Bloody Sunday film to reach US

The film reconstructs the shootings in 1972

The controversial drama Bloody Sunday has been bought up for the American market in a deal worth about $1m (£700,000).

Paramount Classics has bought the North American, Latin American and Japanese rights to screen the film based on the tragedy of 30 January, 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead.

The US distribution company landed the rights on the closing day of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, according to Variety newspaper.

The success in securing overseas funding will help recoup some of the £3m it cost to make the movie, which stars James Nesbitt.

James Nesbitt spoke to relatives of the victims

The film was written and directed by Paul Greengrass and centres entirely on one day in which marchers were shot dead by British paratroopers.

It received its UK television première on ITV1 on Sunday and was watched by an audience of about 3.5 million people.

Differing views

The Film Council-backed project had a gala showing in Derry earlier in January with relatives of the victims and Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness attending the screening.

Many hailed it as a brave success, but it did not receive a universal stamp of approval.

Gregory Campbell, the Democratic Unionist MP for East Londonderry described the film as "diabolical" and accused the makers of "classic revisionism".

Scheduling the drama late on a Sunday evening raised some eyebrows as it is usually a traditional night for lighter fare, and few people are willing to watch television until midnight on a Sunday.

Unofficial figures have estimated about 725,000 would have videoed Bloody Sunday to watch at a later date.

Bloody Sunday gets a limited UK cinema release from 1 February.