According
to a press release the two heavy weights of acting will be facing each other in
the upcoming film Harry and the Butler, which tells the “the story of Harry
(Sam Jackson), a one-time jazz virtuoso living in New Orleans who has given up
on his dreams and now spends his days as the mechanic for a derelict
rollercoaster and his nights in his makeshift home – a converted train caboose.
When his former mentor bequeaths him a
large sum of money, Harry – in a drunken celebration –decides to hire himself
an aging, down-on-his-luck English butler (Michael Caine) – an act of impetuous
generosity that changes their lives forever.”
SAMUEL
L. JACKSON AND MICHAEL CAINE TO HEADLINE ‘HARRY AND THE BUTLER’
TO
BE DIRECTED BY GEORGE C. WOLFE
RADIANT
FILMS INTERNATIONAL REPPING FOREIGN RIGHTS
Los
Angeles, CA (November 5, 2013) – Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson (PULP FICTION)
and two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine (THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, HANNAH AND HER
SISTERS) will star in the heartwarming drama, HARRY AND THE BUTLER, to be
directed by George C. Wolfe, winner of the Directors Guild Award for
“Lackawanna Blues,” it was announced today by producers Philippe Rivier of
Spirit Films and Colin Callender of Playground Entertainment.
The
film, written by Damian F. Slattery, will start shooting on location in
Louisiana in spring 2014.
HARRY
AND THE BUTLER is the story of Harry (Sam Jackson), a one-time jazz virtuoso
living in New Orleans who has given up on his dreams and now spends his days as
the mechanic for a derelict rollercoaster and his nights in his makeshift home
– a converted train caboose. When his
former mentor bequeaths him a large sum of money, Harry – in a drunken
celebration –decides to hire himself an aging, down-on-his-luck English butler
(Michael Caine) – an act of impetuous generosity that changes their lives
forever.
Mimi
Steinbauer’s Radiant Films International is handling foreign rights and will
introduce the project to buyers at the American Film Market this week.
CAA/ICM
Partners arerepresenting North American rights.
“We
are very proud to bring together these two great movie icons, Sam Jackson and
Michael Caine, under the direction of the great George C. Wolfe. HARRY AND THE
BUTLER follows in the honorable tradition of so many classic films in which a
chance encounter between two disparate characters transforms them forever. This
is a deeply moving comedy about two men from very different backgrounds
whobecome unlikely friends and help each other to re-discover themselves,” said
producers Philippe Rivier and Colin Callender.
“The
great Sam Jackson and the legendary Michael Caine instantly elevate any project
they are in and combined, their exceptional talent will make for great
chemistry on screen in this moving, humorous story. We expect buyers to embrace
this touching and heartwarming film at AFM,” said Mimi Steinbauer.
Samuel
L. Jackson’s iconic performances include starring as Nick Fury in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe franchise, with last year’s critically acclaimed THE
AVENGERS grossing over 1.5 billion worldwide and most recently in Quentin
Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED. His many film credits include JACKIE BROWN,
SHAFT, STAR WARS, CHANGING LANES, A TIME TO KILL and PULP FICTION, for which he
was nominated for an Oscar. His upcoming projects include Spike Lee’s OLD BOY
in theatres at the end of November and Columbia Pictures’ ROBOCOP, due out in
February 2014. He will reprise his role as Fury in Marvel’s next installment,
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, set for release through Disney in April
2014. He has several films in production including BARELY LETHAL with Hailee
Steinfeld and Jessica Alba and Matthew Vaughn’s THE SECRET SERVICE opposite
Colin Firth.
Two-time
Oscar winner Michael Caine received his statuettes for his performances in
Lasse Hallström’s THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and Woody Allen’s HANNAH AND HER
SISTERS, and has been nominated an additional four times for ALFIE, SLEUTH,
EDUCATING RITA and THE QUIET AMERICAN. His other credits include starring as
Alfred in Christopher Nolan’s global box office phenomenon, THE DARK KNIGHT
trilogy, INCEPTION, CHILDREN OF MEN and MISS CONGENIALITY. He is currently
filming Nolan’s much anticipated sci-fi film INTERSTELLAR, with Matthew
McConaughey, Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, a 2014 Paramount Pictures release.
Caine
is repped byICM Partners and 42. Jackson is repped by ICM Partners and
Anonymous Content.
George
C. Wolfe recently finished shooting YOU’RE NOT YOU starring Hilary Swank, Emmy
Rossum, Josh Duhamel and Marcia Gay Harden. His first feature film was Warner
Bros.’ NIGHTS IN RODANTE starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. He won the
Director’s Guild Award and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Directing
for a Television Movie for “Lackawanna Blues.”
Broadway
directing credits include this season’s record-breaking hit Nora Ephron’s Lucky
Guy that starred Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut, The Normal Heart(Drama Desk
Award), Jelly’s Last Jam (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award), Angels In
America—Millennium Approaches (Tony® and Drama Desk Award) andPerestroika,
(Drama Desk Award), Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk (Tony® and Drama
League Awards), Topdog/Underdog (Obie Award), Twilight: Los Angeles 1992(Drama
Desk Award), Elaine Stritch At Liberty (Tony® Award, Unique Theatrical Event),
The Tempest, Caroline Or Change and A Free Man Of Color.
He
is the writer of the award-winning The Colored Museum, directed Spunk (Obie
Award), created Harlem Song for the world famous Apollo Theatre, directed
Mother Courage, adapted by Tony Kushner and starring Meryl Streep and
conceived/directed a celebration of the American Musical at the White House.
From 1993 to 2005 he was the Producer of The Public Theatre/New York
Shakespeare Festival.
For
“Lackawanna Blues” (HBO), he received a National Board of Review Award, an
Independent Spirit Nomination for Best First Feature, a Christopher Award and
the Humanitas Prize.
Additional
awards include Actors Equity Paul Roberson Award, Society of Directors and
Choreographer’s Mr. Abbott and Calloway Award, The Dramatist Guild’s
Hull-Warner Award, The New Dramatist Outstanding Career Achievement Award. He
serves on The President’s Committee For The Arts and The Humanities and was
named a living landmark by the New York Landmark’s Conservancy.
Philippe
Rivier is an independent producer based in Los Angeles. He started his career
in the theater working with legendary stage director/choreographer Roland Petit
in Paris with whom he produced HOLLYWOOD PARADISE.
A
graduate of New York University film school, Rivier went on to produce
overthree hundred television commercials and music videos and the critically
acclaimed motion picture A DAY IN OCTOBER, which received the Angel award and
the Movieguide award of excellence.
Heserved
as executive producer for Production Partners in New York, and for Harmony
Pictures in Los Angeles and collaborated with Sony Development in the creation
of the entertainment centers METREON in San Francisco and MEDIAGE in Tokyo.
Rivier worked as media consultant for TF1 International and was executive
producer for Starwatcher Graphics. He developed the series THE LONG TOMORROW
based on the comic book by Moebius and produced the pilot for Sony Television.
Heacquired
the remake rights to the Danish film HARRY AND THE BUTLER and developed an
English adaptation with writer Damian F. Slattery. He is currently producing
the documentary PRIMA DONNA IN PARIS based on the life of famous French Diva
Régine Crespin. Rivier is actively developing new material for film and
television through his development company Spirit Entertainment.
Colin
Callender is an award-winning film, television and theater producer who founded
the New York based production company PLAYGROUND in 2011.
Current
television productions include Stephen Poliakoff’s “Dancing On The Edge”
starring John Goodman (BBC), “The White Queen” (BBC/Starz) based on the novels
by Philippa Gregory starring Max Irons and Rebecca Ferguson, “Dracula”
(NBC/Sky) starring Jonathan Rhys Myers and the six hour mini-series adaptation
of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning “Wolf Hall” starring Mark Rylance for
the BBC.
On
the theater front, Callender was lead producer of Nora Ephron’s Tony award
winning Broadway hit Lucky Guy directed by George C. Wolfe starring Tom Hanks.
He is the producer of the Harvey Fierstein’s upcoming new play Casa Valentina
to be directed by Joe Mantello that opens at The Friedman Theater on Broadway
in April 2014.
Prior
to PLAYGROUND Callender was president of HBO Films responsible for an array of
award winning films from the breakout independent hit MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING
to top award winners at the Sundance Film Festival four years in a row
including Jeff Blitz’ ROCKET SCIENCE, Josh Marston’s MARIA FULL OF GRACE,
Patricia Cardoza’s REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES and Sheri Springer Berman and Robert
Pulcini’s AMERICAN SPLENDOR along with Gus van Sant’s Cannes Film Festival
Palme D’Or winner ELEPHANT.
With
NEW LINE and Bob Berney he created the independent film distributor PICTUREHOUSE
which financed such Oscar winning films as Olivier Dahan’s LA VIE EN ROSE and
Guillermo del Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH.
Callender
currently serves on the board of the NY Public Theater and is a trustee of the
NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He is the winner of the WGA Evelyn F. Burkey
Award for services to writers, the Humanitas Award, the Geffen Distinction in
Theater Award and was awarded the CBE Commander of the British Empire by Her
Majesty the Queen for services to the UK film and television industries in the
US.
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