The Breaker Upperers has already made around $1.7m at the NZ box office, making it one of the 20 biggest Kiwi hits of all-time.

The Breaker Upperers are going global.

The makers of the hit Kiwi comedy have secured a deal with Netflix which will mean it will debut on the platform next year.

Describing the deal as "the icing on the cake for what has been a really wonderful experience", co-producer Ainsley Gardiner said discussions first opened with the streaming giant soon after the movie's debut at March's South By Southwest Film Festival in Texas.



​"My fellow producer Carthew Neal worked really hard to get the film in front of as many interested parties as possible and we knew Netflix was keen early on. Carthew was great at making sure we were all, Mads and Jackie [co-directors, writers and stars Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek] included, part of the discussion. We have had to keep quiet for a couple of months now – which hasn't been easy."

SUPPLIED Viewers around the globe will be able to check out Kiwi comedy The Breaker Upperers next year after Netflix bought the rights to the movie.

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Gardiner, whose fellow producers also included Georgina Conder, James Wallace and a certain Taika Waititi, said it also wasn't the easiest decision choosing to allow the movie to bypass cinemas outside of Australasia. "It was a matter of balance. A cinema release internationally is time consuming and energy intensive. It can have it's highs and low and, in the end, it's a risky business. Netflix has incredible access to a huge audience who may not have otherwise had the chance to see the film.

"Although it is beautifully shot by Ginny Loane, the nature of the characters and the humour is such that it works well on screens big and small. Hopefully, it is still a film the friends and family watch together. And we have been lucky enough to have had a huge successful theatrical release here."

The Breaker Upperers' co-producer Ainsley Gardiner, right, says it has been hard keeping the Netflix news a secret for the past couple of months.

Since opening on May 5, Sami and van Beek's tale about two cynical women who run an agency aimed at helping people who want to "consciously uncouple", has made almost $1.7m at the New Zealand Box Office, placing it 16th on the all-time list of Kiwi films, just behind The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Sione's Wedding and Chasing Great.

Ahead of a wide release in Australian cinemas on July 26, The Breaker Upperers made its debut across the Tasman last week as the opening night movie at the Sydney Film Festival.

Gardiner said they could not have asked for a better crowd reaction. "The packed 2000 seat theatre was filled with constant laughter. It was so loud that it drowned out some of the jokes."

Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami are the writers, directors and stars of The Breaker Upperers.

Australian reviewers were also effusive, with Screen International's Sarah Ward describing the movie as "a hilarious and heartfelt ode to female friendship" and The Guardian's Luke Buckmaster impressed by Sami and van Beek, "whose smart-mouthed performances are full of pep and fizz".