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 Heroes Assemble at 2012 GI Film Festival for Advanced Screening of Universal Pictures’ Battleship

GIFF to Host Screening During Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night, May 17, Washington, DC

Contact:  D’Ann Long – 951-315-6534, cell; or Laura Law-Millett – 800-928-6307, ext. 101

Washington, DC – Friday, April 20, 2012 – The award-winning GI Film Festival, the nation’s only military film festival, announced today that the 2012 festival will feature an advanced screening of Universal Pictures’ Battleship. The screening will take place on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at the E Street Theater in Washington, DC, the night before Battleship will be released in theaters nationwide.

Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night celebrates American military heroes who are working to successfully overcome and adapt to life after being injured during their service. Their presence that night will honor the founding spirit of the GI Film Festival.

In summer 2012, the battle for Earth begins at sea.

Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) directs and produces Battleship, an epic-scale action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.

Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lieutenant Alex Hopper, a naval weapons officer assigned to USS John Paul Jones; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of USS Sampson; global music superstar Rihanna, making her motion-picture debut as Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, Hopper’s fiancée and a physical therapist specializing in the rehabilitation of military combat veterans; Tadanobu Asano, as Captain Yugi Nagata, Commanding Officer of the Japanese destroyer Myoko and Hopper’s archrival; and Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane, Commander of the Pacific Fleet.

In his professional acting debut, U.S. Army Colonel Gregory D. Gadson, a battalion leader who lost both legs in Iraq in 2007, plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales—an Army combat veteran and double amputee who begins his recovery just as the alien attack begins.

Inspired by Hasbro’s classic naval-combat game, Battleship is produced by Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir of Hasbro (the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises), Scott Stuber (Safe House, Couples Retreat), Film 44’s Sarah Aubrey (The Kingdom), along with Duncan Henderson (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Perfect Storm). The action-adventure is written by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber (Red).  www.battleshipmovie.com

“We are so flattered that the GI Film Festival has chosen Battleship to screen on its Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night,” said Brad Mendelson, Vice President of Theatrical Publicity, Universal Pictures. “The film celebrates the strength and honor of our nation’s finest, and we hope the attendees enjoy the sneak peek on this very special evening.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to present this high-adrenaline action film to our audience before it hits theaters nationwide,” said Brandon Millett, President of the GI Film Festival. “We couldn’t be more excited to show off one of the summer’s hottest films.”

“We are excited to welcome local heroes to the screening as special guests. We all love the dramatic heroics and fantastic special effects of movies like Battleship, but when it really counts, it’s our real-life heroes who make the world a better place every day,” said GI Film Festival Executive Director Laura Law-Millett.

For more information on the Battleship screening, click here, or visit www.gifilmfestival.com/Film_Screenings-detail/battleship/

The GI Film Festival is a 501 c(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to sharing the military experience in and out of the arena of war. The GIFF is the only film festival in the nation to exclusively celebrate the successes and sacrifices of the service member through the medium of film. Review the festival’s 2012 schedule now, and start planning your visit.

GI Film Festival 2012 – reel stories, real heroes.

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