IFC Films to distribute 'The Trip'

NEW YORK, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- IFC Films says it has acquired the U.S. rights to Michael Winterbottom's British comedy "The Trip," starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.

The largely improvised movie premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. In it, Coogan and Brydon reprise their roles from "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story."

"Coogan is asked by The Observer newspaper to travel through the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, dining in fine restaurants and visiting various historic locations from the life of William Wordsworth," the distributor said in a synopsis. "But when his girlfriend backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him on the trip. Enter Brydon, his best friend and source of eternal aggravation. They spend much of the trip trying to one-up each other with hilarious, canny dueling impersonations of Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Sean Connery and Woody Allen to name a few."

Andrew Eaton, co-director of Revolution Films, the movie's producers, said he was "thrilled" to be working with IFC Films again.

"When they started doing impressions of Steve and Rob as Michael Caine, we knew we had found the right home for the film," Eaton said in a statement.

Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Films, said the feeling was mutual.

"Like the cheering audiences in Toronto, we fell in love with Michael Winterbottom's 'The Trip,'" Sehring said. "We're thrilled to be releasing this film and are happy to continue a great collaboration with Andrew Eaton and our friends at Revolution Films."