Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures jointly announced that the upcoming film being directed by three-time Academy Award-winning director-producer Steven Spielberg will be titled MUNICH.
The film is an historical thriller set in the aftermath of the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Universal Pictures will release the film in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 23, 2005; DreamWorks Pictures will handle international marketing and distribution. MUNICH recounts the dramatic story of the secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and assassinate 11 Palestinians believed to have planned the 1972 Munich massacre and the personal toll this mission of revenge takes on the team and the man who led it. Eric Bana (TROY) stars as the Mossad agent charged with leading the band of specialists brought together for this operation.
Inspired by actual events, the narrative is based on a number of sources, including the recollections of some who participated in the events themselves. The script is the first feature film written by Tony Kushner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award and many other awards for his epochal Broadway drama ANGELS IN AMERICA as well as its Emmy Award-winning adaptation for HBO. The film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Barry Mendel, Spielberg and Colin Wilson.
The international cast also includes Daniel Craig (LAYER CAKE), Geoffrey Rush (SHINE), Mathieu Kassovitz (AMIELE), Hanns Zischler (WALK ON WATER) and Ciaran Hinds (ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA).
Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Ent., NBC Universal owns and operates the No. 1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
DreamWorks SKG was formed in October 1994 by its three principal partners Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. The studio is actively involved in the production of live-action motion pictures and network and cable television programs, and the distribution of live-action and animated feature films, as well as home video entertainment.
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