(Los Angeles, July 29, 1996) -- New Line Cinema's Last Man Standing will get its world premiere on September 6th at the Venice Film Festival, it was announced today by Rolf Mittweg, President of New Line International. Organizers of the prestigious festival requested a print of the action-thriller after a private screening of the Walter Hill directed film starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Bruce Dern and Karina Lombard.
Willis, Hill, and producer Arthur Sarkissian (While You Were Sleeping) will attend the event, which will be held during the festival's Venetian Nights. "An invitation to the Venice Film Festival says a great deal about the acting, directing, and overall quality of Last Man Standing," said Mittweg.
In the film, Willis portrays a mysterious gun-for-hire who finds himself caught in the middle of a violent war between rival Chicago bootlegging mobs. When he hires himself out to both factions, he begins a deadly con game in an effort to cripple the crime syndicates.
Inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, Hill used the fundamentals from the 1961 samurai classic as a springboard into a new era where social chaos breeds crime and violence. "Last Man Standing is a passionate adaptation of a classic story, and we are flattered that Venice Film Festival organizers recognize the rich tradition behind this project," Hill said.
According to Mittweg, an international platform is most appropriate to launch this film because Bruce Willis films overseas traditionally out-perform domestic box-office results. "This is Bruce Willis as audiences and critics have never seen him before," Mittweg explained. "There is a noirish style to Walter Hill's filmmaking that puts a new spin on the everyman character that Willis has made so popular."
Last Man Standing opens nationwide on September 20.
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