American Film Market Dailies

Nadine de Barros

Oscar winner JK Simmons (WHIPLASH, TERMINATOR GENISYS, JUNO) is set to star in the ensemble comedic drama THE BACHELORS, it was announced today by Fortitude International’s co-founders Nadine de Barros, Robert Ogden Barnum and Daniel Wagner alongside producers Matthew Baer (UNBROKEN, MAGGIE, CITY BY THE SEA) and George Parra (upcoming JOY, THE DESCENDANTS, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK).

Written and to be directed by Kurt Voelker (SWEET NOVEMBER, PARK), the feature film is slated to begin principal photography in spring 2016 in Los Angeles.

Jennifer Kelly serves as executive producer.

Fortitude International is handling foreign rights and will launch sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

The Gersh Agency is representing North American rights. 

After the loss of his wife, Bill Ponder (Simmons) and his 17-year-old son, Wes, move out of their small town into the big city in an attempt to get a fresh start. As they each begin to adjust to their new life and seek ways to heal their wounds, they both find comfort in newfound romance. As relationships are tested, Bill and Wes grow apart and back together again while discovering their true selves in the process.

“In the same way ORDINARY PEOPLE impacted a wide range of audiences, THE BACHELORS will achieve an emotional resonance and mass appeal.  JK is sure to deliver an amazing performance along with the other fantastic actors we’ll soon announce. Great scripts attract great talent.  George has produced iconic films with two of America’s most respected writer-directors and we’re confident Kurt Voelker will be another filmmaker people pay attention to,” said Baer.

“JK Simmons blew audiences away with his intense, knock-out performance in WHIPLASH. He fully commits to every character he portrays and THE BACHELORS offers once again the unparalleled actor the chance to display his acting chops in this beautifully written story about a father and son relationship,” said Fortitude’s de Barros.

JK Simmons won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year and received critical acclaim for his performance in the global festival hit, WHIPLASH. He was recently seen in theatres in Paramount Pictures’ TERMINATOR GENISYS which made $440 million at the worldwide box office. His upcoming films include Sony Pictures Classics’ THE MEDDLER with Susan Sarandon and Warner Bros.’ THE ACCOUNTANT with Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick due for release in October 2016. His other credits include JUNO, UP IN THE AIR and the SPIDER-MAN trilogy. He is currently filming Warner Bros.’ BASTARDS co-starring Owen Wilson.

Kurt Voelker made his directorial debut with the comedy PARK starring William Baldwin, Ricki Lake and Cheri Oteri. The film won the Audience Award at both the Sonoma Valley Film Festival and the CineVegas Film Festival and screened at numerous festivals worldwide including Rotterdam, Sydney, São Paulo, Outfest and HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival. His screenwriting credits include Warner Bros.’ SWEET NOVEMBER starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron and the animated film ROCK DOG currently in production with an all-star voice cast led by Luke Wilson, JK Simmons, Sam Elliott and Matt Dillon. 

Matthew Baer produced Angelina Jolie’s UNBROKEN starring Jack O’Connell which was nominated for 3 Oscars and released by Universal Pictures around the world and grossed $161 million worldwide. His other credits include Roadside Attractions’ MAGGIE starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin released earlier this year and Warner Bros.’ CITY BY THE SEA featuring Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand and James Franco.

George Parra is an executive producer on David O. Russell’s highly anticipated JOY starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper set for release this Christmas via 20^th Century Fox. He also served as executive producer on Russell’s previous two films, AMERICAN HUSTLE which was nominated for ten Oscars including Best Film and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK which led to an Oscar win for Jennifer Lawrence. He is a frequent collaborator with director Alexander Payne, having co-produced the award-winning SIDEWAYS and THE DESCENDANTS in addition to executive producing NEBRASKA.

Simmons and Voelker are both repped by The Gersh Agency.

ABOUT FORTITUDE INTERNATIONAL

Fortitude International is a foreign sales, finance and production entity based in Los Angeles and founded by foreign sales veteran Nadine de Barros, financier Daniel Wagner and producer Robert Ogden Barnum.  With equity, bridge and senior debt capabilities at its disposal, the sales and financing venture can fully finance projects and is looking to produce strong, commercial and director driven material.  Fortitude will be a haven for filmmakers and artists to make creatively and commercially successful films.  In addition to feature films, the partners are also sourcing and financing TV series and minis, capitalizing on de Barros’ experience in the medium. 

Fortitude’s slate at AFM includes the thriller DAUGHTER OF GOD starring Keanu Reeves which is making its market premiere screening at the market.

They are also in pre-production on the recently announced BACKSTABBING FOR BEGINNERS starring Ben Kingsley and Josh Hutcherson, TOM’S DAD with Will Ferrell set to star and DRUNK PARENTS with Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek. 

Their films in post-production include the comedy THE BRITS ARE COMING with Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Stephen Fry, Sofia Vergara and Alice Eve which recently finished shooting and VINCENT-N-ROXXY with Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kravitz.

Their other films include 2015 Sundance Film Festival selection THE END OF THE TOUR, directed by James Ponsoldt and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel, which was released through A24 Films this summer following rave reviews and Alchemy’s THE RUNNER with Nicolas Cage.