the film was shot at ealing studios in london. it premiered at the european film market in february 2007 and was shown at the us comedy arts festival, the seattle international film festival, the breckenridge film festival, the maui film festival, the sydney film festival, the provincetown international film festival, and the tremblant film festival before going into limited release in the united states on 17 august 2007. it opened throughout europe, asia, south america, and australia before going into theatrical release in the united kingdom on 2 november 2007.