MALIBU, Calif., June 15, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Propelled by positive word-of-mouth from movie-goers, the family-appeal film War Eagle, Arkansas, generated encouraging box office results in limited engagement screenings throughout the State of Arkansas this past weekend, reported distributor Empire Film Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:EFGU) (http://www.empirefilmgroup.com). The film will be held-over for another weekend in six of the seven launch locations including three theaters in the greater Little Rock area and three theaters in N.W. Arkansas. Additionally, Empire will be scheduling openings for a second-wave of release markets, including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and Nashville.
"The film showed a nice increase in business, indicating a solid consumer reaction to the material," said Eric Parkinson, CEO-Distribution for Empire. "While most films show an attendance drop-off on Sunday, War Eagle actually showed an increase which is a very positive sign. Additionally, in most locations the film performed in the top third of all movies, which was difficult to achieve as some locations only had one evening show-time. If you compared apples to apples box office results, then War Eagle was the top performing film for the first evening show."
Locations that will be held-over for the weekend of June 19 - 21 include the Malco Razorback in Fayetteville, the Malco Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, the Carmike 14 in Fort Smith, the Rave Colonel Glenn in Little Rock, the Carmike 6 in Conway and the Carmike Central City 10 in Hot Springs.
War Eagle, Arkansas is a critically praised family feature that has earned more than twenty film festival awards. The movie stars newcomer Dan McCabe in a role described by CBS Television as "an outstanding, Oscar caliber performance." Other stars in the film include Luke Grimes (from ABC's Brothers and Sisters), Academy Award Nominee Mare Winningham (Swing Vote) and Emmy winners Brian Dennehy (Righteous Kill), Mary Kay Place (HBO's Big Love), and James McDaniel (N.Y.P.D. Blue).
The film is 93-minutes long, shot in 35mm Panavision, and released in widescreen (scope) Digital Cinema formats. MPAA rating is PG-13, for language and sexual references. The film's official website is www.WarEagleArkansas.com, and features theater listings, an on-line press kit, a trailer and more.
Empire Film Group, Inc. is one of only 12 full-service film studios and distributors in the U.S. marketplace, controlling its own theatrical, video and television distribution activities in-house, and maintaining independent status. In addition to War Eagle, Empire will be releasing new theatrical titles throughout the summer and fall of 2009, under the direction of David Magedman, former VP of Warner Independent Pictures. The company as recently acquired 17 new films, including several high-profile titles from the Cannes Film Festival, and owns Hannover House, a book publisher and DVD distributor formed in 1993, with an active library of over 170 titles.
Learn more about Empire Film Group at www.empirefilmgroup.com
PHOTO WITH RELEASE: Pictured Left-to-Right, Empire Distribution CEO Eric Parkinson, War Eagle producer Vincent Insalaco, lead actor Dan McCabe and Empire President Fred Shefte pictured at the film's red-carpet premiere event, June 11, 2009.