Movies

Jon Stewart's Irresistible gets new release date on VOD platforms

The satire stars Steve Carell and Rose Byrne as political consultants who hijack a local mayoral race.

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Published on May 22, 2020 12:36PM EDT

Jon Stewart's Irresistible, starring Steve Carell and Rose Byrne, just couldn't resist an on-demand debut.

This cinematic satire, about Washington, D.C., political figures hijacking a local mayoral race, is the latest movie skipping theaters in favor of an at-home premiere. Irresistible was once scheduled to hit the big screen this May 29, but with the majority of movie theaters still closed for the time being amid shelter-in-place orders, it already seemed unlikely to meet that deadline.

Focus Features announced on Friday that the film will now premiere this June 26 on VOD platforms and will be available for a 48-hour rental period at $19.99.

"Why do we accept that this is the way the media and political parties spend money?" Stewart, who wrote and directed Irresistible, questions in a new featurette that accompanies the news. "Who's really benefiting? Because it's not the average person. I would just like people to think about that... if they want to."

Irresistible sees Gary (Carell), a Democrat political consultant from D.C., looking to help a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) run for mayor in a rural Wisconsin town. A small race balloons into an over-the-top battleground once Gary's Republican nemesis, Faith (Byrne), rolls in to boost the opponent. Mackenzie Davis, Topher Grace, and Natasha Lyonne also feature.

“I'm a news junkie already," Byrne told EW. "I was watching a lot of news from both sides — a lot of Fox, MSNBC, and CNN — trying to look at both presentations, particularly in America... It’s like you’re watching the Academy Awards some times. It’s such a presentation. Nobody does entertainment better than America, including the news, which... maybe news shouldn't be entertainment."

Irresistible is "very much the flaws of both sides as only [Stewart] can do," she added, "because he’s just so incredibly savvy and funny."

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