Alcon Entertainment has just announced that it has acquired North American and the majority of international distribution rights to the feature film The 33, the extraordinary true story of the 2010 Chilean mine disaster, it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.
Directed by Patricia Riggen (Girl in Progress, Under the Same Moon), the suspenseful drama stars an international award-winning ensemble cast, including Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Mario Casas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rodrigo Santoro, Gabriel Byrne and James Brolin. The film will be released domestically on November 13th 2015 by Warner Bros via Alcon’s output deal.
Academy Award nominated producer Mike Medavoy (Black Swan, Shutter Island), who lived in Chile for 10 years, developed the project in cooperation with the miners, their families and rescuers, and produced the film with Robert Katz (Crash, Seabiscuit) and Edward McGurn.
“We don’t acquire many films,” say Johnson and Kosove, “but we’re particularly excited to bring this incredible true story of perseverance and the strength of the human spirit to audiences around the world. Few events of this kind have captured the attention and sympathies of people around the globe as this one did, and the huge emotional ride we all took as the rescuers struggled to free the miners is captured beautifully in this wonderful film.”
The 33 tells the real life story of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped more than 200 stories underground enduring 100 degrees Fahrenheit beneath a megaton boulder twice the size of the Empire State Building for 69 days following the collapse of the San Jose copper and gold mine. The film, which is a never before seen look at what happened deep inside that mine and chronicles the disaster, the heroic efforts to reach the miners, and the subsequent successful rescue of all 33 men. The film, which was shot in real working mines in Colombia and Chile, recounts some of the emotional personal stories behind the gripping incident and also features several of the real news reporters from around the world who captured the actual event. The rescue became a global broadcast news event that captivated the attention of over 1 billion people worldwide. The 33 miners’ ordeal represents the longest underground survival story in history.
Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) and Michael Thomas (The Devil’s Double) penned the script based on the screen story by Jose Rivera and the critically acclaimed book “Deep Down Dark” by Hector Tobar, the former Los Angeles Times bureau chief in Argentina and Mexico. The book has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award.
“Andrew and Broderick have terrific taste,” says Medavoy, “and we couldn’t be happier to partner with them to bring this special story to audiences around the world. I feel the film is in extremely capable hands with Warner Bros and Alcon involved.”
Medavoy brought the project to Alcon. The deal was negotiated by Scott Parish, Alcon’s COO/CFO and Scott Edel of Loeb & Loeb on behalf of Alcon and by Bruce Tobey of O’Melveny & Myers on behalf Medavoy and Phoenix Pictures.
