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this fall
New Jagger film set for fall release
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ``The Man From Elysian Fields,'' a drama starring Andy Garcia and Mick
Jagger, will reach North American theaters in the fall.
Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fireworks Pictures said Thursday they have picked up theatrical and all other
media rights in the U.S. for the George Hickenlooper-directed film.
The picture made its world premiere at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival and will unspool Jan. 14 at the
Sundance Film Festival (news - web sites) in Park City.
``Fields'' stars Garcia as a desperate writer and family man who is recruited by the owner (Mick Jagger)
of an upscale male escort agency. On the job, the writer finds his life entwined with that of a beautiful
and lonely woman (Olivia Williams), married to one of the most famous and honored authors on the
planet (James Coburn), and a high-stakes shot at literary stardom. Julianna Margulies and Anjelica
Huston co-star.
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Jagger's 'Elysian Fields' is first pick at Sundance
Friday January 11, 7:05 PM EST
By Bob Tourtellotte
PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 11 (Reuters) - "The Man from Elysian Fields," a story about a struggling writer's tangled love life starring rocker Mick Jagger and Andy Garcia, became the first film sold at this week's Sundance Film Festival, which opened Thursday night.
The movie was picked up by independent film companies Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fireworks Pictures for an undisclosed sum of money.
While the movie features several well-known stars such as Garcia, Julianna Margulies, formerly of TV hospital drama "ER," and veteran James Coburn, it's Jagger who steals the show playing the runner of a stable of male escorts that operates under the name "Elysian Fields."
"He's been trying to have a movie career for years, and this is going to give him that career," Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., who heads the company that bears his name, told Reuters on Friday.
Goldwyn said he and Fireworks, a unit of CanWest Global Communications Corp (CGSa)., have been eyeing the film's distribution rights for about six weeks, but only recently sealed the deal in time to announce on the first day of the festival here.
Sundance is the United States' top festival for independent films, and each year it attracts film buyers and media attention from around the world.
"Elysian Fields" stars Garcia as a struggling writer, Byron Tiller, who is a husband and father of a boy toddler. Margulies portrays his wife.
Tiller's first novel was moderately successful, but is no longer selling on retail shelves. His second book has just been rejected by his publisher, and he is desperate for money when he meets up with Luther Fox (Jagger).
Fox makes Tiller an offer he wants to refuse, but can't. Thus, Tiller begins a second career as a gigolo and when he becomes the escort of the wife of Pulitzer Prize winning writer Tobias Alcott, he finds himself writing again. His revitalized writing career, however, conflicts with his real love life at home.
Goldwyn said early reaction to "Elysian Fields" in test screenings has been positive, mostly because of Jagger's performance as the multi-faceted Fox, who can be a sly businessman at one moment and a love-struck sap at the next.
But the real test of its ability to stir audiences will come on Monday when the movie premieres in front of notoriously hard-to-please Sundance crowds.
"I never know about movies," said Goldwyn, "You can never predict exactly how audiences will react."
Jagger's other film work includes thriller "Freejack," and last year he premiered the World War II spy film "Enigma," which starred Kate Winslet and was produced by his Jagged Films company, here at Sundance.
"Elysian Fields" was backed by Gold Circle Films in association with Shoreline Entertainment.
�2001 Reuters Limited. |
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11 JANUARY 2002
Although it received rave reviews when it first screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2001, Mick Jagger�s latest venture into cinema, The Man From Elysian Fields, failed to make a larger impression, probably a result of its post-Sept 11 appearance. It is about to be given a new second shot in the arm, however, with a screening at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival on January 14.
The George Hickenlooper-directed movie also stars Andy Garcia as Byron, a struggling author desperate to earn some extra cash for his family, who is recruited by a male escort agency owner, played by Mick. In his new role, Byron finds himself entwined with the beautiful and lonely wife (Olivia Williams) of one of his novelist heroes, played by James Coburn.
Former ER actress Julianna Margulies stars as the writer�s wife, while Anjelica Huston fills the role of a former client with whom Mick�s aging rou� dreams of settling down. The Prizzi�s Honor actress admits that the opportunity to play opposite the internationally renowned lothario was one of the attractions of the part. �I took it because I get the chance to refuse Mick Jagger�s offer of his hand in marriage,� she jokes.
The Man From Elysian Fields is not the 58-year-old Rolling Stone�s first cinema project. He embarked upon his love affair with cinema in 1970 playing a drugged out rock star in the Donald Cammell/Nicolas Roeg feature Performance. Later in the same year, he appeared in Ned Kelly. A series of less-than-memorable roles followed - although he turned in a great performance as a homosexual in a Dachau concentration camp in Bent. Prior to Elysian Fields his most recent cinema project was a cameo role as an RAF officer in Enigma.
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Redford unveils
Sundance film fund
Redford has a long association with documentaries
Actor Robert Redford has unveiled a new fund
for documentary film makers, backed by $4.6m
(�3.1m) from investor George Soros.
The fund will be used to support up to 50
projects per year and the initial investment will
be spread over four years.
"That allows us to kind of put teeth in a
commitment that's been long-standing about
trying to promote documentaries," Redford
said.
Documentary has been
a key element of the
US film festival in Utah
since it was launched
20 years ago by the
actor.
Under the plan the
money will be used to
establish the Sundance
International
Documentary Fund.
The Sundance cable
channel, founded by Redford in 1996 to show
independent films, will launch a sister network
devoted to documentaries later this year as
part of the deal.
Meanwhile, The Man from Elysian Fields,
starring Mick Jagger, became the first movie
shown at Sundance to find a distributor.
Jagger plays a pimp in the film who runs a
circle of gigolos.
Unpredictable
"He's been trying to have a movie career for
years, and this is going to give him that
career," said Samuel Goldwyn, Jr, who heads
the company that bears his name.
The film, shown only to critics so far, will be
screened to audiences at the festival on
Monday.
Goldwyn added "you can never predict" exactly
how audiences will react to films.
Jagger's acting career has so far received
mixed reviews.
While he has appeared in 37 films, most have
been as himself, and only his role in the 1970
Performance has been given any prise.
His role in the 1992 science fiction film
Freejack had a mixed reaction.
More recently, Jagger has turned producer,
working on the British thriller Enigma. |
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The Telegraph
'Pimp' Jagger steals the show
By Oliver Poole in Park City, Utah
(Filed: 14/01/2002)
MICK JAGGER, whose acting ability has been compared to watching Sylvester Stallone try Hamlet, has received critical acclaim for his latest film.
 Mick Jagger: plays a 'repulsive pimp'
Reviewers described the 58-year-old rock singer as showing "star material" in The Man from Elysian Fields and of "stealing the show" from established actors such as Andy Garcia and James Coburn.
Jagger plays a repulsive pimp running a stable of gigolos in the feature made by Gold Circle Films about a struggling writer who becomes a male prostitute.
It has become one of the "buzz" films at the Sundance Festival, the annual event arranged by Robert Redford to showcase independent films.
Since the festival started on Thursday, people have been clamouring for tickets.
"He has been trying to have a movie career for years, and this is going to give him that career," said Samuel Goldwyn Jr, head of Samuel Goldwyn Films which bought the picture for an undisclosed sum.
The festival is noted for discovering box office successes such as Reservoir Dogs and The Blair Witch Project.
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CHAT ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
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