Paramount Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights — excluding Germany, Switzerland and Austria — to Tim Fellbaum’s “September 5th,” starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Leonie Beneš, who had a smash hit last year with her Oscar-nominated “Teachers’ Lounge.”
The film, co-produced by Sean Penn, is set to open the Venice Film Festival's Extra Competition section on August 29. Sarsgaard won best actor at last year's Venice Film Festival for “Memory.”
Set during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, September 5 follows an American sports broadcast team that quickly adapts from sports reporting to live coverage of Israeli athletes being held hostage.
Through this lens, “September 5th” offers a fresh perspective on the live broadcast that was watched by an estimated 1 billion people worldwide at the time. According to a statement, the film “reveals the defining moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to influence live news today.”
The story revolves around Jeff, an ambitious young producer who seeks to prove himself to his boss, legendary TV executive Ron Arledge. Together with Marianne, a German translator, Jeff unexpectedly takes the lead in the live coverage.
As the narrative shifts, time passes, conflicting rumors spread, and the lives of the hostages hang in the balance, Jeff faces difficult decisions while confronting his own moral compass. How do you cover a situation like this if what the perpetrators want is to shine a light on it?
The writers are Moritz Binder and Fehlbaum, and the producers are Philipp Trower, Thomas Wopke, Fehlbaum, Ben, John Ira Palmer, and John Wildermuth.
The film “September 5” was produced by BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion and Penn's Projected Picture Works, in cooperation with Constantin Film and ERF Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion.
Executive producers are Martin Moskovitz and Christoph Müller. Co-producers are Constanze Guttmann, Rüdiger Boss, Christian Reitz and Jeffrey Mason.
The film was shot in the original sound studios and locations in Munich last year.
