Film Icon Dennis Hopper to Star in Starz Entertainment and Lionsgate's Original Series 'Crash'

Film Icon Dennis Hopper to Star in Starz Entertainment and Lionsgate's Original Series 'Crash'

Clare Carey, Luis Chavez, Ross McCall, Jocko Sims, Brian Tee, and Arlene Tur Set To Star

Distinguished Creative Team Headed By Glen Mazzara ('Life,' 'The Shield') Includes Writers from 'The Sopranos,' 'NYPD Blue,' 'Deadwood,' 'Without A Trace' and 'The Wire'

Scheduled to Premiere on Starz in October

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Film icon Dennis Hopper has been set to star in "Crash," the first original drama series from Starz Entertainment, based on the Academy Award(R)-winning Best Picture. The 13-episode one-hour series, co-produced with Lionsgate, has begun production in Albuquerque, N.M., with additional filming to take place in and around Los Angeles, Calif. Sanford Bookstaver ("Jericho," "Bones," "The O.C.") will direct the premiere episode of the drama, which will debut on Starz in October. The announcement was made jointly today by Stephan Shelanski, Starz Entertainment's executive vice president programming, and Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's president of programming and production.

   (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080605/LATH076)   (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080522/LATH063LOGO-b)  

The cast includes film and television veteran Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet, "24") as "Ben," a veteran, maverick music producer looking for his last big score; Clare Carey ("Jericho") as "Christine," a frustrated Brentwood mom, married to a successful pre-bust real estate developer; Luis Chavez (Ocean's Thirteen, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as "Cesar," a poor immigrant who embarks on a brutal journey to America; Ross McCall ("Band of Brothers," "CSI:NY") plays "Kenny," a cop more interested in joyriding than paperwork; Jocko Sims (Dreamgirls, "CSI") is "Anthony," Ben's driver; Brian Tee ("Grey's Anatomy," "Zoey 101") portrays "Eddie," a Korean-American immigrant who works as an EMT; and Arlene Tur ("Grey's Anatomy") is "Bebe," a former actress who becomes a police officer. Additional cast will be announced soon.

Headed by executive producer Glen Mazzara ("The Shield"), the creative team includes executive producers Paul Haggis, Bob Yari and Bobby Moresco, and co-executive producers Don Cheadle, Tom Nunan, Mark Harris, Jorg Westerkamp and Thomas Becker, all of whom were key members of the Oscar-winning theatrical production team. Writers joining Mazzara for the series are co-executive producers Frank Renzulli ("The Sopranos") and Ted Mann ("Deadwood," "Miami Vice"); producer Stacy Rukeyser ("One Tree Hill," "Without a Trace"); and executive story editors Chris Collins ("The Wire") and Randy Huggins ("The Shield"). John B. Moranville ("Drive") is line producer.

Set in Los Angeles, the series will continue to focus on an ensemble cast of characters. It will explore the complexities of social tolerance in contemporary America by digging into the meaning of what it takes to reach the American dream. Characters will intertwine and crash into each other, coming face to face with the daily hurdles and obstacles that threaten to get in the way of achieving that dream.

Starz Media's Anchor Bay Entertainment will hold exclusive U.S. distribution rights, including home entertainment, to the "Crash" series, while Lionsgate will retain international distribution.

About LIONSGATE(R)

Lionsgate is a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio with a major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company is leveraging its content leadership and marketing expertise through a series of partnerships that include the operation of the highly successful FEARNet branded VOD and Internet horror channel with Sony and Comcast, the recent announcement of the fall 2009 launch of a new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom, Paramount Pictures and MGM, investment in the leading young men's digital distribution platform Break.com, ownership of the premier independent television syndication company Debmar-Mercury LLC and an alliance with independent filmed entertainment production and distribution company Roadside Attractions. Lionsgate also has forged partnerships with leading content creators, owners and distributors in key territories around the world, including Televisa in the U.S. and Latin America, StudioCanal in the UK, Hoyts and Sony in Australia and Eros International in India.

The Company has generated more than $450 million at the North American theatrical box office in the past year and has released a string of hits including The Forbidden Kingdom, Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns, The Bank Job, Rambo, The Eye, Saw IV, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Good Luck Chuck, 3:10 To Yuma and War, most of which have opened at #1 or #2 at the box office. The Company has also forged leadership positions in television and home entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television series as Weeds and Mad Men, the distribution of Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Family Feud, South Park, Trivial Pursuit and The Dead Zone, among others, and approximately 9% market share and the industry's leading box office-to-DVD conversion rate in home entertainment. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with entrepreneurial innovation and original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz(R) and Encore(R) brands with approximately 16.8 million and 31.4 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, Starz Play, and Vongo(R). Starz Entertainment (http://www.starz.com/) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Entertainment Group (NASDAQ:LMDIA) (NASDAQ:LMDIB) , a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.

    Contacts:     Chelsye J. Burrows               Robin Mesger/Leah Krantzler    Starz Entertainment              The Lippin Group/LA    720/852-5838                     323/965-1990    chelsye.burrows@starz.com        rmesger@lippingroup.com                                     lkrantzler@lippingroup.com     Steve Belgard                    Matt Biscuiti    Starz Entertainment              The Lippin Group/NY    720/852-5843                     212/986-7080    steve.belgard@starz.com          Matt@lippingroup.com  

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Source: Starz Entertainment

CONTACT: Chelsye J. Burrows, +1-720-852-5838, chelsye.burrows@starz.com,
or Steve Belgard, +1-720-852-5843, steve.belgard@starz.com, both of Starz
Entertainment; or Robin Mesger, rmesger@lippingroup.com, or Leah Krantzler,
lkrantzler@lippingroup.com, +1-323-965-1990, both of The Lippin Group-LA, or
Matt Biscuiti of The Lippin Group-NY, +1-212-986-7080, Matt@lippingroup.com

Web site: http://www.starz.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment