Matthew Lillard’s directorial debut, “Fat Kid Rules the World,” has secured North American distribution courtesy of ARC Entertainment, the company announced Thursday.
The film, which won the Narrative Feature Spotlight Audience Award at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for possible self-distribution. Lillard, whose acting credits include “The Descendants” and “Scooby Doo,” was unmoved by the offers he received coming out of that event.
Though the film has surpassed its goal of $150,000 with time to spare, ARC still swooped in and acquired the rights.
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“We are proud to share Matthew Lillard’s directorial debut – – the film is smart, relevant and has already proven itself to be a fan favorite” ARC Entertainment’s Trevor Drinkwater said in a statement.
The film chronicles a depressed, overweight kid who finds purpose and friendship through punk rock.
Lillard will promote the film on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour, hoping to stir fans of punk rock fans to shell out some coin at movie theaters across the country.
“We chose ARC, Vans Warped Tour and Tugg because this is a film about the kids on the fringe – the outsiders,” Lillard said in a statement. “We wanted to find a way to cut through the Hollywood machine and connect directly with those kids and let them shape the destiny of our movie.”