Wednesday, December 20, 2006


Hollywoodland on DVD

Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Pearl Harbor), a Golden Globe Award nominee* for his performance in Hollywoodland, stars in a story of scandal, corruption and a star’s mysterious death during Hollywood’s Golden Era. Hollywoodland comes to DVD and HDDVD/DVD Combo format on February 6, 2007 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Academy Award® winner Affleck, along with Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody (King Kong, The Pianist) and Oscar® nominees Diane Lane (The Perfect Storm, Unfaithful) and Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), lead a cast in the critically acclaimed account of the strange demise of actor George Reeves, known to a generation of Americans as television’s Superman. The price of celebrity is viewed in a stark light in this compelling retelling of Tinsel Town’s most infamous real-life mystery.

Allen Coulter (The Sopranos, Sex and the City) makes his feature film directorial debut with a thriller set against the glamour and corruption of 1950s Hollywood. Affleck is the increasingly desperate Reeves, a performance that earned him Best Actor honors at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. A murder mystery with a twist, Hollywoodland dramatizes a search for the truth that will keep audiences guessing at every turn. The DVD includes exciting bonus features that take viewers inside classic Hollywood for a glimpse of the toxic effects of celebrity.

In Hollywoodland, low-rent private detective Louis Simo (Adrien Brody) is hired to investigate the premature death of Hollywood striver George Reeves (Ben Affleck). Haunted by his own success and unable to shed the superhero image created by his popular television show, Reeves is found dead, apparently by his own hand. As Simo probes the circumstances surrounding the actor' s death, he finds tantalizing suggestions of foul play involving Reeves' fiancée, his wealthy lover and her movie mogul husband - and puts himself at risk. The DVD is priced at $29.98 SRP. The combo disc is priced at $39.98. Preorder close is January 9, 2007.

Intriguing Bonus features

The Hollywoodland DVD contains more than a half-hour of exclusive bonus features including:

* Deleted Scenes

* Recreating Old Hollywood - In this piece, the production team demonstrates how they re-created the glamour of the Hollywood of yesteryear. Interviews include ones with the film> ' s production designer, set decorator, costume designer, make-up artists and hair stylists.

* Behind the Headlines - Director Allen Coulter, screenwriter Paul Bernbaum, and other members of the creative team reveal which elements of the film story are based on fact, and what creative liberties they had to take in order to tell the story of the unsolved mystery surrounding George Reeves’ death.

* Hollywood Then and Now -- With help from historians, filmmakers, actors and other experts, explore how Hollywood has changed in the last 60 years, as the similarities and difference between “classic " Hollywood and today’s big city are examined.

* Feature Commentary with Director Allen Coulter

SYNOPSIS

Based on the true story of Hollywood’s most notorious unsolved mystery, Hollywoodland is a tale of glamour, scandal, and corruption in 1950s Los Angeles. When George Reeves (Ben Affleck), star of TV’s Adventures of Superman, is found dead in his home, millions of fans are shocked by the circumstances of his death. The police and the studio bosses want the case closed as a suicide, but rumors linger. Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private investigator, picks up the trail and begins to piece together the actor’s last, tension-filled days. Who pulled the trigger? Was it the seductive yet scheming fiancée, the spurned lover (Diane Lane), the enraged husband (Bob Hoskins), or was it Reeves himself? Simo must find out before the truth is buried forever.

For more information: www.hollywoodlandmovie.com

CAST & FILMMAKERS
Director: Allen Coulter
Written By: Paul Bernbaum
Produced By: Glenn Williamson
Director of Photography: Jonathan Freeman
Film Editor: Michael Berenbaum
Production Designer: Leslie McDonald
Costume Designer: Julie Weiss
Music By: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney