Me and Orson Welles US distribution details

Finally news about the US distribution for M&OW came out. As previously stated, the film will open 25 November 2009 in the US (limited in NY & LA) and then expand after.

I guess having the special Zac-focused trailer of Me and Orson Welles on the 17 Again DVD/Blu-ray makes now even more sense seeing that WBHV is handling the DVD release.

Here’s the article from Screen Daily, 9 September 2009:

Cinemanx finalises US distribution for Me And Orson Welles

One year after it launched at Toronto, Richard Linklater’s Me And Orson Welles has found US distribution through an alliance assembled by UK finance and production company Cinemanx (NX).

The film will open in select theatres on November 25 through Freestyle Releasing, backed by a campaign by former New Line marketing guru Russell Schwartz’ Pandemic Marketing.

Louisville-based Hart/Lunsford Pictures is funding the P&A costs and Warner Bros Home Video (WBHV) will handle the DVD release. Cinetic Media, who introduced the films to buyers in autumn 2008, brokered the deal with WBHV.

Me And Orson Welles is a coming-of-age story about the time the legendary director staged a Broadway production of Julius Caesar. Zac Efron stars alongside Claire Danes and newcomer Christian McKay as Welles.

“We’ve developed what we believe is an exciting roadmap for distributing this film, one we hope will pave the way for many others to come,” NX chairman Steve Christian said.

“The climate is such that there are fewer homes for films of this quality and budget range and it is important to create new options. By harnessing the power of our partners, experienced motion picture veterans, NX is able to play for the upside of a film we deeply believe in.”

NX recently formed a relationship with Vue Entertainment in the UK to produce and directly distribute titles including Me And Orson Welles.

NX currently has three films in post-production: Heartless starring Jim Sturgess, Clemence Poesy and Eddie Marsan; Wild Target with Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Martin Freeman; and the upcoming Toronto entry The Disappearance Of Alice Creed starring Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston.

From The Hollywoodreporter, 9 September 2009:

U.S. release planned for ‘Orson Welles’

Richard Linklater helmer scheduled for Nov. 25

Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, will be released theatrically in the U.S. on Nov. 25.

U.K. producer and financier Cinemanx has struck distribution deals with Freestyle Releasing, which will secure theaters; Warner Bros. Home Video, which will handle the DVD release; Hart/Lunsford Pictures, which will fund P&A costs; Cinetic, which was responsible for the Warners deal and is handling sales; and Russell Schwartz’ Pandemic Marketing, which will oversee publicity and marketing.

The film stars Zac Efron and Claire Danes and introduces Christian McKay as the young Orson Welles.

Cinemanx has also struck a deal with U.K. distribution chain Vue Entertainment, which allows Cinemanx to produce and directly distribute titles, including “Welles.”

“Cinemanx is pioneering this type of U.S. distribution strategy, and I think that says a lot about the vision of Cinemanx’s Steve Christian and Marc Samuelson,” Linklater said. “I’m excited about the possibilities, for myself and for other filmmakers.”

From Variety, 9 September 2009:

Linklater’s ‘Orson Welles’ gets a date

Cinemanx to release Zac Efron pic on Nov. 25

Isle of Man-based producer Cinemanx has set Nov. 25 as the release date for Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” starring Zac Efron and Claire Danes.

Freestyle Releasing will handle the theatrical launch of “Welles,” centered on a teenage actor cast as Julius Caesar as reimagined by Orson Welles at his Mercury Theater in 1937. Screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo is based on Robert Kaplow’s novel.

The production-financing shingle, which is funded through the island’s prosperous film fund, has arranged a partnership for U.S. releases with four other entities — Warner Bros. Home Video will handle the DVD release; Hart/Lunsford Pictures is funding the P&A costs; John Sloss’ Cinetic Media is handling sales; and Russell Schwartz’s Pandemic Marketing will handle marketing.

“We’ve developed what we believe is an exciting road map for distributing this film, one we hope will pave the way for many others to come,” said chairman Steve Christian, who is descended from “Mutiny on the Bounty” mutineer Fletcher Christian. “The climate is such that there are fewer homes for films of this quality and budget range and it is important to create new options.”

Although off the coast of England, the island is independently governed and has become a tax haven and popular production locale

Cinemanx has three films in post-production: “Heartless,” starring Jim Sturgess, Eddie Marsan and Timothy Spall and directed by Philip Ridley; “Wild Target,” starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Rupert Everett and directed by Jonathan Lynn; and “The Disappearance of Alice Creed.”

“Alice Creed” is set to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

From indieWIRE, 9 September 2009:

Breaking with Tradition, Partners Bringing Linklater’s Latest to Theaters

Nearly one year after its debut at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, director Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” starring Zac Effron and Claire Danes will hit select U.S. theaters beginning November 25 in a deal that teams the U.K.‘s Cinemanx (NX) with Warner Bros. Home Video, films sales outfit Cinetic Media, former New Line exec Russell Schwartz’s company Pandemic Marketing, and Freestyle Releasing, which will secure theaters and help coordinate the “in theater” campaign.

Cinetic Media brought the film to TIFF last year along with its high profile stars, but the feature did not find a traditional distribution deal. Today’s announcement brings Linklater’s feature, which also stars Christian McKay as Orson Welles, to screens via a partnership that includes Schwartz, who in 2008 joined a team to release Barry Levinson’s 2008 Sundance feature “What Just Happened,” which also didn’t find a traditional distribution outlet despite heavyweight stars such as Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and others in the film.

Talking with indieWIRE this evening as he arrived in Toronto for this year’s festival, Cinetic chief John Sloss said that while they received various offers for the film from distributors, they believed that going forward outside the established distribution system would be a better fit for this film, and said he believed more such deals will be seen in the near future.

“We knew we had a strong film in [‘Me and Orson Welles’] that would be reviewed, and we knew all the people involved, including Rick Linklater and Zac Effron, would do what they could for the film, so we thought, why not raise the P&A and do it ourselves.” Contemplating the future, Sloss added, “I think it’s something we’ll see more of. As the means of distribution becomes more readily available, these types of [scenarios] become possible.”

Pandemic will introduce “Welles” to the public by what it describes as a “creative and comprehensive campaign across all available media and editorial platforms,” while Warner will take the film’s reins on its DVD release (which was arranged via Cinetic), while Louisville-based company Hart/Lunsford Pictures is funding the prints and advertising costs.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of NX’s relationship with Vue Entertainment, one of the UK’s leading cinema operators, in a deal which allows NX to produce and directly distribute titles, including “Welles.”

“CinemaNX is pioneering this type of U.S. distribution strategy, and I think that says a lot about the vision of NX’s Steve Christian and Marc Samuelson,” said Richard Linklater in a statement. “I’m excited about the possibilities, for myself and for other filmmakers.”

Last month, Warner Bros. Home Video attached a teaser trailer for the film on their DVD release of “17 Again,” which starred Zac Effron, which the company says has resulted in hundreds of thousands of views via the Internet.

Rooted in theatrical history, “Me and Orson Welles” is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teen actor who lucks into a role in “Julius Caesar” as it’s being re-imagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles at his newly-founded Mercury Theater in New York in 1937.