Kino Lorber Acquires North American Rights to Clio Barnard's 'I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning'

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, the new film from director Clio Barnard, and plans a cinema release in 2027. North America here means the United States and Canada. A distribution right is the permission to show a film in a given area, and the distributor takes care of getting it to audiences there.

According to Variety, the company intends to open the film in theatres in 2027. Digital, educational and home video releases would follow after that theatrical run, which is the period when a film plays on cinema screens before it reaches television, streaming and home formats.

The film stars Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack and Lola Petticrew. It is based on the novel by Keiran Goddard, and Enda Walsh wrote the screenplay adaptation.

The deal was negotiated by Karoliina Dwyer, Kino Lorber's vice president of acquisitions, the executive who buys films for the company. She worked with Charades, a sales agent that sells films on behalf of their makers, and Gersh, a talent agency that represents the creative people involved.

The film made its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight, a side section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the people's choice audience award. Cannes is one of the busiest marketplaces in the film world, where sales agents and buyers meet to strike deals. A premiere there is often the first step in a long route to a cinema, and a film can take a year or two to reach American screens after its festival debut.

For American audiences, the film will not arrive until 2027 at the earliest, since that is the year the distributor has set for its cinema run. Until then, the next stage will be the work of getting the release organised, from choosing theatres to planning advertising.