E1 Entertainment today announced that Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman (Watchmen) and Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, “Friday Night Lights”) have signed on to star in the The Bang Bang Club, a Canada/South Africa co-production from producer Daniel Iron of Foundry Films Inc. and Lance Samuels and Adam Friedlander of Out Of Africa Inc. Steven Silver will direct the drama, which will be distributed worldwide by E1 Entertainment.
“The Bang Bang Club” was the name given to four young photographers; Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch), Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva, whose photographs captured the final bloody days of white rule in South Africa. Two were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their acclaimed work. The film tells the remarkable and sometimes harrowing story of these young men – and the extraordinary extremes they went to in order to capture their pictures. Anna (Malin Akerman) is their photo-editor, who looked out for them, protected them and made sure their photographs were seen across the world. Based on the book by Marinovich and Silva, The Bang Bang Club tells the true story of these four young men, recounting their relationships with each other and the stresses, tensions and moral dilemmas of working in situations of extreme violence, pain and suffering. It is also the story of the final demise of apartheid and the birth of a new South Africa.
“We are proud to be the worldwide distributor of this amazing story that shows the many complex facets of humanity, and to have such a talented cast portraying the lives of these fearless individuals,” said Patrice Theroux E1’s President of Filmed Entertainment.
