Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American, German and Scandinavian rights to Ira Sachs’ feature Love is Strange. Love is Strange made its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it has been one of the most well received films by critics and audiences alike.
Academy Award nominee John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star as a longtime couple who lose their New York City home shortly after getting married and as a result must live apart, relying on friends and family to make ends meet. The cast of Love is Strange also includes Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan and Cheyenne Jackson.
Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Love is Strange is produced by Sachs, Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy of Parts & Labor, and Jayne Baron Sherman.
In Love is Strange, Ben (Lithgow) and George (Molina) finally wed in Manhattan after 39 years together. However, once the Catholic school where George has had a longtime job hears of the marriage, he is fired, and the couple is forced to move into two separate households as they can no longer afford their Manhattan apartment. George moves in with two gay cops who live downstairs, and Ben moves to Brooklyn with his nephew, his wife, and their teenage son. While trying to find a new place to live together, Ben and George feel the pain of living apart while testing the strength of their relationships, both with each other and with those who have taken them in.
This acquisition also marks a reunion between Ira Sachs and Sony Pictures Classics, as the company previously distributed Sachs’ Married Life in 2007.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Michael, Tom and Dylan again,” said Sachs, “What was clear from our meetings is that they understand the film as a New York love story anchored by two powerhouse performances by Lithgow and Molina.’
“Filmmaker Ira Sachs, one of our most acute observers of humanity in modern times, has made his most accomplished film featuring two of the greatest actors in the English speaking world at the peak of their form. It is a privilege to collaborate with them on releasing ‘Love is Strange,'” said Sony Pictures Classics.
