Prior to beginning principal photography , Refn went to the 2010 Cannes Film Festival to sell the rights to '' Drive '' and released promotional posters for the film . In November 2010 , FilmDistrict acquired North American distribution rights . The owners were so eager to get their hands on '' Drive '' , they started negotiating to buy it before seeing any footage , believing it could appeal to people who enjoy a genre movie , as well as the arthouse crowd . The film had a release date of September 16 , 2011 , in the United States
2010 Cannes Film Festival
2010 Cannes Film Festival
Drive (2011 film)