Madison, directed by William Bindley, has been scheduled to open wide in North America on several different dates, including August 23, October 25, 2002, and January 31, 2003. Finally, April 22, 2005. See updates, below. This independent film played at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and will be the first film distributed by The Premiere Marketing and Entertainment Group. In covering this festival, Variety tipped it as a strong contender for a prize. We believe it was shot during the late summer of 1999.   William Bindley This is William Bindley’s first feature film script, which he has written with his brother, Scott. He also serves this film as the director and producer. The story traces the path of a hydroplane driver, who drives Miss Madison to victory in the 1971 summer races held in Madison, Indiana. [ top ]   Character Jim McCormack From the IMDB, we can only say that “Madison” is... A story about a man’s personal struggle to victory in the 1971 Madison, Indiana hydro-plane regatta. From V April 19, 2002, quotes from a September 1999 trade release “Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line), Mary McCormack (Private Parts), Bruce Dern (The Haunting), and Brent Briscoe (A Simple Plan) join Jake Lloyd (Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace) in the pic about a dying Indiana river town that finds renewed hope in its chance to host a prestigious hydroplane boat race. “One resident in particular, (Caviezel) has always dreamed of piloting the community-owned ‘Miss Madison’ to victory in the Gold Cup race. The boat however, is badly in need of repair, especially if it is to compete against other corporate-sponsored entrants. “As the race draws near, the underdog seaman and his family (wife and son played by McCormack and Lloyd, respectively) learn lessons about fighting for honor, integrity and survival. Briscoe will play a crew member, and Dern a heroic boat mechanic.” We continue to look for more details, including some news coverage of the story, and of the adventures of the film company during filming on location in Madison. [ top ]   Reviews and Interviews Added April 29, 2002 We found the Sundance 2001 review. Added April 17, 2005 From the Chicago Sun Times, an interview that reveals Mr Caviezel’s motivation to make this film. Added April 22, 2005 From a newspaper close to Mr Caviezel’s hometown, where noise boats thrive, this interview that covers not only his work in this film, but a little background about why he choses the films that he does. Added August 5, 2005 Although the interview [from April 2005] centers around Mr Caviezel’s affection for certain music, and includes comments about listening to it during filming of ‘Passion’, he also talks about his work on this film. Particularly doing his own stunt driving. Added August 12, 2005 Rogert Ebert waxes on about why filmed stories set in small towns in Indiana offer hope to the human spirit. In this piece, he reflects on this movie and its cast and how they make the dream come to life. [ top ]   Pre-release Tidbits From V April 17, 2002 Creative Union Entertainment (CUE) agreed in February to pick up international distribution rights for “Madison.” We have no international opening dates...yet. As of May 1, we understand there are rumours about delays in the published release date. We’ll share whatever details we can confirm. Added May 4, 2002 "Madison" scheduled to close Maryland Film Festival on May 5, 2002. Added May 6, 2002 Of the movie, Chris Kaltenbach, Sun Movie Critic writing about the festival includes this note. “As part of its mission to spotlight movies deserving greater recognition than they’ve received thus far, [the festival] is closing with Madison. “This is just one of those films that was a hit at Sundance a year ago, then looked like it might fall through the cracks, but now looks like it’s going to get a major studio release,” says MMF major domo Jed Deitz. “We wanted to be one of the forces that helped it along.” William Bindley presented the film at the festival. Updated May 12, 2002 In reviewing all the summer movie lists, including today’s The New York Times, Premier, Entertainment Weekly, we find no mention of “Madison”. Although UpcomingMovies.com notes a push back into Fall 2002, we cannot confirm an official new release date. From HS May 17, 2002, Second Update “Madison” due to premier at the IMAX screen on May 24 as part of the Indy 500 festivities. From Christine N. Waltner May 20, 2002, moved to this page June 10, 2002 “On May 14th Jim