MIRAMAX ACQUIRES U.S. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS TO “MR. HOLMES”
Will Partner With Roadside Attractions on Domestic Theatrical Release of Film Directed by Bill Condon and Starring Ian McKellen and Laura Linney
TORONTO, September 3, 2014 – Global film and television studio Miramax announced today that it has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Mr. Holmes and will partner with Roadside Attractions on domestic theatrical distribution of the film. Directed by Academy Award® winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Kinsey), Mr. Holmes stars Academy Award® nominees Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings franchise, X-Men franchise) and Laura Linney (Kinsey, You Can Count on Me, The Savages).
The film, based on the novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin and adapted for the screen by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess, Casanova, Stage Beauty), is currently in post-production.
“‘Mr. Holmes’ is a smart, exciting film that has attracted the highest caliber director, cast and producers, and it is a perfect fit for Miramax,” said Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Chairman of Miramax. “We are very pleased to acquire U.S. distribution rights to ‘Mr. Holmes’ and to have the talented and insightful Roadside Attractions team as our partner for U.S. theatrical distribution.”
“Bill Condon and Ian McKellen’s collaboration on ‘Gods and Monsters’ continues to inspire us,” said Roadside Attractions’ Co-President Eric d’Arbeloff, “so we are very excited to join with Miramax in releasing ‘Mr. Holmes,’ their fantastic take on the world’s favorite master sleuth.”
Producers are Anne Carey (The American, Adventureland) of Archer Gray Productions and Academy Award® winners Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films (The King’s Speech, Shame). Executive producers are Aviv Giladi and Len Blavatnik of AI Film (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Kill Your Friends), Christine Langan (Saving Mr. Banks, Philomena) on behalf of BBC Films, which is also co-financing the film, and Amy Nauiokas (Ten Thousand Saints, The Diary of a Teenage Girl) for Archer Gray Productions.
Anne Carey says, “I am so pleased that Miramax and Roadside Attractions are coming aboard to bring ‘Mr. Holmes’ out in the States. Their passion for the film is exactly what we are seeking in a U.S. partner.”
AI Film CEO Aviv Giladi says, “We are thrilled to have been involved in making ‘Mr. Holmes’ which has all the hallmarks of great British filmmaking, and with fantastic performances from Ian McKellen, Laura Linney and the rest of the cast, it will be a great draw for audiences in North America and beyond.”
This story begins in 1947 when an aging Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) returns from Japan, where, in search of a plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now in his remote seaside farmhouse Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees with only the company of his housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her young son, Roger. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits an unsolved case which forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love – before it’s too late.
Additional cast includes Hattie Morahan (The Golden Compass, The Bank Job), Patrick Kennedy (War Horse, Atonement), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, 47 Ronin), Roger Allam (Tamara Drewe, The Book Thief), Philip Davis (Vera Drake, Notes on a Scandal), Frances de la Tour (The History Boys, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Milo Parker (Ghosthunters: On Icy Trails), who plays Roger, the housekeeper’s son.
Zanne Devine, Miramax’s Executive Vice President, Production and Development, oversaw the acquisition on behalf of the studio with Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff from Roadside, and Graham Taylor of WME negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers.
FilmNation Entertainment is the international sales agent for the film.
About Miramax
Miramax is a global film and television studio best known for its highly acclaimed, original content. The studio’s new development projects include both film and TV, with the production of The 9th Life of Louis Drax, starring Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey, The Fall), most recently announced. Together with Sony’s Screen Gems, Miramax will also release Jeremy Garelick’s film The Wedding Ringer (Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco) on January 16, 2015.
Building on its unparalleled library of characters and groundbreaking story lines, Miramax is also currently developing new television series alongside industry luminaries, with projects that include Gangs of New York with Martin Scorsese and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, recently renewed for a second season.
Collectively, the library of more than 700 motion pictures has received 282 Academy Award® nominations and 68 Oscars® with four Best Picture awards, and includes such celebrated independent films as Pulp Fiction, No Country for Old Menand City Of God – as well as scores of commercial hits such as Chicago, Good Will Hunting and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Since the purchase of Miramax in 2010 by Qatar Holding, together with the investor group led by Miramax Chairman Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.’s Colony Capital, the studio’s world-class global distribution team has successfully brought this renowned collection to existing and emerging platforms in nearly every country in the world.
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About Roadside Attractions
In its tenth year of operation, Roadside Attractions’ films have grossed over $200M and garnered thirteen Academy Award® nominations. Roadside has released such critical and commercial hits as A Most Wanted Man, All Is Lost, Mud, Winter’s Bone, The Cove, Arbitrage, Margin Call and Super-Size Me. Its upcoming slate includes Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins, winner of the Sundance Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig; Tommy Lee Jones’ The Homesman starring Academy Award® winners Jones and Hilary Swank; Justin Simien’s Sundance sensation Dear White People; and Xavier Dolan’s Mommy, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
About Archer Gray
Archer Gray is currently in post-production of award-winning writer/directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s Ten Thousand Saints.Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch, Julianne Nicholson and Emily Mortimer are part of the ensemble cast. Ten Thousand Saints is based on the novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson.
