Read Alan Patridge's Press Release To Announce His First Movie

Studiocanal's official press release to mark their official engagement with the Alan Partridge movie is blessed with some quotes from the man himself. Put aside any head scratching over the implications of this fictional character commenting on the start of production of a fiction film that will feature him (fictionally) and just enjoy the other forms of daftness it offers.

I'm simultaneously gladdened and pleased to see a British film being co-funded by the French dudes at Studiocanal. This is without doubt the greatest Anglo-French co-operation since the Normandy landings. This time, the heroes aren't Allied servicemen ' they're motion picture financiers, who are equally brave.

I'd also like to add that 'canal' ' or, in English, 'canal' ' is a transportation system close to my heart. In the late 18th century, this new method of logistics halved the price of coal in many English cities. If Studiocanal's investment can achieve even a fraction of that, I will be delighted.

Yes, very good. The film will start production on January 7th and reach cinemas on August 16th, 2013. The Inbetweeners film launched on August 17th last year, and I bet the success of that monster played some part in the scheduling here.

The co-writers of the film, Neil and Rob Gibbons have been giving away some of their plans to the Radio Times. Their concerns, it seems, are in offering something worthy of this bigger canvas without betraying the inherent Patridge-yness.

Neil says:

Alan is put in a position where he has to make a decision between his petty, selfish considerations and something more heroic.

Rob adds:

What we should have done is write in some glamorous locations, but we've put together a film where we won't leave East Anglia. Our fault. Not too late to rewrite, though'

And back to Neil:

The films we've talked about have tended not to be comedy films. They've been films that are quite compact, detailed, driven by character and which hinge on a single large incident' You don't want to betray the Alan people love: parochial, small, obsessed with details. But at the same time you don't want to make a 90-minute episode of a sitcom. You want it to earn its place in a cinema and the story needs to justify that. He's Alan 2012, the version you see in the Sky specials and in Mid Morning Matters.

Alan 2012? A year out of date before he hits the cinemas? That'll be the most up to date he's ever been.

The report notes that Armando Iannucci is co-writing the screenplay, while Peter Baynham ' thanks to his 'Hollywood success' is less involved. There's no mention of any contributions to the screenplay by Steve Coogan.