By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

ATO PICTURES ROLLS WITH ‘CASINO JACK’

Posted Thursday, September 9th, 2010 - 2 Comments »
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INDIE DISTRIBUTOR ACQUIRES KEVIN SPACEY STARRER IN ADVANCE OF ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

New York, NY (September 9, 2010) – In advance of its World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, ATO Pictures (Art Takes Over) is proud to announce that it has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to CASINO JACK from Rollercoaster Entertainment. The riotous new film stars two-time Academy Award® winner Kevin Spacey in what has already been deemed another Awards caliber performance.

Directed by George Hickenlooper (FACTORY GIRL, THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS), CASINO JACK also stars Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Jon Lovitz and Rachelle Lefevre. ATO is targeting a late December release. In the film, Spacey plays a man hellbent on acquiring all that the good life has to offer. He plays in the same game as the highest of rollers and resorts to awe-inspiring levels of conning, scheming and fraudulent antics to get what he wants.

Inspired by true events that are too over-the-top for even the wildest imaginations to conjure, CASINO JACK lays bare the wild excesses and escapades of Jack Abramoff. Aided by his business partner Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper), Jack parlays his clout over some of the world’s most powerful men with the goal of creating a personal empire of wealth and influence. When the two enlist a mob-connected buddy (Jon Lovitz) to help with one of their illegal schemes, they soon find themselves in over their heads, entrenched in a world of mafia assassins, murder and a scandal that spins so out of control that it makes worldwide headlines.

The film was produced by Gary Howsam, Bill Marks and George Zakk from an original screenplay by Norman Snider. Executive Producers are Richard Rionda Del Castro, Lewin Webb, Donald Zuckerman, Dana Brunetti, Patricia Eberle, Warren Nimchuk, Angelo Paletta and Domenic Serafino. The Associate Producer is Rick Chad. Hickenlooper and the cast will all be in Toronto on September 16th for the film’s highly anticipated premiere.

According to ATO co-founders Johnathan Dorfman and Temple Fennell: “We are elated to be releasing CASINO JACK. It is not only one of the most refreshing and entertaining films we’ve seen in a long time, but, it also fits in perfectly with our strategy of releasing high quality, engaging stories that appeal to mainstream audiences. Indie maverick George Hickenlooper’s spectacular direction and Kevin Spacey’s tour de force performance amongst a terrific cast will be celebrated by moviegoers everywhere.”

Gary Howsam goes on to say: “CASINO JACK has been a longtime labor of love for me and so many others. In ATO, we have found the ideal partner who shares our passion and enthusiasm for the film and Kevin’s incredible performance.”

Johnathan Dorfman and Sarah Lash, ATO’S Head of Acquisitions, handled negotiations on behalf of ATO with Vicki Cherkas acting as legal counsel. Gary Howsam and CAA handled negotiations for Rollercoaster Entertainment with Uri Emerson-Fleming acting as legal counsel. Fox Home Entertainment will handle home entertainment.


ATO PICTURES

ATO Pictures (Art Takes Over) is a motion pictures finance, production and distribution company. ATO releases its films theatrically through its partnership with Samuel Goldwyn Films in the distribution entity, IDP (Independent Distribution Partners). The two companies currently have MAO’S LAST DANCER directed by Academy Award nominee Bruce Beresford in release. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is handling ATO’s distribution for home entertainment launches. ATO provides U.S. distribution and production funding. Managed by Temple Fennell and Johnathan Dorfman, ATO was co-founded by musician Dave Matthews and music executive Coran Capshaw. The company has access to a deep pool of marketing, publicity, strategic resources with over 125 employees in its affiliated music companies; ATO Records Group, Red Light Management, Starr Hill Presents and GreenLight Media & Marketing.

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Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “ATO PICTURES ROLLS WITH ‘CASINO JACK’”

  1. Cathy Barbe says:
    September 10, 2010 at 6:44 am

    Hi Gary Howsam, my old boss? from PAE ( a penny stock company, ha). Ha!

    You’re still bull-shitting us with your very shit to average films. Do you remember all those bad films you made at Greenlight films? What a joke?

    Just caught this review of Casino Jack.(see below)

    What I don’t like about most of your comments here you are painting a false picture – as if this movie is going to win best picture, somewhere. Seriously, I saw the trailer. Hated it. Saw the movie, wanted to walk out. Gary, seriouisly you are out of touch what our society or next generation want. We want more JAMES CAMERON, MORE TARANTINO, MORE REALITY SHOWS, more MTV.

    And Lewin Webb is still pushing is odd/ B style vision of cinema? Ha Ha, Lewin is going to be the next Steven Speilberg, lol

    Ya, you could fool some people, but you cannot fool the masses and the youth and young adults of today.

    Please, get a reality check.

    Here is the review, I saw saw at Empire.

    Casino Jack
    Directed by George Hickenlooper
    CANADA/108 MINUTES/GALA
    d there’s little doubt that the film will hold more appeal for those viewers with an inherent interest in the subject matter. Hickenlooper’s playful sensibilities – the movie is, for example, often a lot funnier than one might’ve anticipated – is ultimately unable to compensate for the familiarity of the narrative, as screenwriter Norman Snider employs a structure that feels as though it’d be more at home within a Scorsese picture. The end result is a sporadically compelling yet lamentably uneven endeavor that is simply unable to wholeheartedly sustain the viewer’s interest from start to finish, though there’s certainly no downplaying the effectiveness of Spacey’s Oscar-worthy turn as the title character.

    out of

  2. John Nibi says:
    September 10, 2010 at 7:14 am

    Another bad review of Casino Jack.
    Why was this movie made. Could not get
    a screeenwriter like Zallian to write this script.
    Or ask a director like Michael or Williamson to direct. Why waste so much time making this movie?

    http://www.exclaim.ca/motionreviews/latestsub.aspx?csid1=147&csid2=871&fid1=49351

    Casino Jack
    Directed by George Hickenlooper
    By Robert Bell

    Not to be mistaken with Alex Gibney’s moderately more engaging documentary of the same name, which is similarly about DC lobbyist/douche-bag Jack Abramoff, Casino Jack is a template biopic with droning, expositional political dialogue that caters to a liberal demographic, with Kevin Spacey in the middle of it all, making his bid for a Best Actor nomination. If ever a film aimed to feel like a sub-par HBO movie from the mid-’90s, this would be it.

    Tossing out film quotes and professing his superiority over the humdrum mediocrity of the masses, Abramoff (Spacey) details the process of lobbying, hinging on the corrupt aspect, while concocting his own plan for fiscal gain, involving Indian and offshore casinos. Wife Pam (Kelly Preston) is reluctant to support his shady antics, but his red wine-drinking assistant, Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper), is more than happy to reap the rewards that come with the ride.

    Most people would know about his association with Senator Tom DeLay (Spencer Garrett) and the role he played in that controversy, which leaves most of the film acting as a smarmy exercise in criticizing a flawed political system and Republican thought, something akin to shooting tuna in a barrel.

    Now, it’s not a question of a film not succeeding in its intentions, as there is no denying that Hickenlooper and the gang make their point quite clearly. Similarly, Kevin Spacey does bring an entitled, glib, cynical Abramoff to life in an oddly playful way that works quite well, despite everyone else being mawkish and cartoony, such as slimy mattress entrepreneur Adam Kidan (Jon Lovitz).

    It’s just that every line of dialogue is filled with nefarious posturing and every moment feels borrowed from something superior. Giving a shit about Abramoff and his quest is impossible, since he’s portrayed as such a tool, so the impetus is to cheer for his downfall.

    Since we already know what happens, the ire of the ordeal comes from the storytelling, which is almost non-existent. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right emphasis, but it’s boring and familiar, much like the politics spewed in every glossy tableau. (eOne)

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon