The United States (Magnolia Pictures) acquired the distribution rights to the multiple award-winning Scottish director Kevin MacDonald’s documentary about the life, music, and legacy of Bob Marley.

The film, Marley, will be in theaters across the United States on April 20, 2012, and also will be available in Video on Demand and digital format. Chron.com reports that “ironically, the release date of 4/20 is a reference to cannabis culture, of which Marley was a big advocate.”

The world premiere began on February 9 at the Berlin Film Festival and its North American premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March. [Also see previous post Bob Marley film to be shown at Berlin fest.]

MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland), who has taken charge of the first Marley family-sanctioned film about the world-renowned singer, was granted access to rare and unseen footage from their private archives for inclusion in the documentary. The late icon’s son Ziggy Marley says, “This documentary is the ultimate revelation of my father’s life. The family is proud to be able to have the world finally experience this emotional journey.” Co-producers for the documentary are Steve Bing of Shangri-La Entertainment and Charles Stee and executive-produced by Marley’s son Ziggy and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. Shangri-La and Tuff Gong, in association with Cowboy Films, produced the project.

Nelleke Driessen, managing director of international sales agent Fortissimo Films, recently brokered a deal for all U.K. and Scandinavian rights to the film. “Bob Marley is one of a very few true international icons,” Driessen said. “His image, music and messages of love and peace have crossed borders, boundaries and cultures and are as relevant in the world today as ever. We are extremely happy that the team at Universal [Universal Pictures International Entertainment] share our passion for the subject matter and see the potential for this landmark project.”

For full articles, see http://blog.chron.com/celebritybuzz/2012/02/bob-marley-documentary-picked-up-on-late-legends-birthday/, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/berlin-2012-kevin-macdonald-bob-marley-288447  and http://www.caribbeanemagazine.com/2012/02/documentary-marley-about-life-of-bob.html

Photo http://www.virginiareggae.com/blog-and-news/rita-marley-gives-green-light-marley-movie