NEON and CNN FILMS’ Short Film “APOLLO 11: QUARANTINE”, FROM TODD DOUGLAS MILLER AND THE AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKERS OF “APOLLO 11”, to be Released Exclusively with IMAX® – Jan 29th
To Feature Never-Before-Seen Footage
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxMqsAbAAvY
NEON announced today that Apollo 11: Quarantine, the new short film from director/producer Todd Douglas Miller (Apollo 11, Dinosaur 13), will be released exclusively in IMAX® beginning January 29th in select locations. Created by the award-winning filmmakers behind the cinematic event Apollo 11, and co-presented by NEON and CNN Films, Apollo 11: Quarantine will feature never-before-seen 70mm footage sourced from the National Archives and NASA. NEON and CNN Films will be forging a full Academy campaign on behalf of the film for this year’s, 93rd Academy Awards®.
Summer 1969. The astronauts of Apollo 11 successfully land and walk on the moon. As the world celebrated their historic achievement, the crew’s mission would not be complete until returning safely to earth and undergoing a three-week medical quarantine. This lesser known story, of personal sacrifice and stoic resolve, offers a poignant reminder of our capacity for grace and resilience at this moment of national peril.
Director/Producer Todd Douglas Miller remarked, “I am honored to be working again with so many talented filmmakers and the innovative teams at NEON, CNN Films, and IMAX. And very excited for audiences to experience a little-known part of history – an enduring message of hope during these unprecedented times.”
Miller produced along with Laura Kirby-Miller, Thomas Baxley Petersen, and Evan Krauss. Executive Producers are Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton for CNN Films, Submarine’s Josh Braun and NEON’s Tom Quinn. The deal with negotiated by Jeff Deutchman from NEON, Stacey Wolfe from CNN Films, Evan Krauss from Eisner LLP, and Submarine’s Josh Braun on behalf of the filmmakers.
Apollo 11, which won numerous awards including 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, was 2019’s highest grossing documentary with a worldwide gross of $16M. The film continues to hold a 99% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The IMAX release Apollo 11: Quarantine will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality The IMAX Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.
Trailer link: https://youtu.be/Ro0yg-Q13ec
ABOUT NEON
In just over three years, NEON has garnered 12 Academy Award® nominations, 5 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $150M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which made history winning four Academy Awards®, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film, which also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, has amassed over $53M at the domestic box office and broke multiple records including highest per screen average of the year and highest per screen average for a foreign language film of all time. NEON has amassed a library of over 50 films with noteworthy releases including: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov’s award-winning and record-breaking Honeyland, which is the first non-fiction feature to land Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film in the same year; Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11, 2019’s highest grossing documentary with a worldwide gross of $16M; Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award for Storytelling which surpassed $13M at the box office; and Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, which garnered multiple Academy Award® nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.
The company has several projects in various stages of development and production, including Pablo Larraín’s Spencer starring Kristen Stewart; Ben Wheatley’s Horror Film In The Earth which will make its World Premiere at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival; and The Painter and the Thief narrative remake. NEON continues to be an impressive force, with recent acquisitions such as: Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades!, Russia’s Academy Award Submission; Venice’s Grand Jury Prize Winner Michel Franco’s New Order; Night of Kings, Philippe Lacôte’s Ivory Coast Oscar Submission; Pig, starring Nicolas Cage; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria with Tilda Swinton; the upcoming documentary Gunda directed by Victor Kossakovsky and executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix; and Robert Machoian’s powerful thrillerThe Killing of Two Lovers. Recent releases include: Francis Lee’s romantic drama Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; Alex’s Gibney’s documentary Totally Under Control; Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor; Justin Simien’s Bad Hair; Max Barbakow’s sought after Palm Springs starring Andy Samberg, which NEON acquired with Hulu; Amy Seimtz’s SXSW critical sensation She Dies Tomorrow; Josephine Decker’s Shirley starring Elisabeth Moss; Matt Wolf’s highly acclaimed Sundance documentary Spaceship Earth; The Painter and the Thief directed by Benjamin Ree; and the critically acclaimed Cannes hit Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes® and Independent Spirit Awards.
After their successful collaboration on I, Tonya in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin’s and Micah Green’s strategic venture) partnered with NEON’s Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
ABOUT CNN FILMS
CNN Films produces and acquires documentary feature and short films for theatrical and festival exhibition and distribution across CNN’s multiple platforms. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development, oversees the strategy for CNN Films; Courtney Sexton, senior vice president for CNN Films, works day-to-day with filmmakers to oversee projects. For more information about CNN Films, please visit www.CNN.com/CNNFilms and follow @CNNFilms via Twitter. The Emmy® Award-winning APOLLO 11, the giant screen film APOLLO 11: First Steps Edition, and the documentary short about the final Apollo mission, The Last Steps, are each directed by Todd Douglas Miller and are CNN Films. Other acclaimed CNN Films include the Academy Award®-nominated, BAFTA-nominated, and Emmy® Award-winning RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; Emmy® Award-nominated LOVE, GILDA, directed by Lisa D’Apolito; and the Emmy® Award-nominated, BAFTA-nominated Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle.
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you’ve never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theaters to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX’s network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles, with additional offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, and Shanghai. As of September 30, 2020, there were 1,632 IMAX theater systems (1,542 commercial multiplexes, 13 commercial destinations, 77 institutional) operating in 82 countries and territories. Shares of IMAX China Holding, Inc., a subsidiary of IMAX Corporation, trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code “HK.1970.”
IMAX®, IMAX® Dome, IMAX® 3D, IMAX® 3D Dome, Experience It In IMAX®, The IMAX Experience®, An IMAX Experience®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, IMAX DMR®, DMR®, IMAX nXos® and Films to the Fullest®, are trademarks and trade names of the Company or its subsidiaries that are registered or otherwise protected under laws of various jurisdictions. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/imax), Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).
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