SeaWorld Picture's New Film "Turtle: The Incredible Journey" Debuts in U.S. Theaters Starting This Weekend

ORLANDO, Fla., June 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- This weekend, SeaWorld Pictures and Hannover House launch "Turtle: The Incredible Journey," an award-winning film that follows the life and migration of a loggerhead turtle from hatchling to maturity. The movie opens today in New York, Los Angeles and cities with SeaWorld parks (Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio), and is expected to expand to 50 markets and 300 to 400 theaters over the next two months.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110624/FL26064-a )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110624/FL26064-b )

Festivities to celebrate the launch included a star-studded "blue carpet" premiere and gala at SeaWorld San Diego for 700 VIP guests including 42 celebrities and professional athletes as well as SeaWorld's feathered, furry and finned friends. Bringing to life the film's mission of sea turtle conservation awareness, narrator Miranda Richardson and director Nick Stringer also assisted SeaWorld in returning to the ocean a rescued sea turtle that had undergone a 16-month rehabilitation at SeaWorld's rescue facility.

To create "Turtle: The Incredible Journey," Stringer's documentary team follows the loggerhead turtle on an adventure of more than 9,000 miles guided only by instinct. The loggerhead turtle, a threatened species, has one of the longest and most difficult migratory patterns of any marine animal: Sea turtles newly hatched on the East Coast of the United States (usually in Florida) make their way from the sand into the ocean, and then begin a voyage that can span the entire Atlantic Ocean, only to return decades later to that same beach. Stringer and his camera crew spent two years following loggerhead turtles on their trips across the ocean, and have captured on film the remarkable life cycle of a beautiful creature that struggles to survive in an increasingly unforgiving environment. The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Miranda Richardson, and will be released to theaters in both standard theatrical formats as well as 3D in selected locations. 

"Turtle: The Incredible Journey" opened the same week as SeaWorld San Diego's Turtle Reef, a new attraction that showcases this extraordinary species through a 300,000-gallon aquarium with a massive underwater viewing gallery, a touch-screen interactive tracking map and a new ride.

Initial theatrical markets and dates are listed below (note: subject to change; please check local listings).

June 24, 2011:

• New York
• Los Angeles
• San Diego
• Orlando
• San Antonio

July 1, 2011:

• Dallas/Ft. Worth
• Miami/Ft. Lauderdale
• Tampa/St. Petersburg
• Jacksonville
• Memphis
• NW Arkansas

July 8, 2011:

• Chicago
• Washington, D.C. - Baltimore, MD
• Philadelphia
• Boston
• San Francisco
• Atlanta
• Houston
• Seattle-Tacoma
• Sacramento
• Nashville

A complete listing of theaters, and the film's trailer, can be viewed on the film's official website:  www.Turtle-Film.com

HANNOVER HOUSE

Hannover House has been active in DVD distribution since 2002.  The company added theatrical distribution operations last year with the release of the documentary "Racing Dreams" and the thriller "Twelve" to theaters nationwide.  During 2011, Hannover House is scheduled to release eight films to theaters in America, with 36 titles slated for home video release.

SEAWORLD PICTURES

SeaWorld Pictures was formed in April 2011 to create and distribute original and partner-produced film content that advances the company's mission to "celebrate, connect and care for the natural world we share through the power of entertainment."  SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a portfolio company of The Blackstone Group, owns and operates 10 parks that play host to 23 million guests each year and employs 20,000 people nationwide.  A global leader in animal care and conservation, the company cares for more than 60,000 animals including 200 endangered or threatened species. They have rescued more than 18,000 orphaned, injured or ill animals over the past four decades and contributed more than $50 million to conservation, wildlife rescue and environmental stewardship programs worldwide. The company operates three SeaWorld parks; Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando, Adventure Island in Tampa, Water Country USA in Williamsburg and Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa. near Philadelphia.  

SOURCE SeaWorld Pictures