Drafthouse Films, Timpson Films and Magnet Releasing to Teach Moviegoers "THE ABCs OF DEATH"

CANNES, France, May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Drafthouse Films, Timpson Films and Magnet Releasing announced today that they will produce THE ABCs OF DEATH, a twenty-six chapter anthology feature that showcases death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty.  Alamo Drafthouse CEO/Founder Tim League and Timpson Films CEO Ant Timpson will co-produce. Magnolia International will also handle all international sales.  Production begins in June 2011, with completion slated for January 2012, six months, six weeks and six days later.  

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/FFLOGO)

Twenty-five established directors and emerging new stars from all over the world are participating. The twenty-sixth director will be chosen as part of a worldwide competition to find a new filmmaking talent.  Each director will be assigned a letter from the alphabet that represents a word to act as a springboard for a short story of death. It is up to each filmmaker to interpret the letter and word they are assigned to tell a deathly tale, from the accidental to murder most foul. The sum of these parts, from A to Z, will be THE ABCs OF DEATH.

"Helming Fantastic Fest for the past seven years has brought us in touch with an amazing community of filmmaking talent.  THE ABCs OF DEATH offers us a chance to work closely with a large number of visionary filmmakers to create a film with more jaw-dropping moments than a whole summer of blockbusters" says co-producer Tim League.

"This project was inspired by my young sons being introduced to the world through their ABCs books. The idea of subverting that format to reveal a study in all the dastardly and humorous ways a person can leave this world appealed on multiple levels. And it was somewhat fitting to learn that the earliest forms of the ABCs books actually did use fear of punishment to teach the young," says co-producer Ant Timpson.

"I got to the letter A and said yes," said Magnet SVP Tom Quinn.  "We're super excited to be working with a familiar cast of Magnet directors as well as Tim League and Ant Timpson."

Tom Quinn negotiated the deal w/ Tim League, Ant Timpson and Jason Janego.

For more information on THE ABCs OF DEATH, visit our website at: theabcsofdeath.com

About Drafthouse Films

Drafthouse Films, the distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, debuted in 2010 with the theatrical release of Four Lions (Top 10 Film of 2010 by Time Magazine). Drafthouse Films is dedicated to scouring the globe in search of amazing, challenging and unique films that we are passionate about sharing with a wide audience. Drafthouse Films along with the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Mondo, Fantastic Fest and Badass Digest comprise the growing Alamo Drafthouse entertainment lifestyle brand.

About Ant Timpson

Ant Timpson has been involved in the production, exhibition, broadcasting, distribution and marketing of films in New Zealand since 1985. He loves films and he loves audiences and thinks the twain shall always meet.

About Alamo Drafthouse

The Alamo Drafthouse is a lifestyle entertainment brand with an acclaimed cinema-eatery, the largest genre film festival in the United Sates and an online collectible art store. Named "the best theater in America" by Entertainment Weekly, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has built a reputation as a movie lover's oasis not only by combining food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high-profile, star studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse Founder & CEO, Tim League, created Fantastic Fest, a world renowned film festival dubbed "The Geek Telluride" by Variety. Fantastic Fest showcases eight days of offbeat cinema from independents, international filmmakers and major Hollywood Studios. The Alamo Drafthouse's collectible art boutique, Mondo, offers breathtaking, original products featuring designs from world-famous artists based on licenses for popular TV and Movie properties including Star Wars, Star Trek & Universal Monsters. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema plans to extend its theaters and unique programming philosophy to additional markets across the United States. More information about Alamo Drafthouse franchise opportunities are available on the official website.

About Magnet Releasing

Magnet is the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, specializing in films from the vanguard of horror, action, comedy and Asian cinema, and is home to such films as Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In, Neil Marshall's sword and sandals bloodbath Centurion, John Woo's historical epic Red Cliff, Ti West's terrifying The House of the Devil, Gareth Edwards' sci-fi masterpiece Monsters, Tony Jaa's Ong Bak trilogy, Nicholas Winding Refn's Bronson, the Spanish horror film [Rec]2, and George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead. Magnet films currently in release include Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins, Chris Smith's Black Death, KIM Jeewoon's I Saw the Devil, Andre Ovredal's The Troll Hunter, and Quentin Dupieux's Rubber, and upcoming Alex de la Iglesia's The Last Circus,. Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also include the Landmark Theatres chain, the production company 2929 Productions, and high-definition cable network HDNet.

SOURCE Alamo Drafthouse Cinema