Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today the launch of the SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES, a theatrical release of six films from the vanguard of quality worldwide genre cinema. With each film hailing from a different country, the series aims to bring fans of horror, sci-fi, alternative comedy and Asian cinema a mix of the most intelligent, genre-bending titles available from around the globe. The film series is a labor of love for Magnet/Magnolia, who have been committed for some time now to bringing this kind of high-quality fare to theaters, releasing such beloved titles as Bong Joon-ho’s THE HOST and ONG BAK with Tony Jaa. Read on for the full release plans and details on all six films!
The inaugural film in the series will be Tomas Alfredson’s critically acclaimed LET THE RIGHT ONE IN from Sweden, winner of such film festival honors as “Best Narrative Feature” at the Tribeca Film Festival, the “Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award” at Edinburgh, “Best Film and Best Cinematography” at Göteborg, and “Best Film, Best Director, Best Photography, Best European, North or South American Film” at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN will open in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, October 24th with a regional expansion the following week. The film, based on a internationally bestselling Swedish novel, tells the story of an introverted and bullied 12-year-old boy whose wish for a friend is answered when a young girl moves into the apartment next door. However, the girl’s arrival coincides with a series of grisly murders, and their relationship is understandably complicated when the boy learns that his new friend is a vampire. Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a haunting and darkly atmospheric, yet poetic and unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence which manages to breath fresh life into the vampire genre.

“Some of the most exciting, forward-thinking cinema today falls under the genre label and deserves a showcase,” said Magnolia Pictures President Eamonn Bowles. “In the tradition of `The Shooting Gallery Film Series,’ we’re putting together a group of films whose quality far outweighs most of what’s on offer from Hollywood. And what better way to kick things off than with LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, which is one of the best films of the year–period.”

“It’s hard enough finding one film, let alone two that are benchmarks within any genre,” added Tom Quinn, SVP at Magnolia/Magnet. “We’re extremely fortunate to have six stellar films–future classics, in my opinion–that will appeal to critics and audiences alike, and make great additions to discerning DVD collections.”

The SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES will continue the following month with Hal Halberman and Jeremy Passmore’s SPECIAL (U.S.A.), opening theatrically on November 21st after premiering earlier in month on November 7th as a VOD title as part of HDNet’s ULTRA VOD program. SPECIAL is an offbeat and lovable action/comedy starring Michael Rapaport as a meter-maid whose psychotic reaction to medication given to him at a clinical trial convinces him that he has super powers.

Next up in December is Nacho Vigalondo’s TIMECRIMES (Spain), a mind-bending time-travel caper, Sundance Film Festival favorite and Austin Fantastic Fest winner that has already been optioned by United Artists for an English-language remake with David Cronenberg slated to direct. In January is Franck Vestiel’s EDEN LOG (France), a dark and visually stunning sci-fi thriller which will be featured in the “Midnight Madness” section of the Toronto Film Festival next month. Ollie Blackburn’s gleefully twisted and sexually charged Sundance thriller DONKEY PUNCH (UK) with Jaime Winstone will bow in February, riding the wave of notoriety that it generated from its UK release last month. Wrapping up the series in March is Hitoshi Matsumoto’s wonderfully bizarre superhero/mockumentary hybrid, BIG MAN JAPAN (Japan), another Toronto “Midnight Madness” and Cannes Director’s Fortnight alum that re-imagines the iconic giant defender of Tokyo as a 40 year old loser who manages to incur the population’s wrath as he battles some of the strangest monsters ever committed to celluloid.

FULL MAGNET SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES Slate

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Cast: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson

Synopsis: A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to comes true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him. But Eli’s arrival coincides with a series of gruesome deaths and attacks. Though Oskar realizes that she’s a vampire, his friendship with her is stronger than his fear… Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson weaves friendship, rejection and loyalty into a disturbing, darkly atmospheric, yet unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence. The feature is based on the best-selling novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which the U.K. press qualified as “reminiscent of Stephen King at his best.”

Awards/Festivals: Tribeca Film Festival – Best Narrative Feature, Edinburgh International Film Festival–Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award, Seattle International Film Festival

Directors/Writers: Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore
Cast: Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Alexandra Holden

Synopsis: Les Franken (Rapaport) is an average Joe who participates in a clinical drug trial and ends up convinced that he is a superhero. Les creates a new kind of underdog crime fighter for our chemically enhanced times.

Website: www.specialthemovie.com
Awards/Festivals: Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival

Director/Writer: Nacho Vigalongo
Cast: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernandez, Barbara Goenaga

Synopsis: Lauded short film director Vigalondo makes his feature debut with this tense, unstoppable vision of science and natural law gone awry. A man who accidentally travels back into the past and meets himself. A naked girl in the middle of the forest. A mysterious stranger with his face wrapped in a pink bandage. A disquieting mansion on the top of a hill. All of them pieces of an unpredictable jigsaw puzzle where terror, drama and suspense will lead to an unthinkable crime. Who’s the murderer? Who’s the victim? TIMECRIMES takes a bold, difficult premise and brings the rarely-tread time travel framework to pulse-pounding but intelligent new heights.

Awards: Best Film, Austin Fantastic Fest, Sundance Film Festival, Sitges International Film Festival, Fantasia Film Festival

Director: Oliver Blackburn
Cast: Robert Boulter, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke, Nichola Burley, Julian Morris

Synopsis: After meeting at a nightclub in a Mediterranean resort, seven young adults decide to continue partying aboard a luxury yacht in the middle of the ocean. But when one of them dies in a freak accident the others argue about what to do, leading to a ruthless fight for survival.

Website: www.donkeypunchmovie.co.uk
Awards/Festivals: Sundance Film Festival 2008, Austin Fantastic Fest 2008, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Director: Franck Vestiel
Cast: Clovis Cornillac, Gabriella Wright, Alexandra Ansidei

Synopsis: A man regains consciousness deep down at the bottom of a cave. He has no idea of how he got there, nor can he determine what happened to the dead man whose body he wakes up next to. Only one thing is certain–he has to escape the menacing creature that’s pursuing him, climbing back to the surface through a cemetery like world that’s been abandoned by a mysterious organization called Eden Log.

Awards/Festivals: Toronto Midnight Madness 2008, Glasgow Film Festival, London Fright Festival, Austin Fantastic Film Festival

Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Cast: Hitoshi Matsumoto

Synopsis: A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisato’s job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. But while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes. And Daisato has his own problems -an agent insistent on branding him with sponsor advertisements, an Alzheimer-afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant in dirty underwear, and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits. A wickedly deadpan spin on the giant Japanese superhero, BIG MAN JAPAN is an outrageous portrait of a pathetic but truly unique hero.

Awards/Festivals: Austin Fantastic Fest, Cannes Director’s Fortnight, Toronto Midnight Madness

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