Bleecker Street to Re-Release The Zellner Bros.’ Cult Classic Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
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- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Friday, 15 March 2024 15:24
- Written by A&E Contributing Editor
Bleecker Street announced today that it has acquired the U.S. rights to Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014), directed by David Zellner and written by David and Nathan Zellner, in honor of the film's 10th anniversary.
The renowned film, which was called "one of the best films to ever premiere at Sundance" by David Ehrlich when it premiered, has not been available on streaming for years and will be screening in select theaters beginning March 22 and then released on demand April 2.
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This furthers Bleecker Street's collaboration with the Zellner Brothers, following Sasquatch Sunset starring Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg, which premiered to audience and critical acclaim at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and will be released in theaters on April 12 in limited release and April 19 nationwide.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter follows a Tokyo office worker (Rinko Kikuchi) after she finds a battered VHS tape of a fictional film and becomes convinced the movie's lost satchel of money is real. Believing she solved the mystery of the buried fortune, she abandons everything and embarks on a quest to frozen Minnesota in search of the mythical treasure, discovering the line between reality and fantasy may be even harder to locate.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and was produced by Nathan Zellner, Chris Ohlson, Andrew Banks, and Jim Burke and executive produced by Alexander Payne. The Associated Press's Lindsey Bahr described the film as "a haunting, fantasy adventure for the ages…one of this century's most breathtaking independent films."
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The "quietly magnificent" (Jonathan Romney, The Observer) film is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and cemented the Zellner brothers' position as one of the most innovative filmmaking duos of the 21st century. Most recently, Bleecker Street was in Berlin with the world premiere of Treasure from filmmaker Julia von Heinz, starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, as well as Sasquatch Sunset, which will next play in SXSW in March. Bleecker Street recently released the Stone Age-set thriller Out of Darkness, Gabriela Cowperthwaite's space station-set thriller I.S.S and Sara Bareilles' Waitress: The Musical in theaters.
About Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is an independently financed studio based in New York City that was founded in August 2014 by Andrew Karpen. Bleecker has released more than 60 films and has established itself as a trusted label and champion of original and filmmaker-driven cinema, curating an impressive and lauded slate that extends across all genres.
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Its releases have included films from auteurs like Steven Soderbergh (Logan Lucky, Unsane) and Debra Granik (Leave No Trace); Oscar-nominated films including Captain Fantastic and Trumbo; and works by brilliant new voices in cinema like Academy Award-winner Guy Nattiv (2024 Oscar-nominee Golda), Kitty Green (The Assistant), Fran Kranz (Spirit Award-winner for Mass), and Laurel Parmet (Spirit Award-nominee this year for The Starling Girl).
Bleecker turns 10 years old this year, and with that milestone comes its most robust, diverse and highly-anticipated slate ever. In addition to the recently released space thriller I.S.S. and independent Stone Age horror film Out of Darkness, upcoming titles include: David and Nathan Zellner's Sasquatch Sunset, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival; Treasure from filmmaker Julia von Heinz, starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and will release in theaters June 14; One Life starring Academy Award-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, opening March 15; the family dramedy Ezra, directed by Tony Goldwyn, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and stars Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne and Robert De Niro; Rumours from Guy Maddin, featuring an ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander; comedy The Fabulous Four from acclaimed filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, starring Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, Susan Sarandon, and Sheryl Lee Ralph; The Return, based on Homer's ancient classic "The Odyssey'' and directed by Academy Award-nominee Uberto Pasolini, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche; and the next film from legendary auteur Mike Leigh, Hard Truths starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, which Bleecker backed early on and is in post-production.
