..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

February 26, 2004

Christian Bale As The Machinist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PARAMOUNT CLASSICS ACQUIRES SUNDANCE THRILLER
FROM FILMAX INTERNATIONAL

THE MACHINIST

HOLLYWOOD, February 25, 2004 - Paramount Classics has acquired the distribution rights from Filmax International to Brad Anderson’s new film THE MACHINIST, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and recently showed in the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival. This daring film has received rave reviews and Anderson’s work has been critically acclaimed and compared to that of Polanski, Lynch and Hitchcock. In addition to the extraordinary notices for the performance of star Christian Bale, both Xavi Gimenez and Roque Banos have been repeatedly singled out for their uniquely and exceptionally expressive cinematography and moody Herrmann-esque orchestral scoring respectively. The film is produced by Julio Fernandez.

Directed by Anderson (Happy Accidents, Next Stop Wonderland, Session 9) and written by Scott Kosar (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), THE MACHINIST is a psychological thriller that stars Christian Bale in a hauntingly memorable performance for which he lost 65 pounds to play the title role. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside, Aitana Sanchez Gijon (The Chambermaid, A Walk in the Clouds) and John Sharian (Saving Private Ryan, The Fifth Element) also star.

Christian Bale plays factory machinist, Trevor Reznik. Reznik has not slept in a year, which has led to a shocking deterioration of his physical and mental health. His only solace comes from his call-girl girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) when his world becomes a living nightmare as cryptic notes turn up in his apartment and he has visions of a co-worker no one else can see. Are these mysteries part of a plot to drive him mad? Or has fatigue simply robbed him of reason? Determined to find answers, he embarks on a journey of self-awareness--yet the more he learns, the less he wants to know.

“We are extremely proud to be working with Brad, a director of incredible vision,” said Paramount Classics co-presidents Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein. “His film is powerfully unique and evocative. Bale’s work is equally impressive. We believe this will be a performance to be reckoned with come Awards season.”

Anderson added, "I am very excited to be working with Ruth, David and everyone at Paramount Classics, a team that is as impassioned by independent film as I am. They've been very successful releasing films that take chances and I am proud to be part of the new line up."

Producer and Filmax Entertainment Chairman, Julio Fernandez, Executive Producer and Filmax President Carlos Fernandez and Executive Producer and Filmax SVP of Sales and co-productions Antonia Nava also added, “We are very excited to work on this movie with Paramount Classics. The enthusiasm they have shown and our identical vision as how to work on this unique picture have impressed all of us at Filmax. When we assumed the entire production of such an exciting independent movie, and decided to transform Barcelona into a U.S. city for Brad Anderson, we positively knew we would find the right home in the U.S. when it came to distribute the movie. It was not easy, but one and a half years later, it has come true.”

Paramount Classics has acquired North American rights for the film as well as rights for the United Kingdom, South Africa, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Paramount Classics plans a late 2004 release.

The deal between Paramount Classics and Filmax International was negotiated by John Sloss with Endeavor.

Paramount Classics is the autonomous specialized division of Paramount Pictures. Upcoming releases include Paul McGuigan’s The Reckoning starring Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe and Brian Cox; The United States of Leland starring Kevin Spacey, Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, Chris Klein, Lena Olin and Michelle Williams, written and directed by Matthew Ryan Hoge; Mike Hodges’ re-teaming with Clive Owen in the noir thriller I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead; Yann Samuell’s award-winning Love Me if You Dare starring Guillaume Canet (The Beach) and Marion Cotillard (Big Fish); David Mackenzie’s Asylum starring Natasha Richardson, Sir Ian McKellan and Marton Csokas, based on Patrick McGrath’s celebrated novel of erotic obsession; Patrice Leconte’s critically-acclaimed Confidences Trop Intimes and Roger Michell’s adaption of Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love starring Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans in a story of two strangers whose lives become intertwined after witnessing a tragic accident.

Paramount Classics can be found at: www.paramountclassics.com.

Upcoming productions from Filmax International to be presented at this year’s AFM include the ghost story, Fragile, the new film by Jaume Balaguero; Bloodline, a horror film directed by Nacho Cerda and the very ambitious new animation feature film Donkey.Xote, in which the donkey “Rucio” tells the “true” story of Don Quixote.