Release Date: September 7, 2007
Studio: Lionsgate
Director: James Mangold
Screenwriter: Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Stuart Beattie
Starring: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: R
****

CREW INFO

JAMES MANGOLD (Director)

MICHAEL BRANDT & DEREK HAAS (Screenplay)

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

JAMES MANGOLD (Director)

With six feature films to date, including the award winning WALK THE LINE, HEAVY and GIRL, INTERRUPTED, James Mangold is a director known for making sophisticated ensemble films in a wide range of genres while keeping constant the powerful themes, original characterizations, sterling performances and striking imagery that have come to define and unify his work.

The son of renowned painters Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Mangold was raised in New York’s Hudson Valley. He graduated in film and acting from California Institute of the Arts, where he studied with Alexander Mackendrick (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, THE LADYKILLERS). He broke into the film business at the age of 21 as the recipient of a prestigious writer/director deal with Disney. After a few years in Hollywood he decided to go to Columbia University’s film school, where be began writing the film HEAVY while studying under Oscar® winning director Milos Forman. HEAVY went on to win the Director’s Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and was selected to represent the United States at Director’s Fortnight in the Cannes Film Festival.

Following the critical success of HEAVY, Mangold began production on his second film COP LAND, an urban Western set in modern-day New Jersey starring Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta and Jeanine Garafalo. The film was accepted into the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival and premiered in the U.S. to strong reviews. It was on this film that began his enduring creative partnership with Producer Cathy Konrad (KIDS, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS, CITIZEN RUTH, SCREAM and all of Mangold's subsequent films).

Mangold continued his tradition of documenting the inner struggles of conflicted individuals by adapting Susanna Kaysen’s GIRL, INTERRUPTED for the screen. The film went on to win a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe and Oscar® for Angelina Jolie’s performance as Lisa, the charming sociopath who befriends the protagonist played by Winona Ryder. Mangold then went on to make the romantic comedy KATE AND LEOPOLD, starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, and the mind-bending thriller IDENTITY, starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta.

WALK THE LINE, an enormous success with critics and audiences alike, starred Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as the legendary music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Both actors performed their own vocals for the movie, and took home Golden Globes for their performances and the film also won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film received five Academy Award® nominations, and Witherspoon won for Best Performance by an Actress. A project long in the works (Mangold and Konrad began work on it a decade ago), it was developed with the assistance and collaboration of John and June Carter Cash until their deaths in 2003.

Mangold recently directed the pilot episode of the ABC television drama “Men in Trees” which stars Anne Heche and debuted in Fall 2006. This fun and sexy ensemble drama continues to capture audiences and has gained in popularity in its primetime slot. The series is produced by Mangold and Cathy Konrad’s production company, Tree Line Film.
--Back to top

MICHAEL BRANDT & DEREK HAAS (Screenplay)

Writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas are the force behind such engaging, fast-paced, colorful screenplays as 2003’s blockbuster 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS.

Currently Brandt and Haas are preparing for the release of the highly-anticipated remake 3:10 TO YUMA, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The film is a battle of wills between a rancher and the outlaw he’s captured. Directed by James Mangold, the Lionsgate release is set to open on September 7, 2007.

In the spring of 2008, Universal brings to the screen, Brandt and Haas’ adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel, WANTED, starring Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, and James McAvoy. McAvoy plays a man who discovers his long-lost father is actually an assassin.

Brandt and Haas first met at Baylor University in 1989, where they attended both undergrad and graduate school. At Baylor, Brandt received an MA in Film and Haas graduated with an MA in English Literature. The duo started writing screenplays together in the mid 1990s.

Their first produced work, Universal’s 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, has amassed over $236M in worldwide box office. Brandt and Haas followed up with the children's film CATCH THAT KID for 20th Century Fox, starring Kristen Stewart and Corbin Bleu.

In addition to their thriving writing partnership, Brandt and Haas are beginning to look into opportunities for directing and producing their own films.
--Back to top