MOMENTUM PICTURES ACQUIRES RICHARD RAAPHORST’S FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY FOR U.K. RELEASE
Berlin (February 9, 2012) – Momentum Pictures, an Alliance Films company, today announced that it has acquired distribution rights in the U.K. to writer-director Richard Raaphorst’s horror film FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY. The movie, currently shooting in Europe, is a co-production of MPI/Dark Sky Films, Los Angeles-based XYZ Films and Pellicola of Amsterdam.
The presale of British rights to FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY was negotiated by Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films and Robert Walak of Momentum, the British distribution subsidiary of Montreal-based Alliance Films. MPI and XYZ are handling international sales on the film.
XYZ Films just came off of producing the international action film THE RAID, a Sony Pictures Classics release on March 23, which is attracting praise on the heels of winning the audience award at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and a successful U.S. premiere at Sundance.
Momentum Pictures, one of the U.K.’s preeminent independent distributors, has released such acclaimed hits as The King’s Speech, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Troll Hunter, Let the Right One In and will soon release the The Woman in Black and The Raid.
Filming in Prague, FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY marks the feature debut of Dutch director Richard Raaphorst, whose award winning Worst Case Scenario shorts catapulted him into popularity among horror fans worldwide.
Now, director Raaphorst brings his visionary skills to this new horror movie, where he has hit on a unique and bold premise. Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Viktor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of supersoldiers stitched together from a combination of the body parts of their fallen comrades, weapons and machinery – a desperate Hitler’s last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.
FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is the latest addition to MPI/Dark Sky Films acclaimed original horror productions. The Company was also behind highly praised genre films such as Ti West’s The House of the Devil , Adam Green’s Hatchet II, Jim Mickle’s Stake Land and West’s latest, The Innkeepers.
XYZ Films’ Nate Bolotin said: “Richard Raaphorst’s movie will be everything his Worst Case Scenario footage promised, and we are thrilled that Momentum will bring its proven distribution skills to this amazing movie.”
Momentum Picture’s, Robert Walak said: “We have always strived to bring a wide range of high-quality movies to the screen, and FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY will take us in yet another bold and exciting direction.”
About XYZ Films
XYZ is an LA-based production and sales company founded by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian. XYZ Films recently produced THE RAID, which won the Midnight Madness audience award at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and is being released through Sony Pictures Classics on March 23rd of this year. In addition to handling North American sales at top-tier film festivals, XYZ is also partnered with French international sales outfit, Celluloid Dreams, for international sales. The partnership, launched in May of 2010 as “Celluloid Nightmares,” brings together the pedigree of Celluloid Dreams with the genre savvy of XYZ. XYZ has been a leader in the independent film space since it acquired an ownership stake in leading international film site Twitch (www.twitchfilm.com) and partnered with Twitch founder, Todd Brown, to expand XYZ's sales initiative.
About Dark Sky Films
Dark Sky Films is dedicated to the discovery, preservation and production of new and classic horror, sci-fi and cult films from around the world. Based in Chicago, Dark Sky Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of The MPI Media Group – one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs.
About Pellicola
Pellicola is an Amsterdam-based film and TV production company founded by partners Daniel Koefoed and Nick Jongerius. Pellicola’s production slate includes horror film Dead End, TV series Sniff the Dogg and award-winning shorts Brothers Keeper, Harry Doright and The Bug.
About MPI Media Group
The MPI Media Group is a leading producer, distributor and licensor of films, home entertainment, historical footage and more. Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films, and the WPA Film Library. www.mpimediagroup.com
About Momentum Pictures and Alliance Films
Alliance Films, Inc. is one of the top five international independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance VivaFilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures (UK) and Aurum Productions (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media.
Strategic partnerships includes exclusive distribution rights with Relativity Media in Canada and UK, Focus Features, The Weinstein Company, CBS Films and Newmarket Films in Canada, as well as ongoing relationships with Summit, FilmNation, Newmarket, Exclusive Media, IM Global, Mandate, Wild Bunch, Constantin Films, EuropaCorp and Nu Image in all 3 territories.
On the production front, strategic partnerships include: a feature film co-production and acquisitions deal with Italy’s Medusa Film; a first-look deal with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman’s See-Saw Films, which yielded the critically acclaimed THE KING'S SPEECH and SHAME by Steve McQueen; the production joint venture with IM Global, Automatik run by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones which is responsible for the upcoming WELCOME TO THE PUNCH; and a five-picture deal with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY producers Oren Peli, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider with titles that include the recent James Wan release INSIDIOUS and Barry Levinson’s upcoming THE BAY.
For additional information about the production, contact:
Daniela Sapkar / Stacey Cusack
Daniela.Markoska@SapkarPR.com / Stacey.Cusack@SapkarPR.com
646.644.4418
