsible for killing a guest on live TV. Local radio broadcaster. A nervous breakdown in Dundee. His self-published book, ‘Bouncing Back’, subsequently remaindered and pulped.
THE ALAN PARTRIDGE MOVIE portrays the events of the greatest low-to-high-ebb spectrum in his life to date – specifically how he tries tosalvage his public career while negotiating a potentially violent turn of events at North Norfolk Digital Radio.
Partridge himself takes the time to comment on his own good fortune in the words below. If only all press releases could be as good as this one…
June 26 2012: STUDIOCANAL today announced their acquisition of UK theatric rights to THE ALAN PARTRIDGE MOVIE, set to shoot from January 7 next year, and confirmed an August 16 2013 opening date for the film in the UK.
Alan Partridge commented,”I’m simultaneously gladdened and pleased to see a British film being co-funded by the French dudes at STUDIOCANAL. This is without doubt the greatest Anglo-French co-operation since the Normandy landings. This time, the heroes aren’t Allied servicemen – they’re motion picture financiers, who are equally brave.
I’d also like to add that ‘canal’ – or, in English, ‘canal’ – is a transportation system close to my heart. In the late 18th century, this new method of logistics halved the price of coal in many English cities. If STUDIOCANAL’s investment can achieve even a fraction of that, I will be delighted.”
A Baby Cow/STUDIOCANAL production, backed by BBC Films and supported in development by the BFI Film Fund, THE ALAN PARTRIDGE MOVIE stars Steve Coogan, soon to be seen as renowned club proprietor and porn publisher Paul Raymond (aka the king of Soho) in a STUDIOCANAL Production
THE ALAN PARTRIDGE MOVIE is written by Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Neil and Rob Gibbons. Declan Lowney directs his second feature after Wild About Harry, with his TV credits including many episodes of Little Britain and Father Ted. Producers are Kevin Loader and Henry Normal, with Armando Iannucci, Danny Perkins, Joe Oppenheimer and Christine Langan as Executive Producers. Embankment Films are handling international sales.
Lovely stuff.
