Corona | Coming Attractions

Disneynature had a pleasant inaugural launch for its first film Earth this past Wednesday when the movie opened to a nice-sized mid-week tally of $4,023,788. Add another $1.6 million to Earth's box office from its Thursday screenings and the film is entering its first weekend of release with $5.6 million in ticket sales already.

The North American premiere of Disneynature's first film Earth will take place on Saturday, April 18 at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, CA. Along with the movie's filmmakers and celebrities assembled, marine artist Wyland will also be in attendance to unveil a newly created 4,000-square-foot painting to honor this year's Earth Day.

The Motion Picture Association of America has issued a rating of G, general audiences, for Earth.

The Walt Disney Studios issued a press release today promoting its upcoming feature-length documentary Earth, set for release on Earth Day 2009 (April 22). This will be the first movie released under the company new production arm, Disneynature. Directed by Alastair Fothergill (Planet Earth, The Blue Planet) and co-directed by Mark Linfield, the movie will be narrated by James Earl Jones. The film is a co-production between BBC Worldwide and Greenlight Media.

"At Disneynature, we will work with the world's greatest documentary filmmakers to show audiences the beauty and drama of nature," said Jean-Francois Camilleri, who will be heading up the new Disneynature arm from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (France). "In addition to providing compelling entertainment that audiences of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy, we also hope to raise awareness of the many ways that everyone and anyone can do their part to help our planet."

"This is especially exciting because, thanks to the wide-ranging appeal of Disney, we can expect Earth to be seen by the broadest possible audience," added Alastair Fothergill. Disney has been an inspiration to wildlife documentarians for generations and it's a genuine thrill to advance this extraordinary legacy under this new label."

Nikolaus Weil, from Greenlight Media said, "We're thrilled to be working with Jean-Francois and his team at Disneynature, along with the entire Disney organization, in bringing this groundbreaking nature documentary to the big screen." Martyn Freeman, for BBCW explains, "Earth captures some of the rarest and most beautiful imagery of the planet ever photographed by a team of the world's top cinematographers. Audiences will get to see their planet in an exciting new way, and experiencing it in a theater will add to the enormous importance and impact of the subject matter."