James R | On 21, Sep 2015

Beasts of No Nation is coming to UK cinemas, thanks to a new deal with Curzon.

Netflix is teaming up with the independent cinema chain to screen the streaming service’s first original feature in select venus across the UK.

The award-winning film, written and directed by Emmy Award winner Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) and starring Golden Globe winner Idris Elba (Luther), is already set to hit a small number of US cinemas on the same day as its global Netflix release on Friday 16th October. Major American exhibitors, though, have boycotted the movie, because of the broken theatrical window, which they believe will damage box office figures.

Curzon, though, is not one to shy away from day-and-date titles: the company, which also has an in-house pay-per-view VOD service, Curzon Home Cinema, distributes its own titles both online and in cinemas on a regular basis. Curzon’s confidence in VOD’s ability to add to a film’s revenue, without cannibalising its big screen success was justified this month, when 45 Years became the first day-and-date title to take £1m at the UK cinema box office, while also breaking sales records online.

Curzon’s agreement will see Beasts of No Nation debut in selected cinemas on Friday 9th October, a week before its Netflix release and the day after its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The LFF premiere follows a raving reception at Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in September.

Beasts of No Nation is based on the novel by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala, bringing to life the tale of Agu, a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country.

The film is produced by Amy Kaufman and Cary Fukunaga (who previously worked together on Sin Nombre), Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker and Dan Crown for Red Crown Productions, along with Elba. Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King are executive producers for Participant Media; Bill Benenson and Laura Bickford are executive producers; Donna Gigliotti is executive producer for Levantine Films; Elizabeth Koch and Kristina Kendall are executive producers for New Balloon; Todd Courtney is also an executive producer.

You can watch a trailer for the film here.

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