Bleacher Report, the digital sports brand acquired by Turner Sports in 2012, launched its own streaming service in March 2018.
On Friday, though, the WarnerMedia unit is marking a different kind of milestone as Showtime airs Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story. Bleacher Report produced the documentary, which is its first longform project to be licensed to a third party. The deal marks a new effort by B/R to capitalize on its rabid and youthful following across the media landscape. That process involves a decision tree similar to that facing its parent, At&T-owned WarnerMedia, which is building a major streaming service while also mulling the fate of licensed fare like Friends.
Sam Toles, a seasoned digital executive who joined Bleacher Report as COO in March, told Deadline in an interview that the choice to transact with CBS-owned Showtime came down to where the audience could be biggest. The film’s subject,...
On Friday, though, the WarnerMedia unit is marking a different kind of milestone as Showtime airs Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story. Bleacher Report produced the documentary, which is its first longform project to be licensed to a third party. The deal marks a new effort by B/R to capitalize on its rabid and youthful following across the media landscape. That process involves a decision tree similar to that facing its parent, At&T-owned WarnerMedia, which is building a major streaming service while also mulling the fate of licensed fare like Friends.
Sam Toles, a seasoned digital executive who joined Bleacher Report as COO in March, told Deadline in an interview that the choice to transact with CBS-owned Showtime came down to where the audience could be biggest. The film’s subject,...
- 5/31/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Showtime has acquired Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story, filmmaker Johnny Sweet’s documentary about the controversial NBA star and mental health advocate who now goes by the name Metta World Peace.
Directed by Sweet (Vick) and written by Tom Friend, Quiet Storm will premiere on Showtime Friday, May 31, the network announced today. The debut coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Whether you know him as Ron Artest or Metta World Peace, he is one of the most intriguing personalities in sports,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “From Ron’s challenging upbringing in Queensbridge among some of the biggest burgeoning names in hip-hop through his transformation to Metta World Peace, Metta has been best known for his fierce competitiveness and unwavering loyalty.”
Quiet Storm, which won the Best Documentary Award at the 2019 Santa Barbara Film Festival, is produced by Bleacher Report.
“As a kid who...
Directed by Sweet (Vick) and written by Tom Friend, Quiet Storm will premiere on Showtime Friday, May 31, the network announced today. The debut coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month.
“Whether you know him as Ron Artest or Metta World Peace, he is one of the most intriguing personalities in sports,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “From Ron’s challenging upbringing in Queensbridge among some of the biggest burgeoning names in hip-hop through his transformation to Metta World Peace, Metta has been best known for his fierce competitiveness and unwavering loyalty.”
Quiet Storm, which won the Best Documentary Award at the 2019 Santa Barbara Film Festival, is produced by Bleacher Report.
“As a kid who...
- 4/2/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Showtime has acquired “Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story,” an award-winning documentary about former NBA star Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest).
“Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story” shines a spotlight on the polarizing athlete who was at times feared and often misunderstood both on and off the basketball court. The film includes intimate interviews from World Peace, his former teammates and rivals, his loved ones and family. The story arcs from a childhood marked by violence and drugs in the notorious Queensbridge projects in New York City during the crack wars of the 1980s, through a contentious stint at St. John’s University and, finally, to a dramatic and remarkable career in the NBA. Metta World Peace gives captivating insight into his life at its most troubling moments as well as its greatest.
The pay cable network will debut the film, which won Best Documentary at the 2019 Santa Barbara Film Festival,...
“Quiet Storm: The Ron Artest Story” shines a spotlight on the polarizing athlete who was at times feared and often misunderstood both on and off the basketball court. The film includes intimate interviews from World Peace, his former teammates and rivals, his loved ones and family. The story arcs from a childhood marked by violence and drugs in the notorious Queensbridge projects in New York City during the crack wars of the 1980s, through a contentious stint at St. John’s University and, finally, to a dramatic and remarkable career in the NBA. Metta World Peace gives captivating insight into his life at its most troubling moments as well as its greatest.
The pay cable network will debut the film, which won Best Documentary at the 2019 Santa Barbara Film Festival,...
- 4/2/2019
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
Jimmy Butler was personally greeted by his new Sixers Gm, Elton Brand, and a private jet on his way outta Minnesota on Monday ... and TMZ Sports has the pics!! The ex-Timberwolves forward was just shipped to Philadelphia in a blockbuster trade that sent Dario Saric and Robert Covington to Minnesota ... and Brand clearly couldn't wait to meet his newest superstar. The Sixers are in Miami to play the Heat Monday night ... but we're told the...
