Izzard film lands US distributor

A documentary film about Eddie Izzard’s life, comedy and transvestitism has secured a North American distributor.

Independent company ThinkFilm has acquired the rights to the film, tentatively entitled Diva 51, which it hopes to launch in September.

It has been three years in the making, will revolve around Izzard’s attempts to crack America, including his successful stint in the Broadway play A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg , on the back of  the Emmy-winning screening of his Dress To Kill one-man show.

When the project was unveiled at Cannes last May, Izzard called it "my Rattle And Hum", in reference to the U2 documentary.

At the time he said:” There's an element of my wild and large, rollicking ego about doing it, but I wanted [the director] to dig deep.”

The movie promises to combine performance footage, interviews with everyone from his father to Eric Idle and Robin Williams, and extensive material documenting Izzard’s life.

Mark Urman, head of ThinkFilm’s theatrical division, said: "I have been a rabid Eddie Izzard fan since I first saw Dress To Kill, and I have been pursuing him aggressively since I first heard about this project.

“All of us at ThinkFilm look forward to seeing his unique comic universe brought to film, and we can't wait to share it with Eddie's legions of fans."

Izzard said: “I bumped into Mark Urman on the Croisette in Cannes, five minutes before the screening of our promo reel. He came, he saw, he did a deal. The rest is geography."

ThinkFilm has also recently secured the rights to The Aristocrats, the film featuring more than 100 top comics telling one long, filthy shaggy-dog joke.

Comic Paul Provenza, who directed the film with magician Penn Jillette, said: “I'm thrilled to be in business with ThinkFilm because of their passion, their creativity – and mostly because I haven't heard of anyone being screwed by them yet.”

Published: 24 Feb 2005