Lionsgate Signs Deal for USA Rights to "The von Trapp Family - A Life of Music" Film

Just in time for the 50^th anniversary of the worldwide box office blockbuster The Sound of Music, Lionsgate ,  has acquired all USA distribution rights to Tele Munchen Group's The von Trapp Family -- A Life of Music, the two companies announced today.

Award-winning Dutch filmmaker Ben Verbong, who has earned acclaim with family films such as The Girl with the Red Hair, The Slurb and Mr. Bello, is directing, and Eliza Bennett (Broadchurch, Nanny McPhee), Matthew Macfadyen (Anna Karenina, Three Musketeers) and Academy Award nominee Rosemary Harris (Spider-Man 1-3, Tom & Viv) are starring in the film currently being shot in Salzburg and surroundings as well as Bavaria.

The von Trapp Family has been cherished by generations of fans ever since The Sound of Music conquered global audiences and earned five Academy Awards in the 1960's.  One of the most successful motion pictures of all time, the film will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with the release of The von Trapp Family – A Life of Music, based on Agathe von Trapp's autobiography "Memories Before and After the Sound of Music," which tells the story behind the legend. The screenplay was written by Christoph Silber (Good Bye Lenin) and Tim Sullivan (Letters to Juliet).

"As a native Austrian, I am especially proud to bring the real story played by such a great cast together with such a prestigious partner as Lionsgate, one of the leading and prestigious US media companies which I was significantly involved in," said Tele Munchen Group Chairman Dr. Herbert G. Kloiber.

 

YELLOWBIRD Flies onto DVD on April 7th

Take a journey with the most unlikely hero when the adorable and heartwarming tale, Yellowbird,

flies onto DVD on April 7 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Awarded the Dove Seal of Approval, the digitally animated film is perfect for the whole family. Headlined by the voice talents of Seth Green (Austin Powers franchise), Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga) and Danny Glover (The Color People), Yellowbird includes a behind-the-scenes look at the voice recording for the film and a “making of” featurette and will be available on DVD for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

 

Just when it’s time to migrate to Africa, Darius (Glover), the elder of the flock, is wounded.  He will have no choice but to share all his secrets, wisdom and new flying routes with the first bird that happens to come along. The candidate is none other than Yellowbird (Green), an eccentric little fellow, super excited about the challenge, but without the slightest hint of knowledge or natural talent for migrating whatsoever.

The Hunger Games : Mockingjay - Part 1 Announced for March DVD / Blu-Ray Release

The global film juggernaut The Hunger Games franchise continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 as it arrives on Blu-Ray Combo Pack, DVD (plus Digital) on March 6.

Mockingjay – Part 1 became the highest-grossing domestic release of 2014 reaching nearly $333.2 million at the domestic box office.  The last two installments of The Hunger Games franchise (Catching Fire and Mockingjay – Part 1) have become the highest-grossing releases at the domestic box office each of the past two years, the first time in decades that a studio has scored back-to-back #1 films of the year and the first time ever for back-to-back sequels.

Mockingjay – Part 1, has already grossed more than $700 million worldwide, bringing global box office for the franchise to over $2.2 billion. 

Dinosaur 13 Out Now on DVD & Blu-Ray

An incredible true story 66 million years in the making, Dinosaur 13 “is a tale of plucky, underdog success, ‘the stuff that dreams are made of,’” (McClatchy-Tribune News Service) and arrived on Blu-Ray and DVD  January 6^t from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The Dinosaur 13 Blu-ray and DVD features a new director’s cut of the film along with bonus material that includes deleted scenes plus numerous featurettes that provide more insight into the restoration and research completed on SUE along with a prior Larson excavation. The “awe-inspiring” (Variety) documentary will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for the suggested retail price of $19.99 and $19.98, respectively.

 

When renowned paleontologist Peter Larson and his team from the Black Hills Institute made the world’s greatest dinosaur discovery in 1990, they knew it was the find of a lifetime: the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found. But during a 10-year battle with the U.S. government, powerful museums, Native American tribes and competing paleontologists, they found themselves not only fighting to keep their dinosaur, but fighting for their freedom as well.

Keanu Reeves Starrer, John Wick, on DVD/Blu-Ray on February 3

Action icon Keanu Reeves (47 Ronin, The Matrix trilogy) stars as John Wick, the ultimate hitman, in the heart-pounding revenge thriller John Wick, arriving on February 3, 2015 on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) from Summit
Entertainment, a LIONSGATE Company.

 

This certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes film was directed by Chad Stahelski and produced

by David Leitch, p.g.a., masters of Hollywood action, and written by Derek Kolstad, John Wick’s legendary cast also includes Michael Nyqvist (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), Alfie Allen (HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Atonement), Adrianne Palicki (TV’s “Friday Night Lights,” G.I. Joe: Retaliation), Bridget Moynahan (TV’s “Blue Bloods,” I, Robot) and Dean Winters (HBO’s “Oz,” TV’s “Rescue Me”), along with Ian McShane (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, HBO’s “Deadwood”), John Leguizamo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Gamer) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man trilogy, The Grand Budapest Hotel).

 

When sadistic young thugs senselessly attack John Wick – a brilliantly lethal ex-assassin – they have no idea that they’ve just awakened the boogeyman.  With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, Wick embarks on a merciless rampage, hunting down his adversaries with the skill and ruthlessness that made him an underworld legend.