EXCLUSIVE: Marco Pontecorvo’s Fatima, the first title to be released by Bob and Jeanne Berney’s revived Picturehouse, is going wide in 1,000 runs on Aug. 14, Deadline has learned.
The faith-based movie about the Virgin Mary’s appearance to a 10-year old shepherd and her two cousins in Fátima, Portugal, was acquired by Picturehouse back in October, in Bob Berney’s first big move post Amazon where he served as Head of Marketing and Distribution. Fatima was originally scheduled for an April 24 release, however, was delayed due to the exhibition shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the movie, the children’s revelations inspire believers but anger Church and government officials, who try to force them to recant their story. As word of their prophecy spreads, tens of thousands of religious pilgrims flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle, and what they experience changes lives forever. Interestingly enough the film is set against the 1918 Spanish Flu, and provides an uplifting message, especially during the current landscape.
Fatima will open on the same weekend where Warner Bros. has Wonder Woman 1984 and Disney has The One and Only Ivan. Much like Berney’s 2004 release The Passion of the Christ, Fatima will be targeting Christian moviegoers.
Fatima stars Stephanie Gil (Terminator: Dark Fate), Lúcia Moniz (Love, Actually), Joaquim de Almeida (Queen of the South) and Goran Visnjic (Beginners) with Sonia Braga (Aquarius) and Harvey Keitel (The Irishman). In addition to directing, Pontecorvo wrote with Valerio D’Annunzio and Barbara Nicolosi. Pic is produced by James T. Volk, Dick Lyles, Stefano Buono, Maribel Lopera Sierra, Rose Ganguzza, Marco Pontecorvo and Natasha Howes. The movie features the original song “Gratia Plena (Full of Grace)” performed by Andrea Bocelli and composed by renowned Italian composer Paolo Buonvino. Fatima reps the second feature directed by Pontecorvo following the award-winning drama Pa-ra- da. His numerous credits as a cinematographer include HBO’s Game of Thrones and Rome, and the John Turturro directed feature Fading Gigolo. The Berneys made the deal with James T. Volk, chairman and founder of Origin Entertainment, which produced the film along with Elysia Productions and Rose Pictures.
Picturehouse was formed in 2005 as a joint venture between HBO and New Line, with Bob Berney at its head. The Time Warner subsidiaries acquired the theatrical distribution operation of Newmarket Films, which under Berney’s leadership had released such films as the $612M-global grossing The Passion of the Christ and Monster, for which Charlize Theron won the Best Actress Oscar as well as surprise hit Whale Rider. Picturehouse also acquired and released Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which won three Oscars, Olivier Dahan’s La Vie en Rose, winner of two Oscars including Marion Cotillard among others titles. Picturehouse relaunched as an independent theatrical distributor under the Berneys’ ownership in January 2013, with the release of Metallica Through The Never.