Opera Rom-Com With Danielle Macdonald ‘Falling for Figaro’ Acquired by IFC Films

IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “Falling For Figaro,” a romantic comedy about competitive opera singing that stars Joanna Lumley and Danielle Macdonald. The film will be released in 2021.

Ben Lewin directs “Falling For Figaro,” which stars “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Lumley and “Dumplin’” star Macdonald alongside Hugh Skinner, Gary Lewis, Shazad Latif and Rebecca Benson.

The film is about a young woman who leaves her job and breaks up with her boyfriend to fulfill a dream of becoming an opera singer in the Scottish Highlands. She begins intense vocal training lessons with a renowned but fearsome singing teacher and former opera diva, and she meets and starts to fall for another student as they both train and compete for an upcoming opera contest.

Lewin wrote “Falling For Figaro” with Allen Palmer. It’s an official Australian and UK co-production and is produced by Philip Wade, Judi Levine and Arabella Page Croft. It is executive produced by Timothy White and John Wade.

In association with Wade Brothers Films, the film received principal production funding from Screen Australia and Screen Scotland and was financed with support from Film Victoria.

“We’re thrilled to work with Ben again after the success of ‘The Catcher Was a Spy.’ We see the same clear path to audiences with yet another heartfelt and supremely entertaining film in ‘Falling for Figaro,’” Arianna Bocco, president of IFC Films, said in a statement.

“I associate IFC Films with classy and exciting products. I am very proud to be working with them again, particularly on such a different and delightfully fun movie,” Lewin said.

The deal for the film was negotiated by President of IFC Films Arianna Bocco with WestEnd Films’ managing director Maya Amsellem, acting on behalf of the filmmakers.

WestEnd Films, who is handling worldwide sales, has previously announced deals in other key territories including the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors), Spain (Twelve Oaks), Benelux (Splendid), China (Huanxi Media Group), Israel (United King), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce) and Umbrella Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.

Variety first reported the news.