Gritty crime thriller Elite Squad: The Enemy Within coming to U.S. plus preview images

New Video’s Flatiron Film Company and Variance Films recently announced that they’ve partnered for the theatrical release of José Padilha’s record-breaking Brazilian crime thriller, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa De Elite 2). The film will open in New York City on November 11th, 2011 at the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, and at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in Los Angeles on November 18th, 2011. A platform expansion to top markets across the country will immediately follow.

“We’ve got the best of both worlds with Elite Squad: The Enemy Within – a brilliant foreign film and an action-packed thriller,” said New Video’s Steve Savage. “We’ve found an apt partner in Variance for tapping into U.S. audiences and building on the film’s incredible run in Brazil. With Dylan and his team at the helm of our distribution strategy we have the highest expectations for success.”

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa De Elite 2) is Brazil’s official submission to the 84th Academy Awards, and is fresh off a festival run with stops at Sundance, the Berlinale, and Austin’s legendary Fantastic Fest. The film is directed by José Padilha (Bus 174, Elite Squad) and co-written by Padilha and Bráulio Mantovani (Academy Award nominee for his City of God script), and is the highest-grossing film of all time in Brazil, grossing over $70 million domestically.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa De Elite 2) takes place in one of the most dangerous places on Earth: the sprawling slum that surrounds Rio de Janeiro. As the head of Rio’s Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is accused of a massacre when a BOPE mission to quell a jail riot ends in the violent death of a gang leader. But the citizens of Rio, tired of the crime and drugs that plague their city, embrace him as a hero. And with elections around the corner, he finds himself promoted. Nascimento uses his powerful new position to bring the gangs to their knees, but quickly discovers that he’s only making things easier for the dirty cops and corrupt politicians that are truly running the game. Now, Nascimento must confront his true enemies, who are much more dangerous… and sitting just down the hall.

Check out preview images from Elite Squad: The Enemy Within below.