TWC and Martin Scorsese Partner to Present EASY MONEY

NEW YORK, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that it is partnering with Academy Award® winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese to present Daniel Espinosa's acclaimed Swedish crime thriller, EASY MONEY in New York on July 11, 2012 and Los Angeles, on July 13, 2012. Based on the international best-selling novel Snabba Cash by Jens Lapidus, EASY MONEY is a taut and alluring suspense thriller set in the world of organized crime starring Joel Kinnaman (AMC's "The Killing"), Matias Varela (STORM), Dragomir Mrsic (WALLANDER), Dejan Cukic (THE TRAP), and Fares Fares (SAFE HOUSE).  The announcement was made today by TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein.

EASY MONEY (the English translation of "Snabba Cash") interweaves the stories of three key players related to a Swedish drug trafficking ring. Lower-class business student JW (Joel Kinnaman from AMC's 'The Killing') falls in love with a sexy heiress while living a double life mingling with Stockholm's wealthy elite.  To keep up the facade of his lifestyle, he's lured into a world of crime.  Jorge is a petty fugitive on the run from both the police and Serbian mafia.  He hopes that brokering a massive cocaine deal will allow him to escape for good.  Mafia enforcer Mrado is on the hunt for Jorge, but his efforts are complicated when he's unexpectedly saddled with caring for his young daughter. As JW's journey ventures deeper into the dark world of organized crime, the fate of all three men becomes entangled and ends with a dramatic struggle for life and death.

"EASY MONEY affirms Daniel Espinosa is a major talent and features the star- making performance by Joel Kinnaman from 'The Killing,'" said Weinstein. "This taut suspense thriller struck a chord with me, and I'm excited that a visionary like Martin Scorsese shares my passion for this film."

"I was deeply impressed by Daniel Espinosa's EASY MONEY – by the harsh, elemental style, which reflects the milieu and the lives of the characters; by the powerful sense of fate, of well-meaning people who take one wrong turn and end up paying a terrible price; by the frightening and surprising evolution of the hero. Easy Money is a tough story and a film to be reckoned with," said Scorsese.

Added Espinosa, "It's an honor for me, that Harvey Weinstein and Martin Scorsese have embraced  EASY MONEY and share my passion for storytelling. I couldn't imagine this film being in better hands for its U.S. debut."

The film was directed by Daniel Espinosa, with a screenplay by Jens Lapidus and Maria Karlsson, and produced by Fredrik Wikstrom. Michael Hjorth served as executive producer. Lapidus' international best-selling novel is the first in a trilogy, published by Wahlstrom & Widstrand, that has developed a fiercely loyal global following and Snabba Cash was just released in the U.S. last month by Random House Imprint Pantheon.  Espinosa is currently developing THE OUTSIDER with Warner Bros, and his film SAFE HOUSE has crossed the $200 million mark in worldwide box office.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY 
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes.  TWC releases took home eight 2012 Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio's history. The tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius's THE ARTIST and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay's UNDEFEATED. THE ARTIST brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper's THE KING'S SPEECH.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; I'M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH'S KEY; SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D; MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; THE IRON LADY; W.E.; CORIOLANUS; and UNDEFEATED. Currently in release are THE ARTIST; BULLY; and THE INTOUCHABLES. Recently wrapped was SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, and currently in production is DJANGO UNCHAINED.

TWC is also active in television production, led by former Miramax Films President of Production and current President of Television Meryl Poster, with credits including the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series Project Runway, spin-off series Project Accessory and Project Runway All Stars, the VH1 reality series Mob Wives, and the critically acclaimed HBO comedy/crime series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency which also received a Peabody Award. The company is currently in pre-production on the martial-arts epic Marco Polo for Starz as well as production on the second season of Mob Wives and the newest installment in the series' franchise Mob Wives Chicago. TWC additionally has 17 series in different stages of development, including The Nanny Diaries, being adapted for ABC by Amy Sherman Palladino (Gilmore Girls).

SOURCE The Weinstein Company