Vertigo Releasing takes UK cinema rights to The State of Us for 2027
Vertigo Releasing has bought the British coming-of-age comedy The State of Us for cinemas in the United Kingdom, with a theatrical release planned for 2027, according to Variety.
The deal covers UK theatrical rights, meaning the right to put the film in cinemas. News of the acquisition emerged ahead of a Monday screening of the film at the Rome Film Festival. A cinema distributor is now in place and a release year is on the calendar.
The film stars Samuel Bottomley and Callum Scott Howells. It follows a pair of Northern friends coping with terminal illness, as described by Screen Daily. Coming of age here means a story about growing up, told as a comedy with a serious thread underneath.
It is the directorial debut of Jake Harvey and Ollie Gardner, according to Variety. The film had its world premiere in main competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Competition means it was chosen as one of the festival's central titles. The Rome screening is its next festival stop.
According to Variety, the wider cast includes Safia Oakley-Green, Seamus O'Hara, Sunetra Sarker and Frances Barber. The script is by Harvey. Producers are Pippa Cross, Dylan Rees and Harvey.
Original music for the film was composed by Tom Ogden, frontman of the band Blossoms. Circus Studios is handling worldwide sales, the business of selling distribution rights to buyers in different countries. The film is presented by Noughty Pictures in association with Screen Yorkshire.
Ahead of the Edinburgh premiere, The Hollywood Reporter unveiled an exclusive clip from the film. Gardner and Harvey also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about platforming positive masculinity in the story. That interview ran in the build-up to the competition screening.
For audiences, this means the path to release is now clearer. Festivals provide the launch. A distributor provides the cinemas. Sales agents line up the rest of the world. In this case, Edinburgh provided the first, Vertigo provides the second, and Circus Studios is working on the third.
