IFC Films Acquires Comedy ‘Blithe Spirit’

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to Blithe Spirit starring Leslie Mann (This is 40, The Other Woman), Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast, Legion), Isla Fisher (The Beach Bum, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and Judi Dench (Philomena, Skyfall).

Edward Hall (Downton Abbey, Restless) directs a script written by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth which is based on the play of the same name by Noel Coward. The film also stars Julian Rhind-Tutt (Rush, Stardust), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness, Delicious), Adil Ray (Beecham Hosue) and James Fleet (Outlander, Four Weddings and a Funeral).

Blithe Spirit follows best-selling crime novelist Charles (Stevens) who is finishing his first screenplay but is suffering from a terrible case of writer’s block. His picture-perfect new wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) is doing her best to keep him focused so they can fulfill her dream of leaving London for Hollywood. Charles’ quest for inspiration leads him to invite the eccentric mystic Madame Arcati (Dench) to perform a séance in his home. He gets more than he bargained for when Madame Acarti inadvertently summons the spirit of his first wife: the brilliant and fiery Elvira (Mann). Ready to pick up her life right where she left off, Elvira is shocked to discover the prim and proper Ruth is now married to her husband and running her household. Charles finds himself stuck between his two wives and their increasingly over-the-top attempts to outdo one another.

Producing is James Spring, Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft, Hilary Bevan Jones, Peter Snell, Toni Pinnolis alongside Adrian Politowski and Martin Metz of Align, who financed the film.

The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ EVP of Acquisitions and Productions Arianna Bocco and Director of Acquisitions Aijah Keith with CAA Media Finance and Protagonist on behalf of the filmmakers.