Media 8 Entertainment, Inc. announced today that its feature film “Monster” has been named one of the Top Ten Films of 2003 by the prestigious American Film Institute. The film, which stars Charlize Theron as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos, will be released in the United States on December 24th in New York and December 26th in Los Angeles and will have a widely expanded theatrical release throughout the U.S. over the weeks following.
“As we proceed through the awards season, we are extremely pleased to see ‘Monster' continuing to gain critical acceptance,” said company spokesperson David Gaynes. “We are thrilled to see Charlize and the film beginning to receive the critical acclaim they both so deserve.”
This prestigious designation by the AFI adds to the growing accolades and positive critical response Theron and the film have just begun to receive as the award season begins. As previously announced, Theron recently won the National Board of Review's “Breakthrough Performance by an Actress Award.” “Monster” has recently garnered three IFP Independent Spirit Award nominations in the categories of Best Actress (Charlize Theron) and Best First Feature film and Best First Screenplay for writer/director Patty Jenkins. In addition, “Monster” has recently received major acclaim from leading US film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, on their nationally syndicated television show ‘Ebert & Roeper.' Both critics gave the film a rating of “Two Thumbs Way Up,” and Ebert called Theron's performance “one of the best in the history of the cinema.” Said Ebert of the film, “If this movie doesn't win the Oscar then they might as well retire the award, because this is the performance of the year.”
The film was fully financed and co-produced by MDP Filmproduktions GmbH , a wholly owned subsidiary of MDP Worldwide Entertainment, Inc. and VIP Medienfonds. “Monster” will be theatrically released in the United States on December 24th (New York) and December 26th (Los Angeles) and will have a widely expanded theatrical release throughout the U.S. over the weeks following.
“Monster,” which was written and directed by Patty Jenkins, is the shocking and moving true-life story of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute executed last year in Florida after being convicted of murdering six men. While Wuornos confessed to the six murders, including a policeman, she claimed to have killed only in self-defense, resisting violent assaults while working as a prostitute. Bravely burrowing beneath the tabloid headlines about America's first female serial killer—and the media's sordid designation of Wuornos as an unrepentant monster—in the midst of the horrors and pathologies, first-time writer-director Jenkins unearths an unlikely love story between two misfits. “Monster” also stars Christina Ricci and Bruce Dern. |
