OPEN ROAD WILL DISTRIBUTE “FINDING STEVE MCQUEEN” IN THE U.S. ON BEHALF OF AMBI GROUP
Travis Fimmel, Forest Whitaker, William Fichtner and Rachael Taylor Star in the True-Story Heist Movie Directed by Mark Steven Johnson
AMBI Introducing the Film to International Distributors in Berlin
Berlin, Germany (February 9, 2017) --- Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to the heist movie “Finding Steve McQueen,” directed by Mark Steven Johnson (“Ghost Rider,” “Daredevil,” “Elektra”) and staring Travis Fimmel (“Warcraft,” “Vikings”), Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”), William Fichtner (“The Dark Night,” “Armageddon”) and Rachael Taylor (“Transformers,” “Gold”). The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films, as the European Film Market (EFM) gets under way in Berlin.
Open Road will release “Finding Steve McQueen” wide in 2018. The movie is based on the true story of the biggest bank heist in US history. In 1972 a gang of close-knit thieves from Youngstown, Ohio attempt to steal $30 million in illegal contributions and blackmail money from President Richard Nixon’s secret fund. Keith Sharon (“Showtime”) and Ken Hixon (“City by the Sea”) wrote the screenplay.
The film was produced by Anthony Mastromauro (Identity Films), Silvio Muraglia (Paradox Studios), Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi (AMBI Group), and Alexandra Klim. Mikael Wiren is executive producer.
AMBI Distribution, the worldwide sales arm of Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Media Group, is handling international sales for “Finding Steve McQueen” and introducing the film to foreign distributors in Berlin.
Said Andrea Iervolino, “’Finding Steve McQueen’ is an explosive, character-driven film, smartly told in a way that will keep audiences guessing throughout. Open Road has outlined a masterful marketing and distribution plan that will allow this film to perform very well. We’re happy to further our relationship with dynamic team at Open Road and look forward to bringing great films to the masses together in 2018.”
The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by CEO Tom Ortenberg, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Elliott Kleinberg and SVP Acquisitions, Lejo Pet and by Andrea Iervolino , Silvio Muraglia and Joseph Cohen on behalf of AMBI Media Group and Paradox Studios.
About Open Road Films
Open Road Films is a leading, independent, theatrical motion picture company, releasing a diverse slate of star-driven films, which has included multiple #1 releases and enormous critical response. The company was founded in 2011 by AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC) and Regal Entertainment Group (Regal), the two largest theatrical exhibition companies in the United States. The uniquely formed company is widely known as a filmmaker-focused distributor that supports both box office hits and top prestige titles.
Open Road Films led the 2016 critically acclaimed film, Spotlight, to win the Oscar® for Best Picture, becoming the youngest studio in history to win the big prize. The film, which earned almost $45 million at the U.S. box-office, stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci and Billy Crudup was directed by Tom McCarthy, who also won the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay, with his co-writer (and executive producer) Josh Singer. Spotlight has won numerous high profile critics and guild awards, including the Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Award and the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film. Spotlight also appeared on over 250 critics’ Top Ten lists for 2016.
Other notable Open Road Films releases include: Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which took the #1 spot at the box-office during its opening week and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Original Screenplay, along with a Golden Globe nomination – it was named one of the best films of 2014 by the AFI and National Board of Review and top critics nationwide; the hit film Chef, written by, directed by and starring Jon Favreau along with Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Oliver Platt, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Downey, Jr.; The Nut Job, which opened to over $25 million at the box office as the highest ever opening for an independent animated film; The Grey, directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, which opened #1 at the box office; End Of Watch, directed by David Ayer and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, which opened #1 at the box office; Rosewater, written and directed by Jon Stewart; A Haunted House starring Marlon Wayans; and Side Effects, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum.
Upcoming Open Road Films releases include: Collide (2/24/2017) starring Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult; Before I Fall (3/3/2017) based on the bestselling novel of the same name, starring Zoey Deuth, Halston Sage and Logan Miller: Spark (4/14/2017), an animated family film featuring the voices of Hilary Swank, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Biel; Midnight Sun (8/4/2017), an emotional drama starring Bella Thorne and Patrick Schwarzenegger; The Nut Job 2 (8/18/17), the sequel to the 2014 hit animated film, featuring the voices of Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Dunham, Bobby Moynihan, Bobby Cannavale, Isabela Moner, Gabriel Iglesias, Sebastian Maniscalco and Peter Stormare;; All I See Is You (9/15/2017), directed by Marc Forster and starring Blake Lively and Jason Clarke; Marshall (10/13/2017), starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Kate Hudson from director Reginald Hudlin; Home Again, written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, produced by Nancy Meyers and starring Reese Witherspoon; and Show Dogs (11/10/17), a live action family comedy from the director of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Scooby Doo and The Smurfs.
