NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- THINKFilm has acquired all North
American rights from Fortissimo Films to CANDY, starring Heath Ledger, Abbie
Cornish, and Geoffrey Rush, it was announced by THINK Theatrical Division Head
Mark Urman. The film, which is the feature helming debut of noted Australian
stage director Neil Armfield, is based on the prize-winning novel by Luke
Davies and was adapted for the screen by Davies and Armfield. CANDY premiered
to great acclaim at the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival and THINK
plans to open it later this year.
In the film, recent Oscar-nominee Ledger stars as Dan, a charming but
reckless young poet who has fallen in love with Candy (Cornish), a beautiful
young art student from a comfortable middle-class family who is attracted to
the bohemian lifestyle that Dan has long since embraced. In order to get
closer to Dan, Candy, whose previous drug use has been casually experimental,
starts shooting up. Their passionate relationship then alternates between
bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destruction. Hooked
as much on heroin as one another, their story becomes a love triangle -- a
boy, a girl, and a drug.
"CANDY beautifully captures both the exhilarating highs and the maddening
lows of youthful folly," says Urman of the film. "Not only does it confirm
Heath Ledger's standing as a brilliant leading man, it also establishes Abbie
Cornish as the next important international star to emerge from Australia."
"It's great to be working with THINKFilm on the US release of CANDY," says
producer Emile Sherman. "They have responded to the film in exactly the way we
hope viewers do -- as a unique portrayal of the addiction of love and
everything we do to get it to last forever."
Wouter Barendrecht of Fortissimo said, "We have been admirers of the great
distribution and marketing work the THINKFilm team does for their films and we
have been waiting to find the right film to work on together with them. We are
pleased that with CANDY we are of like minds and that they will be the ones to
bring this powerful film to North American audiences."
Rounding out the cast of CANDY is Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush, who plays
Casper, a wealthy man-of-the-world who takes Dan and Candy under his wing even
as he himself is sinking under the weight of his own decadence. Noted
character actors Noni Hazlehurst and Tony Martin play Candy's hapless suburban
parents who must watch as their "little girl" lives out a nightmare version of
wedded bliss and domesticity. Margaret Fink ("My Brilliant Career") and Emile
Sherman ("Rabbit Proof Fence") produced the film. THINKFilm Executive Vice
President of Acquisitions and Business Affairs Randy Manis negotiated the deal
on behalf of the distributor, with Cinetic Media represented the filmmakers in
the sale.
Next up for THINK is AWESOME; I F*CKIN' SHOT THAT, a musical extravaganza
starring the Beastie Boys, which opens March 31; DOWN IN THE VALLEY, starring
Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood, which opens May 5; and THE KING, starring
Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt, which opens May 19. Recent acquisitions
include festival favorites HALF NELSON, starring Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps,
and Anthony Mackie, and the acclaimed documentary F*CK by Steve Anderson. For
more information, please visit http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com.
Contact:
Alex Klenert, THINKFilm, (212) 444-7900, aklenert [at] thinkfilmcompany [dot] com
Tom Piechura, The Dart Group, (212) 277-7555, tompiechura [at] thedartgroup [dot] net
