'The Guard' Grosses Over Two Million Euro at Irish Box Office
ELEMENT PICTURES DISTRIBUTION are delighted that Irish Film THE GUARD continues its success story with a gross box-office to date of over 2 Million Euro, making it the biggest Irish release here since The Wind that Shakes the Barley. All at Element Pictures are thrilled that Irish audiences have embraced THE GUARD so warmly and in such big numbers. The Guard is now on its way to becoming one of the biggest film hits of the summer, knocking off heavy-weight blockbuster films such as TRANSFORMERS, X-MEN, KUNG FU PANDA 2 and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.
Speaking on this massive success, one of the producer's Chris Clark from Reprisal Films is "absolutely delighted with the response to The Guard from Irish audiences and thanks everyone for their incredible support. We can only hope the film connects in such an enthusiastic way in America, the UK and beyond!"
Also Commenting on the success of the film James Hickey, Chief Executive, Board Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) said "For an independently produced film to breakout at the Irish box office, overtaking a string of Hollywood hits and Oscar nominated films (TRUE GRIT, BLACK SWAN, THE FIGHTER) that have the weight of a US studio marketing budget behind them, is a remarkable achievement. We are delighted to be able to support projects such as THE GUARD, which is a uniquely Irish film with a broad appeal and has connected with audiences right across Ireland."
THE GUARD, directed by John Michael McDonagh is a comedy-thriller starring Brendan Gleeson as an unorthodox Irish policeman who joins forces with a straitlaced FBI agent, played by Don Cheadle, to take on an international drug-smuggling gang.
The Guard is an Irish/UK co-production, backed by the Irish Film Board and Section 481 as well as International Financiers. It's produced by Chris Clark and Flora Fernandez Marengo for Reprisal Films and Ed Guiney (Garage) and Andrew Lowe (The Wind that Shakes the Barley) for Element Pictures.
For full list of cinemas showing THE GUARD log on to: http://www.theguard.ie/where-to-watch/
THE GUARD is released in the US on July 29th & in the UK on August 19th