The Wagner/Cuban Companies’ Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired North American theatrical rights to COUNTDOWN TO ZERO, a stunning documentary about the escalating global nuclear arms crisis that recently bowed at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition, Participant announced that HISTORY™ channel has acquired the US television broadcast rights. Written and directed by acclaimed documentarian Lucy Walker (The Devil’s Playground, Blindsight), the film features an array of important international statesmen, including President Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair. It makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever with the Obama administration working to revive this goal today. Valerie Plame Wilson, who is also featured in the film, spoke and introduced a clip from COUNTDOWN TO ZERO at the annual TED Conference in Long Beach yesterday, and a screening for TED attendees took place at a nearby theater last night. Additionally, it screened earlier this month in Paris for select attendees of this year’s Global Zero Summit.
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possessing nuclear weapons capabilities with others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. The film was produced by Academy Award® winner and current nominee Lawrence Bender (Inglorious Basterds, An Inconvenient Truth) and developed, financed and executive produced by Participant Media, together with World Security Institute. Participant collaborated with Magnolia on last year’s Food, Inc., recently nominated for an Academy Award®, and the upcoming CASINO JACK and the United States of Money. Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Bruce Blair and Matt Brown are the film’s executive producers. Magnolia is planning a theatrical release for COUNTDOWN TO ZERO later this year.