The Wagner/Cuban Companies’ Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired North American rights to WONDERFUL WORLD starring Matthew Broderick. Produced by Glenn Williamson, Miranda Bailey and Matt Leutwyler, financed by Ambush Entertainment, WONDERFUL WORLD is the directorial debut of Josh Goldin, writer of Darkman, another Matthew Broderick vehicle Out on a Limb, as well as the script for WONDERFUL WORLD. Magnolia will release WONDERFUL WORLD on VOD platforms one month prior to its theatrical release as part of its Ultra VOD program, aiming for a theatrical release in early 2010.
In this sometimes moving dark comedy, Broderick plays Ben—a failed children’s folk singer and less-than-extraordinary weekend dad. Deeply cynical, Ben’s sole pleasure in life is derived from chess games with his Senegalese roommate Ibou. When Ibou is suddenly struck ill and an insensitive municipal employee exacerbates the emergency situation, Ben’s pessimistic worldview seems unequivocally confirmed. But when Ibou’s sister Khadi takes his place in their apartment, what starts as an awkward living arrangement becomes something more, and Ben finds that cynicism may be all a matter of perspective.
