‘Stan & Ollie’ Biopic Starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly to Close London Film Festival

Stan & Ollie has been chosen to close the 62nd BFI London Film Festival, which will run October 10th – October 21th.

The biopic tells the story of Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (Oscar nominee John C. Reilly, Chicago), the world’s most famous comedy duo, as they attempt to reignite their film careers by embarking on what becomes their swan song – a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain. Nina Arianda and Shirley Henderson play their long-suffering wives. The film is directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth) and written by Jeff Pope (Philomena). The world premiere will take place on October 21st at the Cineworld, Leicester Square.

“This beautiful tribute to cinema’s early comedy odd couple, Laurel & Hardy,” stated BFI London Film Festival Artistic Director Tricia Tuttle, “a truly funny and touching story about a tender life-long friendship…is also exploring the twilight years of two mega-watt performers who had a meteoric rise to fame. These two prove that true comic timing is eternal.”

While Entertainment One will release Stan & Ollie in the UK and Ireland on January 11th, 2019, there are currently no North American dates or distributor set yet.

The full festival program will be announced on August 30th.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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