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Source: IFC Films

IFC Films announced today that it has acquired all North American rights from ICM to Code Entertainment’s mob comedy You Kill Me. The film is directed by John Dahl (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction) and stars Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni and Luke Wilson. Also starring are Dennis Farina, Philip Baker Hall, Bill Pullman, and Marcus Thomas. The film is in post-production with a 2007 nationwide release planned.

Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers), You Kill Me is the story of a Frank, a hit-man from Buffalo (Kingsley) whose drinking is getting in the way of his killing. He’s sent to the west coast to dry out where he lands a job at a mortuary and meets Laurel (Leoni), smart-talking and dangerously devoid of boundaries. Code Entertainment financed the film and produced with Ben Kingsley’s BiPolar Productions, Carol Baum, Inc., and Mike Marcus’ Echo Lake Productions. Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso produced with Carol Baum, Mike Marcus, and Zvi Howard Rosenman. Leoni and Jonathan Dana are Executive Producers. The film was originally brought to Code by ICM.

IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring commented, “This is a film with enormous commercial potential. It is a big movie with a great cast and this acquisition signifies an aggressive new direction for IFC Films. With our First Take label providing a lucrative option for smaller, critically acclaimed indie and foreign fare, IFC Films is in the position to acquire and release movies of a much larger scale. ‘You Kill Me’ is hugely appealing and exactly what we’ve been looking for over the past several months to launch us in this new direction.”

Code Entertainment Partner Bart Rosenblatt added, “We’re excited about what IFC is doing. We think this is a perfect fit for the movie.”

The deal was negotiated with Jonathan Sehring and lawyer John Sloss on behalf of IFC with ICM and Endeavor representing the film and Jonathan Dana representing the producers with lawyer Mark Halloran.