In time for the film’s 20th anniversary, Shout! Studios has announced the acquisition of all distribution rights in North America including theatrical, digital, video-on-demand, broadcast, and home entertainment for Strangers with Candy: The Movie, the prequel film to the acclaimed ‘90s cult favorite Comedy Central television series of the same name.
The brainchild of writers Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, Strangers with Candy: The Movie is an irreverent parody of a family sitcom inspired by the after-school specials and ‘very special episodes’ that frequented TV in the ’70s and ‘80s. In conjunction with the film’s 20th anniversary taking place this year, Shout! plans a variety of activities including a special one-night-only screening of the film followed by a Q&A with Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello, moderated by Oh, Mary! creator Cole Escola, at the IFC Center in Manhattan at 7:30 pm March 27th.
Tickets are on sale now at https://www.ifccenter.com/films/strangers-with-candy/ .
Shout! also plans to release Strangers with Candy: The Movie on digital platforms, as well as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, later this year. The newly restored film will be available On Demand and Digital starting April 1st. Additional details regarding the Blu-ray will be shared at a future date.
“This has been at the top of our list for years, as few comedies so deftly blend the sweet and the subversive, the gentle and the outrageous. Amy, Paul and Stephen take the old After School Special and twist it into something so funny, it’s painful to see it end. Happy Anniversary, Jerri. We’ve sorely missed you.” says Jordan Fields, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Originals at Shout! Studios
Strangers With Candy: The Movie is a daring leap backwards. A prequel to the critically acclaimed Comedy Central series of the same name, it is the tale of Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris), a forty-seven-year-old ex-con and former junky who decides to return home after thirty-two years as a runaway.
When Jerri arrives at her childhood home, she discovers her earlier disappearance has caused her father to slip into a self-induced coma. Moved by guilt, and with hopes of jarring her father from his eternal slumber, Jerri decides to turn her life around by picking it up exactly where she left off – as a high school freshman. She’s going to start her life over, only this time she’s going to do the wrong things the right way.
Once re-enrolled in high school, and seeking to find that special thing that will erase thirty-two years of debauchery, Jerri stumbles upon the school-sponsored State Science Fair. Convinced that winning the fair will resurrect her father, she signs up, expecting an easy stroll down the road to victory. Not surprisingly, she finds that the path is fraught with the many adolescent problems and temptations that plague all teenagers, but especially this forty-seven-year-old former boozer, user and loser.