Also in post-production is Mari Heller’s Diary Of A Teenage Girl, based on Phoebe Gloekner’s graphic novel, which has been supported by both the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs. And Sara Colangelo’s Little Accidents, which premiered in Sundance 2014, and stars Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Lofland, Josh Lucas and Chloe Sevigny, will be released theatrically in early 2015.
Archer Gray is an independent production, finance and investment company Through our production arm, Archer Gray relies on a unique blend of expertise to develop, finance and produce original stories with maximum commercial and artistic appeal. Through our venture arm, Archer Gray makes principal investments in early-stage media and financial technology companies disrupting the status quo and changing the landscape. Archer Gray was founded by venture capitalist and producer Amy Nauiokas, whose previous credits include The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete and Greetings From Tim Buckley. www.archergray.com
About See-Saw Films
Academy Award® winning producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning founded See-Saw Films in 2008. See-Saw is a UK and Australian company specialising in international Film and Television.
Earlier this year, See-Saw completed production on Macbeth, directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard; Life, directed by Anton Corbijn starring Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan and Slow West, directed by John Maclean and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender. See-Saw has recently completed production on Banished, a series for television written by Jimmy McGovern. Forthcoming film productions include Lion, written by Luke Davies and based on the book “A Long Way Home” by Saroo Brierley, to be directed by Garth Davis.
In 2010, See-Saw produced the multi-Academy Award® winning The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper, and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter; they followed this with Steve McQueen’s award-winning Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan and Tracks, directed by John Curran and starring Mia Wasikowska, which premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival last year. See-Saw’s first television series, Jane Campion’s Top of The Lake, starring Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter was nominated for eight Emmys and two Golden Globe Awards.
About AI Film
AI Film is the film production and financing company owned by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries and investing in commercial films from the UK and the US with international market potential and appeal.
Based in London and headed by CEO Aviv Giladi, AI Film is in pre or post-production on a number of titles that it is co-producing and co-financing including Mr. Holmes to be directed by Oscar® winner Bill Condon and starring Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hattie Morahan, Patrick Kennedy, Roger Allam, Phil Davis, Frances de la Tour and Milo Parker, with Anne Carey, through Archer Gray Productions, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films, and with BBC Films co-financing; Kill Your Friends, directed by Owen Harris and starring Nicholas Hoult, James Cordon, Georgia King, Craig Roberts and Tom Riley, co-produced with Altitude Film Entertainment, Pinewood Studios, UNIGRAM, World’s End and Warner Music Group; and Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe, and sold internationally by IM Global. AI Film has also financed Lee Daniels’ The Butler starring Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey and John Cusack which has grossed a colossal $113 million to date at the US box office. www.ai-film.com
About Access Industries
Access Industries is a privately held industrial group with long-term holdings worldwide. The company’s industrial focus spans three sectors: Natural Resources and Chemicals, Media and Telecommunications, and Real Estate. Founded in 1986 by Len Blavatnik, an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Access is an international industrial concern with strategic investments in the United States, Europe and South America, with corporate offices in New York, London and Moscow. www.accessindustries.com
About BBC Films
BBC Films is at the forefront of independent filmmaking in the UK, developing and co-producing around eight films a year. Christine Langan is the Head of BBC Films.
Recent releases include box office hit Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie; BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award® nominated Saving Mr. Banks from director John Lee Hancock; Stephen Frears’s BAFTA winning and Golden Globe and Academy Award® nominated Philomena; BAFTA and Academy Award® nominated Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman; no.1 hit comedy Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa from director Declan Lowney; Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut Quartet; Rufus Norris’s BIFA award-winning directorial debut Broken; Pascal Chaumeil’s A Long Way Down; and Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition. Upcoming releases include Matthew Warchus’ uplifting British comedy drama Pride will be released 12th September; James Kent’s powerful WW1 memoir Testament of Youth which will be released in January 2015; Richard Bracewell’s Bill which will be released 20th February 2015; and Thomas Vinterberg’s Far From The Madding Crowd starring Carey Mulligan will be released in spring 2015.
BBC Films has an impressive back catalogue, which includes titles such as Simon Curtis’s Academy Award® nominated My Week with Marilyn; Lynne Ramsay’s intense thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin; Lasse Hallström’s Golden Globe nominated romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; Cary Fukunaga’s gothic romance Jane Eyre; Nigel Cole’s compelling true-life drama Made in Dagenham; Lone Scherfig’s Academy Award® nominated and BAFTA award-winning An Education; Armando Iannucci’s Academy Award® and BAFTA award-nominated In the Loop; Jane Campion’s Academy Award® nominated Bright Star; and Andrea Arnold’s BAFTA award-winning Fish Tank.
bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms
Twitter @BBCFilms
About FilmNation Entertainment
Founded in 2008 by veteran international film executive Glen Basner, FilmNation Entertainment is a new kind of film company – global, versatile and full-service, and a go-to destination for many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers (including Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar, Jeff Nichols, Sofia Coppola, J.C Chandor and Anton Corbijn). FilmNation can board a project in a myriad of ways (as a producer, financier, sales agent, international distributor or marketer) and at any stage in a film’s lifespan including development. FilmNation titles have grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and the future looks to be even more successful with the company’s diversified global sales slate and the company’s own productions led by production vet Aaron Ryder. FilmNation has also forged a number of strategic relationships with some of the most prolific, respected producers and financiers operating in the film.
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