MUMBAI: National Geographic Entertainment (NGE) has acquired the worldwide rights to the film Blue Man Group: Mind Blast for distribution to giant-screen, digital and IMAX 3-D and 2-D theaters.
The 3-D live-action comedy, slated for release in Spring 2011, will feature an original screenplay and score and will star the group’s original cast members.
Blue Man Group: Mind Blast is the fourth major film acquisition for NGE this year, following the Sundance hit Amreeka, opening in select cities throughout September; City of Life and Death, which screened this week at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival; and The Wildest Dream, which will be released in 2010 on IMAX and giant screens worldwide and on 35 mm screens in the United States.
Blue Man Group has been impressing live audiences since 1990 with its wildly popular theatrical shows and concerts that combine music, comedy and multimedia theatrics in producing a unique entertainment experience. It currently has permanent productions in nine cities, including New York City, Boston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Berlin and Tokyo, and frequently tours both domestically and internationally. The group was created by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton, who will star as the trio of blue men in the film, the group’s first foray onto giant screens and into 3-D film.
"Blue Man Group: Mind Blast," which begins pre-production in early 2010, will follow the bald and blue trio as they travel through a visually stunning 3-D brain, exploring its neural pathways, synapses and gooey brain structures. Music, physical humor and Blue Man antics abound as they make art, collect scientific facts and turn our brains upside down.
The film will be directed by David Russo and executive produced by Barbara Darwall of Blue Man Productions. Distribution of the film will be led by National Geographic Cinema Ventures Distribution president Mark Katz and overseen by National Geographic Cinema Ventures president Lisa Truitt.
"Our giant-screen film collaboration with Blue Man Group will continue National Geographic Entertainment’s foray into the distribution of an increasingly diverse array of films. The slate of films that we’ve acquired and are releasing this year and next are a reflection of National Geographic’s commitment to telling stories in engaging and groundbreaking ways," said Truitt.
NGE president David Beal added, "National Geographic constantly strives to be a window to the world and all that’s in it. Our collaboration with Blue Man Group presents a further opportunity to take that challenge to an ever widening audience."
