Lionsgate Picks Up U.S. Rights to Katherine Heigl Comedy 'The Big Wedding'

Lionsgate has grabbed U.S. distribution rights to The Big Wedding, an ensemble comedy starring Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams, Ben Barnes and Topher Grace. The studio has scheduled a theatrical opening for October 19, 2012, a weekend it has to itself as of now.

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Written and directed by The Bucket List screenwriter Justin Zackham, the film stars De Niro and Keaton as a long-divorced couple forced to pretend that they are still happily married at their son’s wedding. The film is currently shooting in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Two Ton Films is producing the project along with Nu Image / Millennium Films. Zackham, Clay Pecorin, Richard Salvatore, Anthony Katagas and Harry Ufland are producing. Nu Image’s Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort and Trevor Short are executive producers.

“The Big Wedding is a charming, rollicking movie that promises to be an instant intergenerational family comedy classic,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Joe Drake.

Lionsgate execs Jason Constantine, Eda Kowan and Wendy Jaffe negotiated the deal for the studio, which is also distributing the film in the U.K.

Lionsgate most recently released The Devil's Double, Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family and The Lincoln Lawyer. The studio's next big opener is Conan the Barbarian August 19.