Irish Drama 'What Richard Did' Acquired by Tribeca Film

Tribeca Film has picked up North American rights to Irish helmer Lenny Abrahamson’s drama What Richard Did, which swept this past weekend’s Irish Film & Television Awards, taking home five IFTAs for best film, best director, best script, best actor and best editing.   

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'What Richard Did' Trailer

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Newcomer Jack Reynor, who will appear in the upcoming Transformers sequel, and Róisín Murphy star alongside Sam Keeley (The Other Side of Sleep, Misfits) and Lars Mikkelsen (The Killing) in the film based on Kevin Powers’ book Bad Day in Blackrock.

The story centers on Richard Karlsen, the golden boy of his privileged set of Dublin teens who does something that destroys it all and shatters the lives of the people closest to him. The script was written by Malcolm Campbell (Skins, Shameless).

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What Richard Did marks the latest feature from Abrahamson, who established his place in Irish cinema with his feature debut, Adam & Paul. Ed Guiney produced What Richard Did and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures exec produced.

The film was financed by the Irish Film Board and Element and opened in the U.K. earlier this year to critical acclaim. 

Tribeca Film plans a day-and-date theatrical release in the spring with on-demand platforms, where it will be available in more than 40 million homes in the U.S. and Canada through a variety of video-on-demand offerings as well as iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly, VUDU, Xbox, Google Play and YouTube.

“Lenny Abrahamson has established himself as a dynamic voice among the superb Irish filmmaking community to emerge over the last couple of years,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “The performances and story in What Richard Did are going to make a star out of lead actor Jack Reynor and will also resonate universally with audiences."

Added Abrahamson: “I am really pleased that Tribeca are behind the release of my film in the U.S. They have proven themselves to be distributors of real taste and skill."

The deal was negotiated by Tribeca's Nick Savva and Protagonist Pictures' Mike Goodridge.

Email: Tatiana.Siegel@THR.com, Twitter: @TatianaSiegel27