Sundance: Lionsgate Picks Up Benedict Cumberbatch Cold War Drama 'Ironbark'

Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley also star in the film directed by Dominic Cooke.

Sundance Cold War drama Ironbark has landed at Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions for North America.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Greville Wynne, a British businessman who is recruited to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Forming an unlikely bond with a Soviet officer, Oleg (Merab Ninidze), Wynne provides crucial information to help avoid nuclear warfare.

Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley also star in the film.

Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) directed the movie from a script by Tom O'Connor.

Adam Ackland, Ben Browning, Ben Pugh and Rory Aitken produced the movie. Cooke, Cumberbatch and O'Connor exec produced, along with Leah Clarke, Ashley Fox, Glen Basner, Alison Cohen, Milan Popelka and Josh Varney.

Ironbark screened in the fest's Premieres section to solid reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore calling the drama "a likable but slow-building espionage tale."

UTA Independent Film Group brokered the deal on behalf of the filmmakers. FilmNation is handling international rights.