Four Lions

Four Lions
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Morris
Written by	Chris Morris Jesse Armstrong Sam Bain
Produced by	Mark Herbert Derrin Schlesinger
Starring	Riz Ahmed Kayvan Novak Nigel Lindsay Arsher Ali Adeel Akhtar
Cinematography	Lol Crawley
Edited by	Billy Sneddon
Production companies	Film4 Productions Wild Bunch Warp Films
Distributed by	Optimum Releasing
Release dates	23 January 2010 (2010-01-23) (Sundance) 7 May 2010 (2010-05-07)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£2.5 million[1]
Box office	£6 million[2]

Four Lions is a 2010 British black comedy satire film directed by Chris Morris (in his feature film debut) from a screenplay written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong.^[3] It stars Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali and Adeel Akhtar. In the film, a group of dumbwitted homegrown terrorist jihadis attempt to plan an attack in Britain.

Production on Four Lions began in late 2008, with writing partners Armstrong and Bain hired to complete the screenplay. Prior to this, Morris spent multiple years researching for the film, conducting interviews with terrorism and religion experts, law enforcement, and British Muslims. Principal photography took place in May 2009, with filming primarily done on location in Sheffield.

Four Lions first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2010, and was released in the United Kingdom on 7 May, by Optimum Releasing. The film grossed £6 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the screenplay, direction, themes, humour, and cast performances (particularly Ahmed's).