Echo Bridge Entertainment

Distribution Company Acquires Two New Features: "Run for Her Life" and "Unshakable" to Debut at Cannes

"My Life in Ruins," starring Nia Vardalos and Rita Wilson, to Receive World Premiere at Cannes and "Just Add Water" with Danny De Vito to Screen

Echo Bridge Entertainment, a leading distributor of theatrical, home entertainment and television programming, is pleased to announce a slate of new and diverse feature films available to the international marketplace at the Cannes International Film Festival.   The announcement was made today by Dan March, Executive Vice President, Echo Bridge Entertainment.

Echo Bridge Entertainment has acquired two new films which will debut at Cannes.  The action thriller Run for Her Life has been acquired from 26 Films. Dermot Mulroney (Must Love Dogs, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Family Stone, About Schmidt) stars as a rising L.A. District Attorney who, in a desperate attempt to save his daughter from a rare disease, jeopardizes his career, family and life when he finds himself involved in the middle of a criminal underworld medical ring in Mexico.  Run for Her Life, which will commence principal photography in June 2008 is produced by Michelle Chydzik Sowa and Nathalie Marciano of 26 Films (The Wedding Date, Starter for Ten, My Life in Ruins), and directed by Baltasar Kormakur (Jar City).  The screenplay was written by Christian Escario and re-written by John Claflin (Fool's Gold).

Unshakable is a non-stop action and martial arts thriller starring Russell Wong (Romeo Must Die, Mummy 3) and Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible I, II and III).  Written and directed by Stanley J. Orzel (creative consultant on Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Fearless), Maria Lo Orzel (also Creative Consultant on Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Fearless) serves as a Producer. Mark Lee is the film's Director of Photography (The Flight of the Red Balloon, Afterwards); Carol Cowley (VFX Producer Spiderman, Superman Returns, Peter Pan) serves as the Visual Effects Producer working with award winning studio Macrograph (Forbidden Kingdom); and Jacky Yeung is the Fight Choreographer (Hard Boiled, Tomorrow Never Dies). Principal photography begins in Cartagena, Colombia, in August 2008.  In Unshakable, two mercenaries are on a "piece of cake" private security gig on a remote island, where nine people are brought together under the pretense of "information exchange."  The clandestine business meeting soon transforms into a harrowing battle for survival, as members of the group slowly die, one by one, by an unknown force.

Nia Vardalos

Receiving its world premiere at Cannes is the romantic comedy My Life in Ruins, starring Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Richard Dreyfuss (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws), Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle) and Harland Williams (Dumb & Dumber), which will debut on Thursday, May 15th at 8.00 pm. Produced by Tom Hanks (The DaVinci Code), Gary Goetzman (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express), Michelle Chydzik (Starter for Ten, The Wedding Date) and Nathalie Marciano (Starter for Ten, The Wedding Date), My Life in Ruins is directed by Donald Petrie (Grumpy Old Men, Miss Congeniality, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) from a script written by Nia Vardalos and Mike Reiss (The Simpsons Movie).  Set amongst the ruins of Ancient Greece, a Greek-American tour guide leads an assorted group of foreign tourists around Greece resulting in a hysterical clash of personalities and cultures.  Everything seems to go wrong until one very special tourist shows her how to have fun, resulting in an unexpected adventure and romance. 

Also screening at Cannes for the first time on Monday, May 19th at 5:30 pm is the hysterical comedy, Just Add Water starring Danny DeVito (LA Confidential, Batman Returns), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard, The Break-Up), Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked-Up) and Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck, The Lakehouse).  Just Add Water delivers the story of a decent man, Ray Tuckby who is just getting by in life in a once idyllic turned crime infested, dead-end town.  When a stranger arrives and encourages Ray to follow his dreams, he gains the courage to shed the parasites in his life, musters up the nerve to pursue his childhood love, and joins forces with his friends to confront the thugs that are preventing the town from returning to its former splendor.  The film is written and directed by Hart Bochner and produced by Robin Bissell and Clifford Werber.

CANNES SCREENING SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY - May 15th
My Life in Ruins
8.00 pm - Palais K

SATURDAY - May 17th
My Life in Ruins
3:30 pm - Palais D

MONDAY - May 19th
Just Add Water
5:30pm - Palais D

About Echo Bridge Entertainment
Echo Bridge Entertainment is an independent distribution company that acquires and distributes motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment and video-on-demand content throughout the world.

In April, 2008, Echo Bridge Entertainment acquired Alliance Atlantis International Distribution from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.  The acquisition adds the distribution rights to over 5,500 hours of first run and catalog programming to the Echo Bridge Entertainment Library, creating one of the largest independent distributors of film and television programming worldwide, with a combined portfolio of over 11,000 titles.

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment distributes directly to virtually all major U.S. and Canadian retailers.

Other titles in the Echo Bridge catalog include the NAPPA and Dove Award-winning Derby Stallion, starring Zac Efron (Hairspray, High School Musical 1 & II); The Big White, a black comedy starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, and Woody Harrelson; and Beer League featuring The Howard Stern Show funnyman Artie Lange. Echo Bridge Entertainment has something for everyone-it's "The Entertainment Alternative for What the World Wants to See." For more information about the company and products, please visit: www.echobridgeentertainment.com.