- 11/12/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Kyrie Irving, Jason Williams, Elton Brand ... Zion Williamson could be better than all these guys, because a Duke great says Zw could be the best Duke player Ever. TMZ Sports spoke to Dahntay Jones, a former Duke All-American, and he says Zion's dominating season-opening performance against Kentucky last night was evidence of greatness to come. Before we get to Dahntay's words ... Did You See Zion Last Night?! Dude was Beasting, scoring...
- 11/7/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Writer-director Nijla Mu’min makes her feature directorial debut with “Jinn,” a dramatic film that follows a carefree 17-year-old black girl named Summer, whose world is turned upside down when her mother, Jade, converts to Islam. Making its world premiere at SXSW this year, where it won the Special Jury Award for writing, the film offers a fresh look at identity, Islam, and first love in contemporary Los Angeles.
“Jinn” stars Zoe Renee (“The Quad”) as Summer and “Luke Cage” co-star Simone Missick as Summer’s mother Jade. The cast also includes Hisham Tawfiq (“The Blacklist”), Kelly Jenrette, Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (“Mudbound”), and Dorian Missick (“Monster”).
The film was acquired over the summer by the newly relaunched Orion Classics, which will release “Jinn” theatrically on November 15 and on VOD and Digital HD on November 16.
“‘Jinn’ is a coming of age film that deals with the struggles to find one’s...
“Jinn” stars Zoe Renee (“The Quad”) as Summer and “Luke Cage” co-star Simone Missick as Summer’s mother Jade. The cast also includes Hisham Tawfiq (“The Blacklist”), Kelly Jenrette, Kelvin Harrison, Jr. (“Mudbound”), and Dorian Missick (“Monster”).
The film was acquired over the summer by the newly relaunched Orion Classics, which will release “Jinn” theatrically on November 15 and on VOD and Digital HD on November 16.
“‘Jinn’ is a coming of age film that deals with the struggles to find one’s...
- 10/1/2018
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Orion Classics has acquired all North American and Latin American rights to the coming-of-age drama “Jinn,” which won the Special Jury Award for writing at the SXSW Festival in March.
Orion Classics will release the drama in theaters on Nov. 15 and on VOD and Digital HD on Nov. 16.
Written and directed by Nijla Mu’min, the film stars Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq and Kelly Jenrette (“The Handmaid’s Tale”). The film also won awards at the American Black Film Festival for best screenplay and best actor for Renee, the Blackstar Film Festival for best feature narrative and audience award and at the Roxbury Film Festival for best narrative feature.
“’Jinn’ is a coming of age film that deals with the struggles to find one’s true identity amidst familial and religious influences,” said Mu’min. “As our media landscape becomes more inclusive and nuanced,...
Orion Classics will release the drama in theaters on Nov. 15 and on VOD and Digital HD on Nov. 16.
Written and directed by Nijla Mu’min, the film stars Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq and Kelly Jenrette (“The Handmaid’s Tale”). The film also won awards at the American Black Film Festival for best screenplay and best actor for Renee, the Blackstar Film Festival for best feature narrative and audience award and at the Roxbury Film Festival for best narrative feature.
“’Jinn’ is a coming of age film that deals with the struggles to find one’s true identity amidst familial and religious influences,” said Mu’min. “As our media landscape becomes more inclusive and nuanced,...
- 8/14/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Orion Classics announced today that they have acquired the North American and Latin American rights to Jinn. Orion Classics has set a theatrical release for the drama on Nov. 15 followed by a Nov. 16 release on VOD and Digital HD.
Written and directed by Nijla Mu’min, Jinn made its world premiere at SXSW where it here it won the Special Jury Award for writing. The film also won awards at the American Black Film Festival for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Zoe Renee), the Blackstar Film Festival for Best Feature Narrative and Audience Award and at the Roxbury Film Festival for Best Narrative Feature.
The story follows Summer (Renee), a 17-year-old carefree black girl, whose world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular meteorologist named Jade Jennings (Simone Missick), abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person, prompting Summer to reevaluate her identity.
Jinn also stars Kelvin Harrison,...
Written and directed by Nijla Mu’min, Jinn made its world premiere at SXSW where it here it won the Special Jury Award for writing. The film also won awards at the American Black Film Festival for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Zoe Renee), the Blackstar Film Festival for Best Feature Narrative and Audience Award and at the Roxbury Film Festival for Best Narrative Feature.
The story follows Summer (Renee), a 17-year-old carefree black girl, whose world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular meteorologist named Jade Jennings (Simone Missick), abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person, prompting Summer to reevaluate her identity.
Jinn also stars Kelvin Harrison,...
- 8/14/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Nijla Mu’min won SXSW special jury award for writing.