Caviezel brought his movie ‘Madison’ to [Kennedy] High School in Seattle, Washington. This is the second movie he has shown to us, the first being "The Count of Monte Cristo". Mr. Caviezel graduated [from Kennedy] in 1987, and feels that his faith [was] fostered there. “The movie is based on the Miss Madison hydroplane, and the winning driver Jim McCormick. It is an excellent family film. After the movie Mr. Caviezel opened up the floor for questions. Many were asked and he showed a humorous side that many would not know about from his dramatic acting. “Most questions were about the celebrities [he has] met, his favorite movies, and a few prom invitations.” Added May 21, 2002 We found a non-official write-up about the delay of the “Madison” to a fall release. Added May 28, 2002 According to Mark Fauser (entry dated May 21), who also plays a role in the film, “Madison” is now scheduled to open October 25, 2002. Mark reminds us: Nor is this date set in stone.... Added May 30, 2002 Variety lists October 25, 2002 as the release date for “Madison”, noting that this date is for wide release. Added July 4, 2002 From RH, we understand that “Madison” will be shown during a benefit for the Madison Regatta and Miss Madison Racing, Inc. in Madison, Indiana sometime before its wide release. Tony Steinhardt, President of Madison Regatta indicated that Mr Caviezel is expected to attend. No date is available yet. Added August 29, 2002 We’ve read the Dark Horizons note that “Madison” has been pushed back to a January release, but cannot confirm that, nor can we confirm a date in January. On another note, Jeffrey Sparks, leader of the Heartland Film Festival (where “Madison” played last year), describes his festival in Variety as one that showcases ‘truly moving pictures’. Rather a nice notion, we believe. Added September 1, 2002 Carl Amari, Executive Producer, passed along details to us about “Madison” being pushed back in the MGM and Premier Marketing and Distribution schedule to January 31, 2003. Added September 10, 2002, thanx to RH The Madison Courier published an update about the new campaign around the new January release date for “Madison”. Added December 20, 2002 As you may know from watching previews at your neighborhood theatre for upcoming movies, we have not seen trailers for “Madison”. This probably signals another delay from the January 2003 date. We understand the buzz now is that Artisan is close to picking up the film for a late summer distribution. As we get more news, we’ll post it for you. Added January 15, 2003 It doesn’t seem to be a mystery any more that “Madison” will not open on January 31, 2003. We continue to follow the Artisan buzz, and in addition, Greg’s Previews recently published other speculation about MGM and Premier as distribution possibilities. Again, we’ll post any news as we get it. Added February 6, 2003 From yet another source, we understand that “Madison” has been pushed to August, because that’s a good time for this kind of movie. We have no confirmation of that detail or who will distribute it, but we continue to look for firm data. Added February 25, 2003 Confirming what we’ve heard since late December, it seems that other sources are now seriously promoting Artisan as the distributor. We also watch “Madison” on the Hollywood Stock Exchange, and it has moved up smartly twice in the past few days. While these are all good signs, we’re still awaiting official word. Added March 9, 2003 Variety published a note today confirming Artisan as the distributor of “Madison” with no release date connected to the announcement. This is good news. We expect a release date to follow soon. Added March 25, 2003 We have some early reports that Artisan has scheduled the release date during the first part of August, 2003. Variety lists the release date as August 3, 2003. Added May 1, 2003 Variety again lists the release date as August 3, 2003, in their story today about Artisan’s carving off a stake for auction. “Madison” is featured in the story as “...a Jim Caviezel-toplined actioner”. Note  [We also trust that between that site and this site, we are not creating a circular frenzy, since thanks! they publish some kind words about our work and offer two! links. ed.] Added July 3, 2003 Looks like we’re up to yet another race for the real Miss Madison on Sunday without the release of this film. Still no official word about an August date on any release calendar we can find. Added July 19, 2003, updated August 28, 2003 A glimmer of a release date together with an expected