In an announcement made tonight at the Sundance Film Festival, CNN Films confirmed that they have acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to Life Itself, our in-progress documentary based on the memoirs of legendary film critic and author Roger Ebert. The film, directed by Steve James and produced by him and Zak Piper, will air on CNN in 2014 after being theatrically released.

The film is being produced by Kartemquin Films and Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch’s Film Rites, with Martin Scorsese and Steven Zaillian and Kartemquin's Gordon Quinn and Justine Nagan as executive producers. You can follow the film's progress in production via the @EbertDoc twitter account.

CNN Films announced the deal along with their acquisition of two new documentaries to be directed by Andrew Rossi and the co-directorial team of Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein. We are delighted to be working with them for the first time. Read more about the announcement.