Orion Classics has acquired North American and Latin American rights to Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn, following its world premiere at SXSW.
Mu’min’s drama won the special jury award for writing and stars Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq, and Kelly Jenrette.
Jinn tells of a 17-year-old girl who is forced to re-evaluate her identity after her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person.
Sweet Potato Pie Production’s Avril Z. Speaks produced Jinn with Morgan’s Mark Production’s Maya Emelle,...
Orion Classics has acquired North American and Latin American rights to Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn, following its world premiere at SXSW.
Mu’min’s drama won the special jury award for writing and stars Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Dorian Missick, Hisham Tawfiq, and Kelly Jenrette.
Jinn tells of a 17-year-old girl who is forced to re-evaluate her identity after her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person.
Sweet Potato Pie Production’s Avril Z. Speaks produced Jinn with Morgan’s Mark Production’s Maya Emelle,...
- 8/14/2018
- by Jenn Sherman
- ScreenDaily
[[tmz:video id="0_srvj7c1o"]] Tracy McGrady tells TMZ Sports ... Blake Griffin has every right to be upset with the Clippers -- because learning that you've been traded on Twitter is "very disrespectful." "For somebody that got that type of history with the organization, he's the one that really started to get the Clippers on a winning path ... yeah, that's very disrespectful." McGrady's reacting to Blake's claim that he first heard he'd been shipped to Detroit on social media --...
- 2/1/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
[[tmz:video id="0_dagimudc"]] Kwame Brown knows all about the pressures that come with being a top NBA Draft pick -- he was #1 overall in 2001 -- and he's dishing out his best advice to Markelle Fultz and co. First things first, Brown says his #1 experience was different from everyone else -- because right after he was drafted by the Washington Wizards, Michael Jordan came back as a player ... and Brown says it got in the way of his development.
- 6/23/2017
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Who got signed, promoted, hired or fired? The Hollywood Reporter’s Rep Sheet rounds up the week in representation news. To submit announcements for consideration, contact rebecca.sun@thr.com.
Get with the Program
All Eyez on Me producer L.T. Hutton has signed with Apa. Along with partner Morgan Creek, his Program Pictures produced the Tupac Shakur biopic, which Lionsgate released June 16. In addition to film, Program has divisions in television and music and has partnered with Duke University basketball great Elton Brand. Hutton also was head of A&R at Ruthless Records and worked on several projects with Death Row. In addition to...
Get with the Program
All Eyez on Me producer L.T. Hutton has signed with Apa. Along with partner Morgan Creek, his Program Pictures produced the Tupac Shakur biopic, which Lionsgate released June 16. In addition to film, Program has divisions in television and music and has partnered with Duke University basketball great Elton Brand. Hutton also was head of A&R at Ruthless Records and worked on several projects with Death Row. In addition to...
- 6/19/2017
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Now this is how you make a comeback!
Kesha made her first public appearance on Oct. 27 since claiming she almost starved herself to death due to body shaming. The singer hit the scene to perform some of her biggest hits at DailyMail.com's Halloween party at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City.
Getty Images
Watch: Kesha Opens Up About Body Shaming, Claims She 'Almost Killed' Herself
On Oct. 26, Jason Wahler and his wife Ashley attended the 42nd Annual Maple Ball at The Montage Beverly Hills. Dr. Drew Pinksky was honored at the ball. The Maple Counseling Center is a Los Angeles nonprofit, whose mission is to provide low cost comprehensive mental health services to those in need.
Peter Mah, Grandmah Photography
Wiz Khalifa and Olivia Culpo partied the night away at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Oct. 26 while attending the Pencils of Promise 6th Annual Gala "A World Imagined."
Michael Loccisano...
Kesha made her first public appearance on Oct. 27 since claiming she almost starved herself to death due to body shaming. The singer hit the scene to perform some of her biggest hits at DailyMail.com's Halloween party at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City.
Getty Images
Watch: Kesha Opens Up About Body Shaming, Claims She 'Almost Killed' Herself
On Oct. 26, Jason Wahler and his wife Ashley attended the 42nd Annual Maple Ball at The Montage Beverly Hills. Dr. Drew Pinksky was honored at the ball. The Maple Counseling Center is a Los Angeles nonprofit, whose mission is to provide low cost comprehensive mental health services to those in need.
Peter Mah, Grandmah Photography
Wiz Khalifa and Olivia Culpo partied the night away at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Oct. 26 while attending the Pencils of Promise 6th Annual Gala "A World Imagined."
Michael Loccisano...
