SPC Acquires '2046'
Sony Pictures Classics Acquires 2046 for Distribution in the United States and English Canada

Award-winning director Wong Kar Wai returns with a most romantic epic detailing love's anguish and rapture

New York, March 22, 2005—Sony Pictures Classics today announced the acquisition of North American rights to acclaimed filmmaker Wong Kar Wai's stunning new film "2046" starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Hero, In the Mood for Love), Ziyi Zhang (House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Gong Li (Farewell My Concubine, Eros) and Maggie Cheung (Hero, In the Mood for Love). Featuring camera work by Christopher Doyle and editing/art design and costumes by William Chang Suk-Ping, this is Wong's first feature film since his award winning In the Mood for Love four years ago. 2046 premiered in competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival and has already opened in a number of major markets around the world.

"I am pleased that 2046 has found the right home in North America," Wong Kar Wai said in a statement. "The Sony Pictures Classics team demonstrated to me that they had the passion, strategy, experience and resources to give my film the winning positioning and commitment it deserves in order to present 2046 to the North American audiences."

2046 deals with love, romance, pain, choices and lost opportunities. "He thought he wrote about the future," the film's narration says of main character Chow Mo-wan, "but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while. Everyone who went there had the same intention: to recapture their lost memories." 2046 revolves around romantic relationships, desires and memories with the central character Chow, played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, as a writer/journalist.

Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Dylan Leiner say in a joint statement on behalf of Sony Pictures Classics, "2046 is one of the finest movies from one of the world's great directors. Wong Kar Wai's world on the screen reminds us why we love the movies. We deeply appreciate the diligence of Wong Kar Wai's producing partners Alain Vannier and Eric Heumann, and Fortissimo Films' Wouter Barendrecht and Michael Werner in making this deal happen."

2046 will have its US premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, with lead actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai in attendance, followed by a general release in the Fall.