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.”
AMBI has quickly emerged as one of the industry’s most prolific financing, production and sales companies with the capacity to develop, package, finance, produce and sell a broad array of films for worldwide distribution. Among the films on AMBI’s burgeoning film slate are the heist movie “Finding Steve McQueen,” starring Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner and Forest Whitaker, which Mark Steven Johnson is directing; the Andrea Bocelli biopic “The Music of Silence”, directed by Oscar® nominated Michael Radford and starring Antonio Banderas, Toby Sebastian and Jordi Molla; a new Sarah Jessica Parker music-drama, James Franco’s post-apocalyptic thriller “Future World”, starring Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Method Man, Suki Waterhouse, Snoop Dogg, and James Franco; the psychological thriller “Black Butterfly” starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; a remake of Christopher Nolan’s iconic film “Memento”; “Lamborghini – The Legend,” a biopic on Lamborghini founder Ferruccio Lamborghini to be written by Bobby Moresco; the faith based children’s film “Beyond the Sun,” featuring His Holiness Pope Francis; the contemporary fairy tale “This Beautiful Fantastic” starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Tom Wilkinson; James Franco’s “In Dubious Battle,” featuring an ensemble cast that includes Franco, Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Josh Hutcherson, Zach Braff and Sam Shepherd; the 3D, CGI animated family film “Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad” starring Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, James Franco and Anjelica Huston; and the sci-fi thriller “Rupture” starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Chiklis and Peter Stormare.
In 2015, AMBI acquired the Exclusive Media Group film library, which includes an incredibly diverse portfolio of critical hits, commercial blockbusters and cult favorites such as “Begin Again,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Donnie Darko,” “End of Watch,” “Ides of March,” “Hit & Run,” “Memento,” “The Mexican,” “Parkland,” “Rush,” “Sliding Doors,” “Snitch,” “Undefeated” and “The Way Back,” to name a few. In addition to the library titles, AMBI now has the rights to a number of titles within EMG’s active movie development slate, as well as all sequel and remake rights to the popular EMG films.
Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 55 feature films including “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Humbling.” He is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry and was the recipient of the coveted Mimmo Rotella Award for his contributions to the Italian cinema industry - presented to him at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, alongside fellow recipients Al Pacino and Barry Levinson. Iervolino most recently received the Honor of Recognition as Ambassador of Italian Cinema in the World at annual Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF).
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.
For more information on AMBI please visit http://ambidistribution.com/
About Paradox Studios
Paradox Studios is a boutique production company that specializes in independent film financing and International co-productions. Their most recent project “Finding Steve McQueen” starring Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner and Forest Whitaker, which Mark Steven Johnson is directing was developed, co-financed and produced by Paradox completed principal photography in Atlanta, Gerogia. “Black Butterfly” starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers , developed co-financed and produced by Paradox was shot in Rome in 2016 and will be released in the US in 2017 by Lionsgate Premiere. All Roads Lead to Rome was released in in 2016 and starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Raoul Bova, and Paz Vega and was shot in Rome in 2014. Studios also produced and financed Reclaim, starring John Cusack, Jacki Weaver, and Ryan Phillippe which was released on September 19, 2014 by Lionsgate as well as Ain't Them Bodies Saints, staring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, which was acquired by IFC Films at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. Also produced and financed by Paradox is the Samuel L. Jackson and Dominic Cooper thriller Reasonable Doubt, released by Lionsgate on January 26, 2014. Paradox has produced and financed over 10 films since 2008, including The Frozen Ground, Fire with Fire, and Setup.
Silvio Muraglia is a respected international producer and television executive who possesses extensive knowledge of both the European and the American entertainment industries and film markets, and has served as president of production at Paradox Studios since 2013. He has produced over 20 films over the course of his career.
About Identity Films
Identity Films is the independent production company formed by Anthony Mastromauro in 2006.
Identity Films' goal is to produce films of artistic and commercial merit. Mr. Mastromauro's tastes in material vary. Identity prides itself on acquiring books, plays, magazine and newspaper articles and creatively packaging the material with respected writers, directors and/or talent with the aim of setting up the project with one of the many studios or independent financiers currently in the marketplace. Identity also develops original ideas in-house.
Identity Films understands that when creating a brand within the entertainment industry it is imperative to be consistent in the pursuit of quality material. Identity Films pursues that goal each and every day.
For more information on Identity Films, please visit http://identityfilm.com/
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