Fox to Release ``Behind Enemy Lines'' Nov. 30

Business Wire, Nov 2, 2001

Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 2, 2001

Twentieth Century Fox will release "Behind Enemy Lines" on Nov. 30, 2001, it was announced today by Bruce Snyder, President of Domestic Distribution, Twentieth Century Fox.

Previously, the studio had tentatively slated the action-adventure picture for release on Jan. 18, 2002. When audiences at test screenings gave "Behind Enemy Lines" some of the highest scores in Fox's history, the decision was made to have "Behind Enemy Lines" launch the all-important Christmas movie season.

Commented Snyder: "Test audiences have told us `Behind Enemy Lines' is the `kick-ass' movie of the year, that the film reinvents the action genre, and is a new kind of adventure for the 21st century. Add to this the fact that its trailer has been playing to cheers and applause across the nation, we realized that `Behind Enemy Lines' would be the perfect kick-off for the Christmas movie season."

In the film, Owen Wilson plays a Naval aviator who is shot down over enemy territory, where he struggles to survive the relentless pursuit of a ruthless secret police enforcer, a deadly tracker and countless hostile troops. With time running out, the injured aviator's commanding officer, played by Oscar winner Gene Hackman, makes the wrenching decision to set aside the rules of the tightly controlled world in which he operates and risks his career to launch a renegade rescue mission to save the life of one soldier.

Famed commercials director John Moore got the nod to direct "Behind Enemy Lines," his feature film directorial debut, immediately after studio executives saw his spot for the Sega video game system that premiered to great acclaim and attention on the 1999 MTV Music Video Awards. "Behind Enemy Lines" is produced by John Davis from a screenplay by David Veloz and Zak Penn, and a story by James Thomas and John Thomas. Stephanie Austin and Wyck Godfrey are the executive producers.

Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.