- 10/31/2016
- Entertainment Tonight
[[tmz:video id="0_r5jeqxeg"]] Check out Jalen Rose on his way out of Toca Madera in L.A. the other night -- when we asked about his recent comments ... that the 76ers are so bad, they shouldn't be mentioned on ABC. What ensues is some sloshy conversation ... but it's interesting. "I wasn't taking shots at the 76ers," Rose said ... "I love their history. E.B. (Elton Brand), that's my family!" Rose says he knows exactly how the 76ers can...
- 2/2/2016
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Amid the attention and fame that went along with his life in the Kardashian clan, it's easy to overlook what was once an immensely successful (and lucrative) basketball career for Lamar Odom.
The game was a natural escape for the Queens, New York native, who's mother died of cancer when he was 12. His father, Joe Odom, was a disabled veteran and a heroin addict, leaving Odom to be raised by his grandmother, Mildred Mercer.
At 6 feet 10 inches tall and with the ball handling skills of a point guard, Odom's talents made him famous at a young age in his home town and beyond.
The game was a natural escape for the Queens, New York native, who's mother died of cancer when he was 12. His father, Joe Odom, was a disabled veteran and a heroin addict, leaving Odom to be raised by his grandmother, Mildred Mercer.
At 6 feet 10 inches tall and with the ball handling skills of a point guard, Odom's talents made him famous at a young age in his home town and beyond.
- 10/16/2015
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- People.com - TV Watch
Elton Brand is now a free agent ... professionally and personally -- the NBA superstar's wife has filed for separation. Brand's now estranged wife Shahara Simmons filed the docs a couple weeks ago ... shortly after their 9th anniversary. They met during college at Duke University and have 2 children. In Sahara's docs she says they hashed out separation of assets back in April, and all that's left to hammer out is child custody and child support. Brand...
- 8/7/2015
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
“No One Lives” is coming to nationwide in select cities May 10, and if you’re in one of the cities listed below and are excited about the film coming to your area, then we’ve got a new clip from the film, “Inside Man,” that will get you even more excited. Check it out below the post! “No One Lives,” distributed by Anchor Bay Films, is directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by David Lawrence Cohen. The film is produced by Harry Knapp and Kami Naghdi and executive produced by Cohen and Francois Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, Michael J. Luisi and Elton Brand. The cast includes Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Lee Tergesen, Laura [ Read More ]
The post New Clip From No One Lives Released appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post New Clip From No One Lives Released appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 5/8/2013
- by monique
- ShockYa
Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
Besides the blatant lie portraying the New Jersey Nets playing in front of a sell-out crowd, Just Wright ends up being a nice little movie. What is billed as yet another romantic comedy, the 111 minute feature was relatively easy to get through. There were times it did feel tedious. Much like some aspects of physical therapy one must go through to reach the end result. Hopefully, all the hard-work and trivial tasks payoff.
Scott McKnight (Common) is one of the top players in the NBA. He's in a contract year with the New Jersey Nets and if he continues to play well, he hopes the team will re-sign him for the long-term. Then a freak injury occurs at the All-Star game of all places. McKnight's playing days are a huge question mark with the organization and the media. Right before the injury he jumped into...
Besides the blatant lie portraying the New Jersey Nets playing in front of a sell-out crowd, Just Wright ends up being a nice little movie. What is billed as yet another romantic comedy, the 111 minute feature was relatively easy to get through. There were times it did feel tedious. Much like some aspects of physical therapy one must go through to reach the end result. Hopefully, all the hard-work and trivial tasks payoff.
Scott McKnight (Common) is one of the top players in the NBA. He's in a contract year with the New Jersey Nets and if he continues to play well, he hopes the team will re-sign him for the long-term. Then a freak injury occurs at the All-Star game of all places. McKnight's playing days are a huge question mark with the organization and the media. Right before the injury he jumped into...
- 5/14/2010
- Tampa Film Examiner
Marco Garibaldi, the colorful entrepreneur and Hollywood writer-producer, is getting back in the entertainment game after a decade-long absence, forming a new production company that will produce a remake of the Peter Sellers cult hit "The Party."
Garibaldi, perhaps best known in celebrity circles for a longtime romantic involvement with Priscilla Presley, is an Italian screenwriter and producer who has dabbled in a number of areas, helping turn Graceland merchandising into big business and even directing several episodes of the "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" television show.
His new banner, Godfather Entertainment, will aim to make movies in the $20 million range in a manner he says will be more efficient than the one practiced by the studios, and will attract talent by coming up with creative back-end deals. "The studios are in business to spend money," he said. "I want to make movies for less and put every dime of it on the screen."
The hyphenate said he also is in the process of securing a debt facility with an unnamed bank.
