Lionsgate to release 'Friends with Kids'

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Lionsgate says it has acquired Red Granite Pictures' "Friends with Kids," which recently screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

The announcement was made Wednesday jointly by Steve Beeks, Lionsgate's president and co-chief operating officer; Joe Drake, co-chief operating officer and motion picture group president; and Jason Constantine, president of acquisitions and co-productions.

The film is Jennifer Westfeldt's directorial debut, following the two critically acclaimed independent films she previously wrote and starred in -- "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "Ira & Abby."

Westfeldt co-stars in "Kids" with Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox and Edward Burns.

"I feel incredibly fortunate to be working with the great teams at Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions on the release of 'Friends with Kids,'" Westfeldt said in a statement. "Their passion for the project and the subject matter, along with their commitment to finding a broad audience for our film, make them the dream partners for us."

"We are long time admirers of Jennifer, and this is an excellent directorial debut," Constantine added. "She's made a high-concept comedy that thoroughly entertains as it explores one of this generation's central quandaries, and everyone on the Lionsgate and Roadside teams who saw the film related to it not just as executives, but as parents or partners. This movie has comedy, heart and truth in equal measures, and it will be a delight to bring to audiences."

The film is about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group observe the effect kids have had on their friends' relationships, then decide to have a child together, but date other people, Lionsgate said in a synopsis.