Film In Focus: KING OF CALIFORNIA

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Tuesday, January 9----Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas takes on one of the quirkiest roles of his long career in the highly anticipated KING OF CALIFORNIA, which screens in the Sundance Film Festival's prestigious Premieres Section. The film is the directorial debut of writer/director Mike Cahill.

Joining Douglas (who won a Best Actor Oscar for his 1980s "greed is good" zeitgeist performance as an amoral stock trader in Oliver Stone's WALL STREET) is rising star Evan Rachel Wood. The acclaimed young actress burst on the scene in 2003's THIRTEEN, winning Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for her powerful performance as a rebellious teen.

KING OF CALIFORNIA is produced by the Oscar-nominated team of Alexander Payne and Michael London, whose film SIDEWAYS was a major independent hit in 2004. Payne won an Oscar for writing the film's touching screenplay.

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Wood plays sixteen year old Miranda, who already has to live with her share of disappointments. Abandoned by her mother, she’s dropped out of school and has been supporting herself with a dead-end job at McDonald’s. Her father Charlie (Douglas) is confined to a mental institution. When he is finally released and sent back to their home, all hell breaks loose. Dad is convinced that the long-lost treasure of Spanish explorer Father Juan Florismarte Torres is buried somewhere near their Southern California suburb. Initially skeptical, Miranda soon finds herself joining Charlie in an effort to give him one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.

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The darkly funny satire on modern American families and the continuing pursuit of the American dream has its Red Carpet Premiere on Wednesday evening, January 24th at the Eccles Center in Park City. Michael Douglas, Evan Rachel Wood, Mike Cahill, Alexander Payne, Michael London and Boaz Davidson will be in attendance.

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KING OF CALIFORNIA, which is having its world premiere at Sundance, is that rare bird....a film with big star names that is not yet placed with a film distributor. Expect a bidding war to break out even before the film has its official screening, with uber-agent Cassian Elwes of the William Morris Agency orchestrating the buying frenzy.

Sandy Mandelberger

Sundance Online Dailies Editor