SHOWTIME(R) CELEBRATES 20th ANNIVERSARY OF U2's "ACHTUNG BABY"
Network Acquires Highly-Anticipated Documentary
FROM THE SKY DOWN, The Making of "Achtung Baby"
U.S. Premiere Saturday, October 29th at 8 PM ET/PT
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 06, 2011) - After reaching dizzying heights from The Joshua Tree album, U2 could have lost themselves in their own success. Instead, they retreated to a studio in Germany and ardently went about reinventing themselves. The result was 1991's Achtung Baby, a chart-topping tour-de-force. The process of creating the acclaimed album is the subject of Academy Award(R) winner Davis Guggenheim's ("An Inconvenient Truth") latest documentary FROM THE SKY DOWN, premiering on SHOWTIME on Saturday, October 29th at 8 PM ET/PT. Additionally, the film has been selected to premiere at the Opening Night Gala for the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, September 8th.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the album's release, the film relives this critical turning point in U2's career and also their relationships as band mates. New interviews and never-before-seen footage from Berlin and Dublin highlight the behind-the-scenes highs and lows of producing the band's seventh studio album.
Guggenheim is the only filmmaker to release three films ("An Inconvenient Truth," "It Might Get Loud," and "Waiting for 'Superman'") that are ranked among the top 100 highest-grossing documentaries of all time. He is best known for directing the 2006 blockbuster, Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," featuring former Vice President Al Gore. In 2010, he directed the Sundance Film Festival hit "Waiting for 'Superman,'" which took home the Best U.S. Documentary Audience Award, followed by the Gotham Festival Genius Award, the PGA Award, Critics' Choice Award and the National Board of Review Award. On the music front, Guggenheim's critically-acclaimed "It Might Get Loud," released in 2009, features the diverse recording styles of renowned guitarists Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and Jack White.
FROM THE SKY DOWN is a 2011 Documentary Partners Inc. Production. It is produced by Ted Skillman, Belisa Balaban, and Davis Guggenheim; Paul McGuinness serves as executive producer. CAA brokered the deal on behalf of Universal Music and represents Guggenheim.
FROM THE SKY DOWN is one of two SHOWTIME music documentaries that have been selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival this year: the other is the previously announced feature documentary THE LOVE WE MAKE from Maysles Films Inc., chronicling Paul McCartney's cathartic journey through New York City in the aftermath of September 11th.
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