James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall,
Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston and Danny McBride Come Together For
“In Dubious Battle”
Franco Will Direct Star Studded Feature Film Adaptation of Classic John Steinbeck Novel
AMBI Group Will Finance and Produce with Franco’s Rabbit Bandini Productions and That’s Hollywood Pictures
Los Angeles, CA – January 30, 2015 – James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston and Danny McBride will star together in the feature film “In Dubious Battle,” which will be directed by Franco.
AMBI Group, the movie development, finance, production and distribution group owned and run by Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, is financing the film and producing with Rabbit Bandini Productions and That’s Hollywood Pictures Production.
Producers are Andrea Iervolino (“The Humbling,” “All Roads Lead to Rome”), Lady Monika Bacardi (“The Humbling,” “All Roads Lead to Rome”), Scott Reed, Vince Jolivette, Ron Singer and Iris Torres.
The film is based on Steinbeck’s gritty, realist style novel In Dubious Battle, which portrays the struggle between labor and capital in 1930s America as close to all out warfare.
Writer Matt Rager (“As I Lay Dying”) adapted the feature screenplay based on the novel.
Principal photography on the film will commence in March.
Julie Sultan, head of AMBI Distribution, the worldwide sales arm of the AMBI Group, will formally introduce the project in Berlin and handle international sales. Sultan brought the project to AMBI after previously collaborating with Franco and his company on “Shadows and Lies.”
AMBI Distribution will co-represent the film’s domestic rights with CAA.
Published in 1936, In Dubious Battle is considered the first major work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Set in a fictionalized valley in California, the story explores themes Steinbeck continued to develop: group behavior, social injustice, man’s inhumanity to man— all themes which continue to be relevant today. A labor conflict between migrant apple pickers and the local growers’ association is the backdrop against which Jim Nolan (Franco) becomes involved in the labor movement and rapidly matures as he learns what it means to do organizational fieldwork.
AMBI’s Andrea Iervolino said, “I am very inspired by James’ work and cannot wait to collaborate with him on this project with these remarkable artists. This film will be stunning portrait of strife and violence and bringing it to life with such a remarkably talented cast fortifies our belief that we are creating a classic.”
Lady Monika Bacardi adds, “James is an incredibly versatile and talented filmmaker and actor who turns in one great performance after another. Surrounded by this phenomenal ensemble cast bringing a powerful story to life, we envision a masterpiece that audiences worldwide will truly appreciate.”
About AMBI
AMBI Group is a consortium of vertically integrated film development, production, finance and distribution companies wholly owned and operated by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lady of Bayfield Hall, better known as “Monika Bacardi.”
From offices in Beverly Hills, Europe and Canada, AMBI is dedicated to making and delivering high-end, commercial movies for global audiences. With a mandate to serve as a top-tier supplier of mainstream projects for both the studios and major independent distributors worldwide, AMBI pursues top Hollywood talent and international stars and produces six to eight feature films a year.
In addition to “In Dubious Battle”, AMBI’s slate includes the recently wrapped romantic comedy “All Roads Lead to Rome,” starring Sarah Jessica Parker; Barry Levinson’s acclaimed drama “The Humbling,” starring Al Pacino; the sci-fi action thriller “Andron: The Black Labyrinth,” starring Alec Baldwin and Danny Glover; an English language remake to Arto Halonen’s award winning Finnish feature “Princess;” the thriller “Hope Lost,” starring Danny Trejo, Mischa Barton and Michael Madsen; the action-thriller “2047 – Sights of Death”; and the animated feature films “Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad” and “East End.”
A highly accomplished filmmaker and businessman, Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 40 feature films including “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Anatomist,” top name a few. He is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry.
Lady Monika Bacardi is the widow of Luis Adalberto Facundo Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lord of Bayfield Hall, known as Lord Luis Bacardi (descendent of the Bacardi founder, still a family-run company). Renowned for her passion of modern art and love of photography and movies, Monika Bacardi is a highly successful businesswoman who is now committed to producing films, through AMBI, on top of her numerous philanthropic activities.
AMBI Group is active in the distribution of various movie projects in Italy and throughout the world through its satellite company AI Entertainment, a company Iervolino founded in 2011. Iervolino still runs this operation as well as several movie production and distribution companies in Italy, Spain and Canada.
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