creation movie paul bettany as charles darwinOver the weekend, the Internet was abuzz with news that the Creation movie, a partner of the Darwin150 Project and the Darwin Facebook Group, is still without a distribution deal in the US, even though it has distribution almost everywhere else in the world.
The original article that was being tweeted (and retweeted) is here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6173399/Charles-Darwin-film-too-controversial-for-religious-America.html
creation movie paul bettany as charleApparently only 39% of Americans believe in evolution according to a Feb 2009 Gallup poll.
The film has been written about (although not reviewed yet) by Roger Ebert and Eugenie Scott, Director of the National Center for Science Education (another sponsor of our project!) gave her thoughts on the film on the Panda's Thumb blog.
From the press kit:
creation movie paul bettany as charles darwin, jennifer connelly as emma darwinPart ghost story, part psychological thriller, part heart-wrenching love story, CREATION is the powerful story of Charles Darwin and the single most explosive idea in history.
Paul Bettany (MASTER AND COMMANDER, A BEAUTIFUL MIND) stars as a young Charles Darwin, writing On the Origin of Species. His theory would turn the world upside down, and challenge the love of his deeply religious wife (played by real life partner Jennifer Connelly, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, BLOOD DIAMOND).
His beliefs remain controversial even today.
The film is directed by Jon Amiel (Entrapment, Sommersby, The Singing Detective) from a screenplay by John Collee (Master and the Commander: The Far Side of the World, Happy Feet), based upon Randal Keynes’ book, ‘Annie’s Box’, about the life of his great great grandfather Charles Darwin. Produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast)
Check out the video clips here:
Quicktime: http://video.thinkjam.com/?h=8cd313e4b4b8223046f32022ff8640b7&q=hi&m=qt
RealPlayer: http://video.thinkjam.com/?h=8cd313e4b4b8223046f32022ff8640b7&q=hi&m=real
Windows Media: http://video.thinkjam.com/?h=8cd313e4b4b8223046f32022ff8640b7&q=hi&m=win
We are encouraging people who want to prove that there is an audience for the film, to join our Facebook group. At over 250,000 members, we have already shown that there is real support for Darwin and science by the general public, but we want to be even bigger. Help us get to our goal of 1 million!
And don't forget, the Creation movie and the rest of our sponsors, including National Geographic, Citrix Online, Campaign Monitor, Harvard University of Comparative Zoology, National Center for Science Education, and New York Academy of Sciences have partnered with us to celebrate the 150th anniversary of "On the Origin of Species" with a series of events this Fall.
Our first free event live at Harvard and via webcast and phone is this Wed. September 16 with Professor Everett Mendelsohn. Professor Mendelsoh will speak on "The World Before Darwin" drawing from his popular undergraduate course, "The Darwinian Revolution" and his many decades of experience studying the history of science and the impact of Darwin.