FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
PAUL BETTANY ANNOUNCED AS FIRST CAST MEMBER TO JOIN DISCOVERY’S HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED SCRIPTED SERIES ‘MANIFESTO’
(LOS ANGELES) – Discovery Channel announced that Paul Bettany (“Gangster No. 1,” “Captain America: Civil War”) has been cast in its upcoming highly-anticipated scripted series MANIFESTO, set to air next year. Produced with Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions, the series will tell the story of how the FBI brought down Ted Kaczynski (Bettany), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world. This series will feature Bettany’s first major leading role on U.S. television.
Bettany first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film “Gangster No. 1,” and director Brian Helgeland's film “A Knight's Tale.” He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including “A Beautiful Mind,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “Dogville,” “Wimbledon,” and “The Da Vinci Code.” He is also known for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically the films “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,” “The Avengers,” “Iron Man 3,” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” in which he also portrayed the Vision, for which he garnered praise. He reprised his role as the Vision in “Captain America: Civil War.” His film “Shelter,” which Bettany wrote, directed and produced and starred Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, was released in the Fall of 2016. The film was nominated for Best Debut feature at the Raindance Film Festival in London. He is currently shooting the feature film “Journey’s End,” opposite Asa Butterfield, Sam Claflin and Toby Jones.
MANIFESTO is from Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti’s Trigger Street and writer Andrew Sodroski, who topped Hollywood’s famed Black List for screenplays in 2013 with “Holland, Michigan.” Emmy® Award-winning television producer and director Greg Yaitanes (“Quarry,” “Banshee”) will executive produce, direct and serve as showrunner. The series is part of the push to add a select number of high-end scripted projects to Discovery’s line-up under the leadership of Rich Ross, Group President of Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel. Ross recruited producer John Goldwyn to drive the scripted initiative. Goldywn also served as executive producer for Discovery’s “Harley and the Davidsons,” which delivered more than 4.4 million viewers for Discovery this past September and became the most watched single-network cable miniseries in 3.5 years.
MANIFESTO will trace how Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald challenged the “old school” ways with his radical new approach to intelligence gathering. Fitzgerald had training as a profiler, but it was his focus on linguistics that became vital to breaking the case. He believed that the key to unlocking the true identity of the Unabomber would be found in the language of The Manifesto, a detailed account of some of Kaczynski’s plots.
MANIFESTO is produced with Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions. Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Troy Searer and Greg Yaitanes are Executive Producers. John Goldwyn will serve as Executive Producer on behalf of Discovery. Jim Fitzgerald will serve as Consulting Producer.
About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 224 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world’s #1 pay-TV programmer reaching nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in more than 220 countries and territories. For 30 years Discovery has been dedicated to satisfying curiosity and entertaining viewers with high-quality content through its global television brands, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery and Science, as well as U.S. joint venture network OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Discovery controls Eurosport, the leading pan-regional sports entertainment destination across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools, including an award-winning series of K-12 digital textbooks, through Discovery Education, and a digital leader with a diversified online portfolio, including Discovery Digital Networks. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment. The Company has nearly 80 television shows on 40 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses. These include the ground-breaking hit series Orange is the New Black, the fan favorite drama series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show, the hit drama series The Royals, the Golden Globe-nominated dramedy Casual and the breakout success Greenleaf.
The Company’s feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me and John Wick series, Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, the critically-acclaimed Hacksaw Ridge, Nerve, CBS Films/Lionsgate’s Hell or High Water, Sicario, Roadside Attractions' Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes, Codeblack Films’ Addicted and breakout concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films’ Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.
Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com
Press Contacts for Discovery:
Laurie Goldberg, , 310-975-1631
Phil Zimmerman, , 310-975-5975
Press Contact for Lionsgate:
David Gardner, , 323-965-1990