FilmDistrict has picked up US rights from Nu Image/Millennium Films for PTF

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/filmdistrict-playing-the-field-with-gerard-butler-and-jessica-biel/5027288.article

FilmDistrict Playing The Field with Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel

EXCLUSIVE: Riding high on the success of its inaugural releases, FilmDistrict has picked up US rights from Nu Image/Millennium Films to Gabriele Muccino’s rom-com Playing The Field, starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel.


Shooting is underway in Louisiana now for an expected spring 2012 release. Butler plays a broke former footballer and playboy who moves back to Virginia to reconnect with his estranged wife and neglected son. He ends up coaching his son’s football team as a host of adoring soccer mums and desperate housewives look on. Uma Thurman, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones round out the cast.

Butler and Alan Siegel’s Evil Twin Productions is producing in association with Kevin Misher, Jonathan Mostow, Heidi Jo Markel and John Thompson from a screenplay by Robbie Fox. Nu Image/Millennium Films’ Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Avi Lerner serve as executive producers.

“This is as good an independent movie as you can find,” CEO Peter Schlessel said. “It was an easy yes and I don’t say yes to a lot of things. This movie is the perfect example of how we will continue to evolve from an acquisitions point of view as we scour the market for widely appealing commercial product.”

“We are very pleased to have closed this deal with Peter Schlessel and FilmDistrict for Playing The Field and hope it will be the first of many to come,” Nu Image/Millennium Films co-chairman Avi Lerner said. “I am confident they will do a great job bringing this picture to market.”

FilmDistrict launched last year under the auspices of Graham King and Tim Headington’s GK Films in association with longtime Sony executive Schlessel. Bob Berney is head of theatrical distribution and Schlessel’s former Sony colleague Adrian Alperovich arrived last October as president of acquisitions and operations shortly after the company launch.

The first two releases – James Wan’s horror film Insidious and Sean McNamara’s inspirational true-life drama Soul Surfer – opened recently and have prospered, together grossing close to $90m in the US.

“Our first two films were really well received by the public and that’s what we’re looking for,” Schlessel said. “When you have some track record, that helps. The hope is that our partners will trust that if we’re distributing something, foreign buyers will give it a harder look.”

The company’s upcoming 2011 releases include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Cannes competition entry Drive starring Ryan Gosling, horror story Don’t’ Be Afraid Of The Dark produced by Guillermo del Toro and The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp. Sci-fi release Lockout with Guy Pearce is set to open in 2012.



Muccino previously directed The Pursuit Of Happyness and Seven Pounds both starring Will Smith.

This article says that the film is supposed to be set in Virginia.


http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/cannes-filmdistrict-acquires-gerard-butler-soccer-comedy-playing-the-field/

CANNES: FilmDistrict Buys Gerard Butler Soccer Comedy 'Playing The Field'

FilmDistrict bought U.S. rights to Playing the Field, the Nu Image/Millennium Films Gabriele Muccino-directed comedy that stars Gerard Butler as a retired soccer star. His penchant for scoring off the field ruined his marriage and his relationship with his son. He returns to Virginia to win them back by coaching the kid's soccer team, but that goal is imperiled by his wandering eye and the beautiful soccer moms that are all over the place. Jessica Biel, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones also star, with Noah Lomax playing the son. Butler and Alan Siegal's Evil Twin Productions produced with Kevin Misher, Jonathan Mostow, Heidi Jo Markel and John Thompson. Robbie Fox wrote the script.

FilmDistrict, run by Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney to launch films that can play in wide release, came right out of the gate with the hit film Insidious.

“We are very pleased to have closed this deal with Peter Schlessel and FilmDistrict for Playing The Field and hope it will be the first of many to come. I am confident they will do a great job bringing this picture to market”, says Avi Lerner, Co-Chairman of Nu Image/Millennium Films.

This article gives more details about the plot. It also is expected to be rated PG-13:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/2011/05/12/film_district_buys_gerard_butler-jessica_biel_romantic_comedy_playing_the_f

Film District Buys Gerard Butler-Jessica Biel Romantic Comedy, “Playing the Field”
by Dana Harris (May 12, 2011)

FilmDistrict has acquired all US rights to “Playing The Field” from Nu Image/Millennium Films. The film stars Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

It’s a soccer mom rom-com. Here’s the plot:

“Playing the Field” kicks off with the homecoming of George (Gerard Butler), a retired soccer pro whose glory days are behind him. Burnt out on his playboy lifestyle and bankrupted by a string of bad investments, George moves back to Virginia to reconnect with his estranged ex-wife (Jessica Biel) and neglected son (Noah Lomax). Making up for lost time, George starts to coach the boys’ soccer team. But can he keep his eyes on the goal when the bleachers are stacked with sexy soccer moms and desperate housewives?

Film District plans to release the film next spring and expects a PG-13 rating.

Gabriele Muccino (“The Pursuit of Happyness”) directs from a script by Robbie Fox. Producers are Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel’s Evil Twin Prods. in association with Kevin Misher, Jonathan Mostow, Heidi Jo Markel and John Thompson. Nu Image / Millennium Films’ Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Avi Lerner are executive producers.

Art imitates life....?

A PG 13 rating? That means no love scenes, doesn't it?

Lots of cuss words.

I lost my list of Bambie movie ratings.

DonnaKat wrote:

Art imitates life....?

The role certainly sounds like it plays to Gerry's strengths...or weaknesses, as it were.

Nay wrote:

A PG 13 rating? That means no love scenes, doesn't it?

Not necessarily. They just wouldn't be as graphic and probably would imply the love scene rather than actually show it. And it would contain little, if any, nudity.

Do you remember in Titanic how Kate Winslet showed her boobs in the scene where Leo is drawing the picture of her wearing the necklace, but she didn't in their love scene in the back of the car? I was told the reason for that was because, in a PG-13 movie, you can show nudity if it's for art but not for sex. I don't know it that's true or not, but that's what someone told me. If it's true, it was smart that they did that, keeping Titanic at a PG-13 rating. A large (though not the only) part of that movie's astounding ticket sales was due to 14-year-old girls who saw the movie multiple times because they were in love with Leo. If the movie had been R, they would have lost a ton of sales by losing that demographic that would have been too young to see it.

Also, I think you are only allowed to drop the F-bomb once (or some other limited number of times) in a PG-13 movie.