Starz has acquired six titles including the documentary This Changes Everything from executive producer, Academy Award-winning actor and gender equality advocate Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, Glow), slated to air on Starz and available for download or streaming via the Starz app in December.
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The documentary uncovers one of the most confounding dilemmas in the entertainment industry — the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women told first-hand by some of Hollywood’s top talent behind and in front of the camera. Leading voices interviewed in the documentary include Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Anita Hill, and Starz Original series Power creator, co-showrunner and executive producer Courtney A. Kemp, among others. The documentary will premiere on December 16.
“I’m thrilled to see This Changes Everything coming to nationwide audiences on Starz later this year,” said Davis. “This documentary eloquently makes the case for the need to improve gender balance, diversity and inclusion onscreen and behind the scenes. It’s important that industry leaders and the public are aware of the impact the media has as we rally together toward the goal of gender equality.”
In addition to This Changes Everything, Starz also acquired The River and the Wall documentary about five friends who embark on a 1,200-mile journey down the Rio Grande to document the US-Mexico border before construction of a wall, learning how it would impact immigration, wildlife, culture, and landowners. The feature will premiere on October 21.
The Professor and the Madman, starring Sean Penn, Mel Gibson, Natalie Dormer, and Steve Coogan, tells the unbelievable true story of a murderer confined to an insane asylum and his unlikely bond with a brilliant Oxford professor. Drawn together by the fine line between madness and genius, these remarkable men form an unbreakable friendship in pursuit of changing the course of history. The title will premiere on October 5.
A new series, Idris Elba’s (Hobbs & Shaw, Turn Up Charlie) family comedy In the Long Run, inspired by his experience growing up in east London in the ’80s, will premiere exclusively on Starz on November 1. The series examines the lives of the Easmon family living in London in 1985, led by factory worker Walter (Elba) whose home is turned upside down when his party-loving, responsibility-challenged DJ younger brother arrives from Sierra Leone.
“This series is a semi-autobiographical comedy that tackles stereotypes and racial divisions while having a laugh about it,” said Elba. “There’s a genuineness to this story with which I hope audiences engage and connect.”
The next title, Stockholm, stars Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace, and Mark Strong. Stockholm is based on the absurd but true 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis in which hostages bonded with their captors, giving rise to the term “Stockholm Syndrome,” Stockholm focuses on the relationship between a bank teller and her captor, an unhinged U.S. outlaw, as they try to escape together. The movie will premiere on December 14.
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My Days of Mercy, a film starring Ellen Page and Kate Mara, follows a female activist (Page) who is protesting the death penalty and befriends a woman (Mara) with opposing views. They begin a passionate relationship that tests their beliefs and their values. The movie will premiere on December 27.