Among its projects, Godfather will team with Avi Lerner's Nu Image Films for "Last Chance Motel," a psychological thriller that Garibaldi will write and direct with shooting planned for 2009. Godfather also is developing a mob movie titled "The Vault," written by Alex Merkin and Jesse Mittelstadt.
But Garibaldi's flagship project will be a remake of "Party," the Blake Edwards-directed film that has had a devoted following since its 1968 release by United Artists.
This version, however, will bear only small resemblance to the original.
The original film centered on Sellers' Hrundi V. Bakshi, a bumbling Indian extra accidentally invited to a glamorous Hollywood party, with Sellers hamming it up in a series of loosely connected vignettes.
In the new version, only part of the conceit is the same: a hapless blond Midwesterner will have his appearance changed to resemble an Indian by a zealous studio eager he fit a part. Garibaldi says that he sees the movie as ripe for a number of star cameos, all of whom will attend the titular party.
Garibaldi and "Sex and the City" writer-producer Darren Star had originally set up the project at MGM in 2003. After a series of corporate moves, it ended up at DreamWorks, which kept the project in development for several years. The rights reverted to Garibaldi two months ago, and he enlisted screenwriters Brandon Gibson and Jim Russo to help him write the new script.
Garibaldi says he can make the movie for a fraction of the budget it might have cost at DreamWorks, possibly for about $20 million.
Godfather also is the production company behind "Across the Hall," the Brittany Murphy romantic thriller directed by Merkin from a script he wrote with Mittelstadt and produced with NBA star Elton Brand's production banner. The film is close to finding domestic distribution and is likely to be released in 2009.
Garibaldi said he has high hopes for a company even in a tough market for independent and slate film financing.
"Everybody and their mother is now raising half a billion dollars," he said. "I want to go trench by trench. We're going to start with enough money to make a $20 million movie and then make another one and another one, and go from there."...
Garibaldi, perhaps best known in celebrity circles for a longtime romantic involvement with Priscilla Presley, is an Italian screenwriter and producer who has dabbled in a number of areas, helping turn Graceland merchandising into big business and even directing several episodes of the "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" television show.
His new banner, Godfather Entertainment, will aim to make movies in the $20 million range in a manner he says will be more efficient than the one practiced by the studios, and will attract talent by coming up with creative back-end deals. "The studios are in business to spend money," he said. "I want to make movies for less and put every dime of it on the screen."
The hyphenate said he also is in the process of securing a debt facility with an unnamed bank.
Among its projects, Godfather will team with Avi Lerner's Nu Image Films for "Last Chance Motel," a psychological thriller that Garibaldi will write and direct with shooting planned for 2009. Godfather also is developing a mob movie titled "The Vault," written by Alex Merkin and Jesse Mittelstadt.
But Garibaldi's flagship project will be a remake of "Party," the Blake Edwards-directed film that has had a devoted following since its 1968 release by United Artists.
This version, however, will bear only small resemblance to the original.
The original film centered on Sellers' Hrundi V. Bakshi, a bumbling Indian extra accidentally invited to a glamorous Hollywood party, with Sellers hamming it up in a series of loosely connected vignettes.
In the new version, only part of the conceit is the same: a hapless blond Midwesterner will have his appearance changed to resemble an Indian by a zealous studio eager he fit a part. Garibaldi says that he sees the movie as ripe for a number of star cameos, all of whom will attend the titular party.
Garibaldi and "Sex and the City" writer-producer Darren Star had originally set up the project at MGM in 2003. After a series of corporate moves, it ended up at DreamWorks, which kept the project in development for several years. The rights reverted to Garibaldi two months ago, and he enlisted screenwriters Brandon Gibson and Jim Russo to help him write the new script.
Garibaldi says he can make the movie for a fraction of the budget it might have cost at DreamWorks, possibly for about $20 million.
Godfather also is the production company behind "Across the Hall," the Brittany Murphy romantic thriller directed by Merkin from a script he wrote with Mittelstadt and produced with NBA star Elton Brand's production banner. The film is close to finding domestic distribution and is likely to be released in 2009.
Garibaldi said he has high hopes for a company even in a tough market for independent and slate film financing.
"Everybody and their mother is now raising half a billion dollars," he said. "I want to go trench by trench. We're going to start with enough money to make a $20 million movie and then make another one and another one, and go from there."...
- 8/6/2008
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical screening of "Rescue Dawn".In "Rescue Dawn", screenwriter-director Werner Herzog continues his long obsession with obsessed men battling nature and themselves in a merciless wilderness.
That this particular protagonist, a German-born American Navy aviator shot down in Laos during the Vietnam conflict, will survive we know because Herzog made a documentary 10 years ago, "Little Dieter Must Fly", about his extraordinary story. This does nothing to diminish the harrowing tale of near-Messianic figure who wills himself out of a seemingly inescapable corner of Hell.
MGM has moved the release date of this film several times, finally pushing it to Wednesday, presumably to steal some Fourth of July patriotic fervor for the debut. One worries, though, that it might get lost amid the summer tentpoles despite it being Herzog's most mainstream and accessible film yet. Let's hope not.
Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances. The movie stays with the character for nearly every shot, watching his transformation from a youth who embraces every aspect of the American way to a more sober individual whom nature and his fellow man want to break but can't.
The movie suggests that all the prisoners in a Laotian prison compound, run by proxy by the Viet Cong, are slightly mad. Bale shows how madness can creep slowly into a man's soul in ways much more frightening than physical abuse. Yet he never completely succumbs. Not that he doesn't see a ghost at one point and the rationality of his decision-making deteriorates somewhat.
As Dieter tells it to fellow Yank prisoners, Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), he wanted to fly ever since an American fighter pilot zeroed in on him as a small boy in a German town during World War II. Even crashing in enemy territory during his first mission fails to discourage him. The first night in the prison camp, after being tortured for refusing to sign a "confession," he is plotting an escape. There is no escape, his fellow prisoners -- Americans and Vietnamese -- tell him. The jungle is the real prison. Where can you go?
But Dieter hatches a plan anyway and works tirelessly to convince others. He is the only true believer. But things go awry and he and Duane find themselves alone in hostile territory with no choice but to try to walk barefoot to the Thai border.
The brilliance of the film comes in small details: during the escape when Duane suddenly bends over to vomit because of anxiety and fear. Or in the strange smile on Dieter's face when he is paraded through a colorful village whose natives eye him with curiosity rather than hatred.
Zahn maintains the nuttiness that informs his comic performances, but here Herzog and the actor deepen the pathos in such behavior coming as it does in the face of almost certain death. Davies plays an airman with an unhinged mind who is all the more dangerous for that.
Herzog's use of lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful musical score bring to life his latest story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms.
RESCUE DAWN
MGM
Gibraltar Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwrier-director: Werner Herzog
Producers: Elton Brand, Steve Marlton, Harry Knapps
Executive producers: Elie Samaha, Gerald Green, Nick Raslin, Freddy Braidy
Director of photography: Peter Zeitlinger
Production designer: Arin "Aoi" Pinijvararak
Music: Klaus Badelt
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Joe Bini
Cast:
Dieter Dengler: Christian Bale
Duane: Steve Zahn
Gene: Jeremy Davies
Y.C.: Galen Yuen
Phisit: Abhijati "Muek" Jusakul
Procet: Chaiyan "Lek" Chunsuttiwat
Little Hitler: Teerawat "Ka-Ge" Muenwaja
Running time -- 125 minutes
Rated: PG-13...
That this particular protagonist, a German-born American Navy aviator shot down in Laos during the Vietnam conflict, will survive we know because Herzog made a documentary 10 years ago, "Little Dieter Must Fly", about his extraordinary story. This does nothing to diminish the harrowing tale of near-Messianic figure who wills himself out of a seemingly inescapable corner of Hell.
MGM has moved the release date of this film several times, finally pushing it to Wednesday, presumably to steal some Fourth of July patriotic fervor for the debut. One worries, though, that it might get lost amid the summer tentpoles despite it being Herzog's most mainstream and accessible film yet. Let's hope not.
Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances. The movie stays with the character for nearly every shot, watching his transformation from a youth who embraces every aspect of the American way to a more sober individual whom nature and his fellow man want to break but can't.
The movie suggests that all the prisoners in a Laotian prison compound, run by proxy by the Viet Cong, are slightly mad. Bale shows how madness can creep slowly into a man's soul in ways much more frightening than physical abuse. Yet he never completely succumbs. Not that he doesn't see a ghost at one point and the rationality of his decision-making deteriorates somewhat.
As Dieter tells it to fellow Yank prisoners, Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), he wanted to fly ever since an American fighter pilot zeroed in on him as a small boy in a German town during World War II. Even crashing in enemy territory during his first mission fails to discourage him. The first night in the prison camp, after being tortured for refusing to sign a "confession," he is plotting an escape. There is no escape, his fellow prisoners -- Americans and Vietnamese -- tell him. The jungle is the real prison. Where can you go?
But Dieter hatches a plan anyway and works tirelessly to convince others. He is the only true believer. But things go awry and he and Duane find themselves alone in hostile territory with no choice but to try to walk barefoot to the Thai border.
