Magnolia has picked up the reverse rom-com I Give It a Year.  The film stars Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne as a married couple who grow to realize that they're not right for each other, and start being drawn to other people (Anna Faris and Simon Baker, respectively).  I caught the film at SXSW, and found it to be surprising funny and charming even though it deals with a relationship that's falling apart.  The movie will be released via Magnolia's "Ultra VOD" program, which means it will debut on VOD and then the VOD cost will be slightly reduced when the picture hits limited theatrical release.  VOD is probably the best distribution method for the film since it's a little too slight and lacks the star power to be a serious wide release.

Hit the jump for the press release.  I Give It a Year is due out later this year and also stars Stephen Merchant, Olivia Colman, Jason Flemyng, and Minnie Driver.

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Here's the press release:

Magnolia Pictures takes US Theatrical Rights to I GIVE IT A YEAR from STUDIOCANAL

 New York, NY – April 1, 2013 – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they’ve acquired US rights to I GIVE IT A YEAR, a raucous British comedy written and directed by Dan Mazer, frequent Sasha Baron Cohen collaborator and writer of Borat and Brüno, and produced by Working Title Films (Love Actually and Bridget Jones’ Diary). The film was fully financed and released  in the UK, France and Germany by STUDIOCANAL. I GIVE IT A YEAR boasts an all-star ensemble cast, featuring Rose Byrne, Anna Farris, Simon Baker, Rafe Spall, Minnie Driver and Stephen Merchant. The film opened in the UK in February, and made its North American premiere earlier this month at the SXSW Film Festival.

Both a romantic comedy and a send-up of the genre, I GIVE IT A YEAR picks up where other rom-coms end, after the glamour of a fairy tale romance and wedding has worn off, and the realities of marriage start to sink in. I GIVE IT A YEAR plays nagging fights, judgmental families, and extramarital hijinks to great comic effect.

Magnolia plans for a theatrical and VOD release in their Ultra VOD program later this year.

"Dan Mazer is a terrific writer who has managed to both skewer and celebrate the romantic comedy genre and also deliver a gut-bustingly funny picture,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles.

"Solid bidding followed a great response at SXSW and at the end we went for the strongest theatrical commitment and for the largest piece of the pie. We have full confidence in Magnolia's first class team and their aggressive distribution model which lends itself perfectly to our film, a model they pioneered and have been so successful with" said Harold Van Lier,  STUDIOCANAL EVP International Distribution.

The theatrical deal was negotiated by Magnolia’s Director of Acquisitions Peter Van Steemburg and Vanessa Saal, SVP International Sales at STUDIOCANAL.