Media 8 Entertainment, a leading film entertainment company, reported today that its feature film The Upside of Anger has been accepted into the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. The film will make its gala world premiere at the festival on Saturday January 22, 2005 as part of the festival's prestigious Premieres program. The Upside of Anger, a bittersweet comedy that will be widely released theatrically in the US in March through New Line Cinema, is written and directed by Mike Binder, and stars three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Keri Russell, Alicia Witt, and Mike Binder. The Sundance Film Festival's Premieres program showcases the diversity of contemporary cinema, featuring the world premieres of highly anticipated films from established U.S. and international directors. In this year's Premieres section, The Upside of Anger will be shown alongside new works from respected directors like Thomas Vinterberg, Don Roos, and Hal Hartley.
“We're very proud of Upside, and we view the Sundance Film Festival as an ideal platform for the launch of this film,” stated Sammy Lee, Vice Chairman of the Board for Media 8 Entertainment and a producer on the film. “We have great confidence in New Line's ability to promote and distribute this film, and we hope that Upside will find both commercial and critical success,” further added Lee.
Media 8 Entertainment is currently re-teaming with writer-director Mike Binder on its newest production, Man About Town, a dramatic comedy set in the fast-paced, high stakes world of Hollywood power players. Man About Town, which is currently being shot in Vancouver, Canada, stars Academy Award winner Ben Affleck (Pearl Harbor, Good Will Hunting) leading actress/model Rebecca Romijn (X Men, X2), and veteran comedic actor John Cleese (Harry Potter franchise, A Fish Called Wanda). Rounding out the film's talented cast are Gina Gershon (The Insider, Face/Off), Bai Ling (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), Amber Valetta (What Lies Beneath), Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle), Howard Hesseman (About Schmidt), Adam Goldberg (A Beautiful Mind), Jerry O'Connell (Kangaroo Jack), and Damien Wayans (Malibu's Most Wanted).
Following the recent success of its Academy Award winning film Monster, Media 8 Entertainment is actively pursuing its strategy of producing, financing and distributing high profile, commercially-driven films. Post-production is underway on Media 8's Running Scared, an exciting big-budget action/drama starring Paul Walker, which is writer-director Wayne Kramer's follow up to his critically acclaimed film The Cooler. Post-production is nearing completion on M8's Lovewrecked, a charming teen comedy starring Amanda Bynes (What a Girl Wants), Chris Carmack (Fox's “The O.C.”), Jamie-Lynn DiScala (“The Sopranos”), and Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls), and directed by Randal Kleiser (Grease and Honey I Blew Up the Kid). Also in post-production is Santa's Slay, an action infused horror-comedy that Media 8 is co-producing along with Brett Ratner (director of mega-box office hits Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, and Red Dragon), and featuring WWE wrestling star Goldberg as the comedically devilish Santa Claus. Also nearing completion in post-production is Havoc, Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan's searing story of teen culture as it clashes with the real world of urban Latino gangsters, directed by two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple, and starring leading young star Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries 2, Ella Enchanted) and Bijou Phillips (Door in the Floor, Bully). Media 8 also recently announced its newest project, Reaper, a stylish supernatural thriller which is set to begin production in early 2005. |
