The Death of Stalin is a 2017 British-French-Belgian political satire black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Iannucci, David Schneider and Ian Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novel La Mort de Staline (2010β2012), the film depicts the internal social and political power struggle among the members of the Soviet Politburo following the death of leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. The French-British-Belgian co-production stars an ensemble cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Olga Kurylenko, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Dermot Crowley, Paul Chahidi, Adrian McLoughlin, Paul Whitehouse, and Jeffrey Tambor. The film premiered on 8 September 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival.