THINKFilm Sweet on 'CANDY'

THINKFilm Sweet on 'CANDY'

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 www.thinkfilmcompany.com.

Contact:
Alex Klenert, THINKFilm, (212) 444-7900, aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com
Tom Piechura, The Dart Group, (212) 277-7555, tompiechura@thedartgroup.net

Source: THINKFilm

CONTACT: Alex Klenert of THINKFilm, +1-212-444-7900,
aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com; or Tom Piechura of The Dart Group,
+1-212-277-7555, tompiechura@thedartgroup.net, for THINKFilm

Web site: http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/

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