release date for a corresponding book about ‘Madison’: August 29th, it says. Read into the following section to learn more about the book. Alas, we fear no August release in 2003 for the film. Added February 10, 2004 In an interview about his upcoming work [the interview is about ‘Passion’], Mr Caviezel mentions that ‘Madison’ is due for an August 2004 release from (he believes) MGM. Added March 5, 2004 Whew, it looks like we might be getting closer to a more real release date in August 2004. Added March 22, 2004, thanks to MW, restored July 7, 2004 From the Evansville Courier Press, a nice background article about this film. [ top ]   Release Added December 26, 2004 ‘Double Whew’—OK, now you’ve started it. FilmJerk.com speculates that MGM has set a wide release date for April 22, 2005. I guess we’ll believe it when we see it, eh? Added February 15, 2005 Don Ward, a friend of the site, details new release information around the April 22 date. As well, ‘Madison’ is listed in the Entertainment Weekly upcoming spring movie guide with the note about it being ‘just about the best movie about the [hydroplane racing] sport ever seen.’ If you have a chance to see this film in a theatre, we encourage you to do so. Added March 14, 2005 The Indianapolis Star informed us that the premier for this film was planned for Madison, Indiana, on April 16, 2005; Mr C was expected to attend. We have the Madison Courier article. Added March 29, 2005 You can find new promotional material in advance of the film’s release (click ‘About the Film’ or ‘Click to Play’, thanks to our friends at FUSEBOX Media. Also, Ron Harsin, friend of the site and author of the book about the movie (see above), writes to tell us about a few of the plans for the premier in Madison, Indiana. A star will be installed in front of the Ohio Theatre, where the film will premier. This is a second star, the first commemorates the filming of “Some Came Running”, circa 1956 in and around the same geography. Ron and his co-author, Fred Farley, will be across the street from the theatre during the festivities signing copies of their book about the movie. You may be able to catch their interviews on national radio and television (USA) after the film is released. [We highly recommend this book. ed.] The theatre will play the film all day April 17, for anyone who wants to see it. [ top ]   General Tidbits Added May 1, 2002 You can explore this site, which apparently grew up around the filming of “Madison”. In advance of the opening day for this film, you can visit the official Madison Regatta site to learn more about this event. The Madison, Indiana regatta is scheduled in 2002 to be driven on the 4th of July holiday weekend in America, July 5-7. Explore the regatta site for an announcement by them of the opening of “Madison”, in the context of their community. Added May 17, 2002 We found an informative site where you can read more about the history of developing “Madison” and the decision by Mr Caviezel to accept the lead role. Added May 19, 2002. Second Link Added May 23, 2002 More details from Mr Caviezel about making “Madison” that he made available at the Heartland Film Festival last October. And details from Mr Caviezel and from Bindley offered in the same venue and written by a different reporter. Added May 31, 2002 We found some informative background detail about the hydroplanes used in “Madison”, and about the driver double for Mr Caviezel. Added August 28, 2003, thanks to RH, updated September 5, 2003, thanks to JPK, updated March 29, 2005 thanks to RH We received a wonderful note from the co-author of “Madison—Hydroplane Heritage”, Ron Harsin, who with Fred Farley wrote what appears to be a lovely book about hydroplane racing and the Madison event that offers very deep background for the film and the sport. In part, he writes: “Fred and I have a book signing to release the book on Main Street in Madison, Indiana this Saturday (Aug. 30th) at 2:00 p.m. and then the book will be released officially nationwide on Sept. 1st. The book can be purchased through any bookstore, or directly from our publisher. More information and ordering information can be located at our publishers website: http://www.bfpbooks.com/485.htm [expired] http://www.westcottcovepublishing.com The book contains some behind-the-scenes photos of the movie being filmed and tells the story on which the movie is based. [ top ]   FAQ Question Where can I find the official site? Answer Here is the official site for “Madison”. [ top ] Photo courtesy of Box Office Prophets