Tag Archives: Michael Barker

Sony Pictures Classics to Distribute Ribeiro Salgado’s “Salt of the Earth”

Posted on by
Reply

Juliano Ribeiro Salgado is bringing a little salt of the earth to U.S. theaters.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the U.S. rights to the French-Brazilian filmmaker’s award-winning documentary Salt of the Earth.

Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

The film played in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it earned the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Honor.

Directed by Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders, the film centers on photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has been travelling through the continents over the last 40 years, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet’s beauty.Sebastião’s Salgado’s life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wenders, a photographer himself.

“Sony Pictures Classics is overjoyed to be back in business with the master, Wim Wenders, and to discover the work of Juliano Ribeiro Salgado,” said partners Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.

“Sony Pictures Classics has the legacy of releasing some of the most compelling films of our times,” said Salgado. “I’m very excited for The Salt of the Earth, it couldn’t have found a better home in the US.”

“Blue Jasmine,” Starring Louis C.K., Shines Bright Like a Diamond in Limited Release

Posted on by
Reply

Louis C.K. has no reason to feel blue about the box office performance of his latest project…

The 45-year-old Mexican American stars in Woody Allen’s ensemble drama Blue Jasmine, which sparkled like a diamond at the box office this weekend.

Louis C.K. in Blue Jasmine

The film, which co-stars Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett and Bobby Cannavale, grossed nearly $603,000 in limited release, outperforming the performance of Allen’s last film Midnight in Paris (a $99,834 debut average in six theaters), which was the director’s best-grossing film to date.

Blue Jasmine, released by Sony Pictures Classics, opened in six theaters, averaging $102,128, placing the film atop the year’s specialty debuts.

“It certainly belies the myth opening,” said SPC’s Michael Barker about debuting against the summer blockbusters like The Wolverine. “When we first screened the film I remember we heard that people said, ‘Why aren’t you waiting until the fall?’ Our response was that a good serious film will be a good breath of fresh air.”

Blue Jasmine edges out Selena Gomez’s Spring Breakers in the averages game so far in 2013.

Louis C.K. portrays Al in the film, which centers on Blanchett’s New York socialite character who moves into her sister’s modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together after her life falls apart, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Baldwin).