The brilliance of the film comes in small details: during the escape when Duane suddenly bends over to vomit because of anxiety and fear. Or in the strange smile on Dieter's face when he is paraded through a colorful village whose natives eye him with curiosity rather than hatred.
Zahn maintains the nuttiness that informs his comic performances, but here Herzog and the actor deepen the pathos in such behavior coming as it does in the face of almost certain death. Davies plays an airman with an unhinged mind who is all the more dangerous for that.
Herzog's use of lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful musical score bring to life his latest story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms.
RESCUE DAWN
MGM
Gibraltar Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwrier-director: Werner Herzog
Producers: Elton Brand, Steve Marlton, Harry Knapps
Executive producers: Elie Samaha, Gerald Green, Nick Raslin, Freddy Braidy
Director of photography: Peter Zeitlinger
Production designer: Arin "Aoi" Pinijvararak
Music: Klaus Badelt
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Joe Bini
Cast:
Dieter Dengler: Christian Bale
Duane: Steve Zahn
Gene: Jeremy Davies
Y.C.: Galen Yuen
Phisit: Abhijati "Muek" Jusakul
Procet: Chaiyan "Lek" Chunsuttiwat
Little Hitler: Teerawat "Ka-Ge" Muenwaja
Running time -- 125 minutes
Rated: PG-13...
- 7/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- In Werner Herzog’s feature narrative adaptation of his documentary film, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn, Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, a German born U.S. fighter pilot who is shot down while bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the early stages of the Vietnam War. He survives a crash landing in the jungle, but is soon captured by enemy forces, and transported to a prisoner of war camp in Laos. From his first day as a Pow, Dieter begins planning what would eventually be his daring escape, first from the camp and then through the even more deadly uncharted jungles of Indochina. Through an unrelenting optimism, will to live, and ingenuity, Dieter became the only successful Pow escapee in history.Bale is arguable the best actor in his generation, taking on roles that are extremely challenging both dramatically and physically. He went down to
- 7/4/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
In "Rescue Dawn", screenwriter-director Werner Herzog continues his long obsession with obsessed men battling nature and themselves in a merciless wilderness.
That this particular protagonist, a German-born American Navy aviator shot down in Laos during the Vietnam conflict, will survive we know because Herzog made a documentary 10 years ago, "Little Dieter Must Fly", about his extraordinary story. This does nothing to diminish the harrowing tale of near-Messianic figure who wills himself out of a seemingly inescapable corner of Hell.
MGM has moved the release date of this film several times, finally pushing it to Wednesday, presumably to steal some Fourth of July patriotic fervor for the debut. One worries, though, that it might get lost amid the summer tentpoles despite it being Herzog's most mainstream and accessible film yet. Let's hope not.
Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances. The movie stays with the character for nearly every shot, watching his transformation from a youth who embraces every aspect of the American way to a more sober individual whom nature and his fellow man want to break but can't.
The movie suggests that all the prisoners in a Laotian prison compound, run by proxy by the Viet Cong, are slightly mad. Bale shows how madness can creep slowly into a man's soul in ways much more frightening than physical abuse. Yet he never completely succumbs. Not that he doesn't see a ghost at one point and the rationality of his decision-making deteriorates somewhat.
As Dieter tells it to fellow Yank prisoners, Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), he wanted to fly ever since an American fighter pilot zeroed in on him as a small boy in a German town during World War II. Even crashing in enemy territory during his first mission fails to discourage him. The first night in the prison camp, after being tortured for refusing to sign a "confession," he is plotting an escape. There is no escape, his fellow prisoners -- Americans and Vietnamese -- tell him. The jungle is the real prison. Where can you go?
But Dieter hatches a plan anyway and works tirelessly to convince others. He is the only true believer. But things go awry and he and Duane find themselves alone in hostile territory with no choice but to try to walk barefoot to the Thai border.
The brilliance of the film comes in small details: during the escape when Duane suddenly bends over to vomit because of anxiety and fear. Or in the strange smile on Dieter's face when he is paraded through a colorful village whose natives eye him with curiosity rather than hatred.
Zahn maintains the nuttiness that informs his comic performances, but here Herzog and the actor deepen the pathos in such behavior coming as it does in the face of almost certain death. Davies plays an airman with an unhinged mind who is all the more dangerous for that.
Herzog's use of lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful musical score bring to life his latest story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms.
RESCUE DAWN
MGM
Gibraltar Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwrier-director: Werner Herzog
Producers: Elton Brand, Steve Marlton, Harry Knapps
Executive producers: Elie Samaha, Gerald Green, Nick Raslin, Freddy Braidy
Director of photography: Peter Zeitlinger
Production designer: Arin "Aoi" Pinijvararak
Music: Klaus Badelt
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Joe Bini
Cast:
Dieter Dengler: Christian Bale
Duane: Steve Zahn
Gene: Jeremy Davies
Y.C.: Galen Yuen
Phisit: Abhijati "Muek" Jusakul
Procet: Chaiyan "Lek" Chunsuttiwat
Little Hitler: Teerawat "Ka-Ge" Muenwaja
Running time -- 125 minutes
Rated: PG-13...
That this particular protagonist, a German-born American Navy aviator shot down in Laos during the Vietnam conflict, will survive we know because Herzog made a documentary 10 years ago, "Little Dieter Must Fly", about his extraordinary story. This does nothing to diminish the harrowing tale of near-Messianic figure who wills himself out of a seemingly inescapable corner of Hell.
MGM has moved the release date of this film several times, finally pushing it to Wednesday, presumably to steal some Fourth of July patriotic fervor for the debut. One worries, though, that it might get lost amid the summer tentpoles despite it being Herzog's most mainstream and accessible film yet. Let's hope not.
Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler and this is one of the actor's most complex and compelling performances. The movie stays with the character for nearly every shot, watching his transformation from a youth who embraces every aspect of the American way to a more sober individual whom nature and his fellow man want to break but can't.
The movie suggests that all the prisoners in a Laotian prison compound, run by proxy by the Viet Cong, are slightly mad. Bale shows how madness can creep slowly into a man's soul in ways much more frightening than physical abuse. Yet he never completely succumbs. Not that he doesn't see a ghost at one point and the rationality of his decision-making deteriorates somewhat.
As Dieter tells it to fellow Yank prisoners, Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), he wanted to fly ever since an American fighter pilot zeroed in on him as a small boy in a German town during World War II. Even crashing in enemy territory during his first mission fails to discourage him. The first night in the prison camp, after being tortured for refusing to sign a "confession," he is plotting an escape. There is no escape, his fellow prisoners -- Americans and Vietnamese -- tell him. The jungle is the real prison. Where can you go?
But Dieter hatches a plan anyway and works tirelessly to convince others. He is the only true believer. But things go awry and he and Duane find themselves alone in hostile territory with no choice but to try to walk barefoot to the Thai border.
The brilliance of the film comes in small details: during the escape when Duane suddenly bends over to vomit because of anxiety and fear. Or in the strange smile on Dieter's face when he is paraded through a colorful village whose natives eye him with curiosity rather than hatred.
Zahn maintains the nuttiness that informs his comic performances, but here Herzog and the actor deepen the pathos in such behavior coming as it does in the face of almost certain death. Davies plays an airman with an unhinged mind who is all the more dangerous for that.
Herzog's use of lush jungle locations in Thailand, eloquent camera work and an unobtrusive but powerful musical score bring to life his latest story of a man in the wilderness battling the elements on his own terms.
RESCUE DAWN
MGM
Gibraltar Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwrier-director: Werner Herzog
Producers: Elton Brand, Steve Marlton, Harry Knapps
Executive producers: Elie Samaha, Gerald Green, Nick Raslin, Freddy Braidy
Director of photography: Peter Zeitlinger
Production designer: Arin "Aoi" Pinijvararak
Music: Klaus Badelt
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Joe Bini
Cast:
Dieter Dengler: Christian Bale
Duane: Steve Zahn
Gene: Jeremy Davies
Y.C.: Galen Yuen
Phisit: Abhijati "Muek" Jusakul
Procet: Chaiyan "Lek" Chunsuttiwat
Little Hitler: Teerawat "Ka-Ge" Muenwaja
Running time -- 125 minutes
Rated: PG-13...
TORONTO -- During the Toronto International Film Festival's frenetic first weekend, MGM preemptively nabbed all rights to Werner Herzog's much-anticipated Vietnam War drama Rescue Dawn, starring Christian Bale. Many distributors did not even get a shot at the film, which MGM claimed as its own before the movie's Saturday world premiere. Meanwhile, the Weinstein Co. was busy, showing its love for the teen horror flick All The Boys Love Mandy Lane by picking up all worldwide rights for $3.5 million, as well as the the comedy documentary Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights--Hollywood to the Heartland, which it acquired for $2.5-$3.5 million. In a strange echo of last year's tug-at-war over the acquisition of Thank You for Smoking, which wound up being released by Fox Searchlight, the negotiations for Rescue were conducted by neophyte producers who didn't necessarily follow normal acquisition protocols. Rookie producers Steve Marlton, a nightclub owner, and Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers basketball star, hired Endeavor Independent head Graham Taylor to whip up a buyers' frenzy in Toronto.
- 9/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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