Angelina Jolie third film (the first was a
documentary called A Place in Time), Unbroken, based on the non-fiction book by
Lauren Hillenbrand just got a release date. Universal picture announced today
that Unbroken will be released on December 25th, 2014.
Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini, a
former Olympic athlete and WWII bomber pilot whose plane crashed at sea and
after 47 days he and his crew were captured by the Japanese Navy and put in a
POW camp.
Press Release:
Universal
City, CA, July 10, 2013—Universal Pictures today
announced that Unbroken, the new film directed by Angelina Jolie,
will be released in North American theaters on December 25, 2014. Unbroken marks
Jolie’s second turn behind the camera, after her critically acclaimed
directorial debut, 2011’s Golden Globe Award-nominated In the Land of
Blood and Honey.
Based
on The New York Times bestselling book “Unbroken: A World
War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand
(“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”),Unbroken is set to begin
production in late September 2013. Jolie, who is joined on the
project by fellow producers Matthew Baer (City by the Sea) and Erwin
Stoff (The Day the Earth Stood Still), has been a fierce champion of
bringing this incredible story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini’s bravery and heroism
to the big screen. Joining the behind-the-scenes crew are an accomplished
team, led by ten-time Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall),
who comes aboard as director of photography, and Jon Hutman (In the Land of
Blood and Honey), who reteams with Jolie as the film’s production designer.
“I’ve
had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie Zamperini, who is
a hero of mine, and now—I am proud to say—a dear friend,” said Jolie. “I
am deeply honored to be telling his extraordinary story, and I will do my
absolute best to give him the film he deserves. I am grateful to
Universal for making this film a priority.”
Originally
published by Random House in 2010, the book follows the incredible life story
of Olympian and war hero Zamperini who, along with two other crewmen, survived
in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught
by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. The book has sat
atop The New York Times bestseller list for more
than 135 consecutive weeks and is the sixth best-selling nonfiction title ever
since the list began in 1942. It was also the winner of the Los
Angeles Times Book of the Year Award for Nonfiction.
The
project has a long history with the studio, which first acquired the rights to
tell the life story of Zamperini in 1957 and optioned the rights to
Hillenbrand’s book in December 2010. Jolie was attached to direct in
December 2012.
Academy
Award® winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for
Old Men) rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William
Nicholson (Les Misérables) and Richard LaGravenese (HBO’sBehind the
Candelabra). Mick Garris and David Crockett serve as executive
producers.
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