IFC picks up rights to Steven Soderbergh's Che

Steven Soderbergh's Che caused quite a stir when it premiered at the Cannes film festival earlier this year. Combining two separate film pieces and clocking in at over four hours, Soderbergh has apparently realized that everything the critics railed on him about at the festival was correct; four hours is too much. Of anything.

Back to the drawing board, Soderbergh worked out the kinks in the film and shortened both parts. And, after a more favorable screening at the Toronto Film Festival this week, the film sold its U.S. distribution rights to IFC Films (not Magnolia, as was expected). Che, which stars Benicio Del Toro, will also be screened at the upcoming New York Film Festival.

Jonathan Shering of IFC talked to Variety about the film, saying "Che is nothing less than the film event of the year. By giving us the rise and fall of one of the great icons of history, Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro...have humanized him and given audiences around the world something that will be discussed for years to come."

IFC plans to release the two-part movie for an awards week run in December and then wide in January. The biopic will be available in theaters and on IFC's video-on-demand as well as through IFC's exclusive rental deal with Blockbuster.

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