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Pink Floyd The Wall
Theatrical production coming to Broadway, NYC |
Press Release Source: Miramax Films
Award-Winning Studio Miramax Films Teams With Musical Pioneer & Entrepreneur Thomas D. Mottola to Bring The Wall to Broadway
Thursday August 5, 2004 7:45 am ET
The Wall to Be Developed and Produced by Harvey Weinstein, Thomas D. Mottola and Roger Waters
NEW YORK, Aug. 5 -- In
what stands to bring one of film and Broadway's leading producers
together with one of music's most influential pioneers, Miramax Films
and Thomas D. Mottola today announced that they have acquired the
rights to develop and produce a Broadway musical based on Pink Floyd's
seminal rock album, The Wall, one of the best selling and most renowned
records of all time.
Initiated by Mottola, Miramax
joined in to acquire the rights from Roger Waters, who conceived and
created the work. For The Wall, Waters will write the book and will
also arrange and orchestrate his music for the stage production.
Since its release in 1979, The
Wall has sold over 23 million copies and is currently the 3rd best
selling album of all time. The inspired performances of The Wall in
1980-1981, which were written and directed by Roger Waters, have become
collectively known as the most legendary shows ever.
"I am thrilled to be involved
with bringing The Wall to Broadway and to give new generations the
opportunity to see this legendary show," said Harvey Weinstein,
co-chairman of Miramax Films. "I am also delighted to be working with
music geniuses Tommy Mottola and Roger Waters, who are sure to make the
music rock again."
"There are few projects as
timeless as The Wall," stated Mr. Mottola. "Even after two decades
since its first release, The Wall continues to break through every
generational, socioeconomic and political boundary. When I first
thought of bringing this event to Broadway, I knew I could not do it
without the visionary talents of Roger Waters and of course, my dear
friend Harvey Weinstein and the wealth of experience of his Miramax
team."
"Great! Now I can write in some laughs, notable by their absence in the Movie," said Roger Waters.
Harvey Weinstein, Timothy
Schmidt, Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, and Heidi
Herman, Director of Creative Affairs will oversee the production on
behalf of Miramax.
Charles Layton and Timothy
Schmidt negotiated the agreement on behalf of Miramax. Larry Shire and
Gil Karson negotiated on behalf of Thomas D. Mottola. John Breglio,
Mark Fenwick and Tony Russell negotiated for Roger Waters.
ABOUT ROGER WATERS
As the primary driving force
behind Pink Floyd and acclaimed solo artist in his own right, Waters
has created a body of work that has both mirrored and steered the
collective unconsciousness. From the early days of Pink Floyd (when the
group pioneered the use of multi-media in their live performances and
had the press coining terms like "underground rock" and "psychedelic
music" to describe the experience) to the colossal $8m staging of "The
Wall" in a newly-united Berlin in 1990, Roger Waters has experienced
the full trajectory of fame, from the giddy thrill of musical invention
and the harrowing isolation of mega-stardom to the quiet satisfaction
of pursuing his own authentic aesthetic goals.
In March 1973, with Waters
essentially helming the enterprise came "The Dark Side Of The Moon,"
which soared to #1 on the charts and remained on the Billboard
200-album chart for a staggering 741 weeks (just shy of 15 years!).
(When Billboard's "catalog rule" was enacted, TDSOTM, no longer
eligible for the 200 list, entered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
where it may still be found. In all, "The Dark Side Of The Moon" has
spent more than 1,154 weeks combined on the two charts and holds
Billboard's all-time record for most weeks charted.)
The band released "Wish You Were
Here" in 1975, "Animals" in 1977 and, in November 1979, Roger Waters
dropped "The Wall" on the world. "The Wall" spent more than two years
on the charts, inspired a film, and generated one of the most elaborate
stage shows in rock history. After "The Wall," came "The Final Cut,"
which Waters dedicated to his father.
Waters' first full-length solo
album, "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking," was released in 1984 to
great critical and popular success followed in 1987 by "Radio K.A.O.S."
On July 21, 1990. Roger Waters, who'd once remarked he'd never perform
"The Wall" again as long as the Berlin Wall remained standing, mounted
the largest production in rock history at the Potzdamer Platz in the
newly liberated Berlin. This historic concert was a fund-raising event
for the World Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief.
In August 1992, Water's released
the moody and ironic "Amused to Death," considered by many to be a
comparable achievement to "The Dark Side Of The Moon" or "The Wall." In
1993, he appeared with Don Henley, John Fogarty, and Neil Young at a
benefit concert for Walden Woods.
In July and August 1999, Waters
began his first tour in 12 years; The Roger Waters "In The Flesh" tour.
It was so successful that he returned for a second leg in June and July
2000, and the concerts served as the basis for the two-CD set "In the
Flesh, Live."
