It was announced back on May 2nd that Focus Features would be distributing Michel Gondry‘s new film, Be Kind Rewind, but in a press release today New Line Cinema announced the studio has acquired domestic rights to the pic. Jack Black is confirmed to star in the film, it was announced today by New Line Cinema production president Toby Emmerich.
Academy Award winner Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) wrote the script which he will also direct. Georges Bermann, Gondry’s partner in Partizan Productions, will produce the film. Mr. Bermann most recently produced The Science of Sleep and was an executive producer on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Science of Sleep, written and directed by Gondry, will be released August 2006 by Warner Independent. Gondry’s most recent release, Focus Features’ critical darling Dave Chappelle’s Block Party will be released on DVD in June 2006.
Be Kind Rewind stars Jack Black as Jerry, a junkyard worker who attempts to sabotage a power plant that he believes is melting his brain. But when his plan goes awry, the magnetic field that he creates accidentally erases all of the videotapes in a local video store where his best friend Mike works. Fearing that the mishap will cost Mike his job, the two friends team up to keep the store’s only loyal customer  a little old lady with a tenuous grasp on reality  from realizing what has happened by recreating and re-filming every movie that she decides to rent. From Back to the Future, to Robocop, to Rush Hour, to The Lion King, Jerry and Mike become the biggest stars in their neighborhood by starring in the biggest movies ever made.
The film marks New Line Cinema’s second collaboration with Jack Black. Black will next be seen in Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny which he also co-wrote and produced. The film will be released on November 17th, 2006.
Be Kind Rewind is set to start production in September.