Of his major works, two -- "The
Wall" and "The Dark Side Of The Moon" -- stand as undeniable musical
monuments of their age, they define and immortalize the psyche of the
20th century while intimating the potential dangers and beauty of the
21st.
ABOUT MIRAMAX
Miramax Films, founded by Bob and
Harvey Weinstein in 1979, has released some of the most critically
acclaimed and commercially successful independent feature films of the
past decade, including fourteen Best Picture nominations over a span of
the past twelve years: Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, In the
Bedroom, Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, Shakespeare In Love, Life Is
Beautiful (La Vita E Bella), Good Will Hunting, The English Patient, Il
Postino (The Postman), Pulp Fiction, The Piano and The Crying Game. The
outstanding quality of Miramax's films is represented in the company's
success in the annual Academy Awards race. In its history, Miramax has
received 229 Academy Award nominations and has won 54 Academy Awards.
Miramax's commitment to cinema
from around the world is evident in its history of releases. Miramax
has received 23 Best Foreign Language Film nominations over the past 16
years. Some of the nominated films, among other foreign releases,
include: The Barbarian Invasions (Canada), Twin Sisters, Hero (China),
Amelie (France) Taste of Others (France), Everybody Famous (Belgium),
Life is Beautiful (Italy), Children of Heaven (Iran), Four Days in
September (Brazil), Beyond Silence (Germany), Kolya (Czech Republic),
Ridicule (France), The Star Maker (Italy), Strawberry and Chocolate
(Cuba/Mexico), Farewell My Concubine (China/Hong Kong), Mediterraneo
(Italy), Ju Dou (China/Japan), The Nasty Girl (Germany), Cinema
Paradiso (Italy), Pelle the Conqueror (Denmark/Sweden), Like Water for
Chocolate (Mexico), French Twist (France), Red (France), White (Poland)
and Blue (Switzerland), among many, many others.
In 2002, Harvey and Bob were
awarded the highest accolade of the British Film Institute (bfi) when
they are presented with a bfi Fellowship for their outstanding
contribution to cinema.
Tony Award winning producers Bob
and Harvey Weinstein made their first entrance into Broadway as
producers of The Real Thing, which went on to win the Tony Award for
Best Revival of a Play. The Weinsteins have produced several other
shows on Broadway, in the West End and national and international
tours, including The Producers, winner of a precedent-setting 12 Tony
Awards, Sam Mendes' acclaimed revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette
Peters, and the hit London production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Currently, Harvey Weinstein is a producer of the highly anticipated
musicals All Shook Up, inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis
Presley, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, based on the Michael Caine, Steve
Martin film, which are both set to open on Broadway in the spring of
2005.
Bob and Harvey Weinstein's love
of the Broadway musical was transferred to the screen with the Academy
Award winning film Chicago. Miramax is currently developing other
high-profile musical properties for the screen, including Pippin and
Damn Yankees.
ABOUT THOMAS D. MOTTOLA
As one of the most highly
regarded and influential executives in the worldwide entertainment
business, Mr. Mottola is founder of The Mottola Company, a
multi-faceted management and production firm. He also serves as
President of Casablanca Records, a label he started in 2003 with
partner Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company.
Formerly, he served as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment for
15 years, during which time he transformed Sony into one of the most
successful global music companies in history, expanding its businesses
in over 60 countries, while creating one of the strongest management
teams in the industry. Along the way, he developed and nurtured many of
contemporary music's top icons then any single individual in the
industry such as, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen,
Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan and Aerosmith, to Destiny's Child, Jennifer
Lopez, Mariah Carey, Nas, the Dixie Chicks, Shakira and Marc Anthony,
among many others.
A renowned trendsetter, Mr.
Mottola has also been at the forefront of driving popular culture,
creating a number of highly successful strategic co- branding
initiatives, including superstar Celine Dion's marketing partnership
with Chrysler and an unprecedented and multifaceted global marketing
campaign with Pepsi. Moreover, he revitalized Sony Music's publishing
division by securing the much sought after acquisition of Sony Tree and
enabled Sony to become the first major music company to make available
commercial digital downloads.
Currently, Mr. Mottola has
enjoyed multi-platinum and chart-topping success with such management
clients as R&B sensation Usher and Latin music superstar Marc
Anthony. He has branched out into television production with leading
music channel VH-1 to produce the acclaimed reality series Born to
Diva, and is in discussions to launch a daytime talk show for client
and leading fashion designer Vera Wang. Recently, he beat out the major
labels to sign teen sensation Lindsay Lohan to her first recording
contract with Casablanca, and has helped Latin superstar Thalia (his
wife) branch out into a successful clothing line with Kmart and into
the lucrative sweets market with Hershey's.
Known also for his many
philanthropic activities, Mr. Mottola serves on the Board of Directors
of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Police
Athletic League, T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer, Leukemia and AIDS
Research, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and Museum, and the
Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.
NOTE: The image above is NOT an official representation of any work-in-progress/dummy artwork.
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