Screen Gems To Release ALLIANCE ATLANTIS' The 51st State In The U.S.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2001

Action Comedy Starring Samuel L. Jackson And Robert

Carlyle To Be Released In 2002

Clint Culpepper, Executive VP, Acquisitions and Production Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures and Seaton McLean, President ALLIANCE ATLANTIS Motion Picture Production (NASDAQ:AACB) (TSE:AAC.A.) (TSE:AAC.B.), announced today that ALLIANCE ATLANTIS' action comedy The 51st State starring Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle, directed by Ronny Yu, is being released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Entertainment's Screen Gems.

The 51st State was financed by ALLIANCE ATLANTIS with the U.K.'s The Film Consortium. ALLIANCE ATLANTIS, the worldwide distributor of the film, has successfully completed distribution deals for The 51st State with leading international distributors including: Gaga in Japan, New World in Spain, Metropolitan in France, and Kinowelt in Germany. ALLIANCE ATLANTIS will release the film in Canada as well as through it's wholly owned subsidiary, Momentum Pictures, in the U.K.,

The 51st State is the story of Elmo McElroy (Jackson), a streetwise American master chemist, who heads to England to set up his last big deal - the introduction of a new designer drug to the European market. McElroy soon becomes embroiled in a web of double-dealing as he embarks on a wild ride in Liverpool's underworld and rave scene, escorted by rabid local hood Felix (Carlyle), who hates all things American.

Seaton McLean, President of ALLIANCE ATLANTIS Motion Picture Production and producer, stated: "We greenlit this film confident of the tremendous on-screen chemistry of Sam Jackson and Robert Carlyle, coupled with Ronny's exciting action direction. The result is a winning formula with world-wide appeal - confirmed by the enthusiasm of Columbia TriStar and our international distributors."

Shot on location in Liverpool in the U.K., in Los Angeles and Mexico, The 51st State co-stars some of the hottest British actors on screen including Emily Mortimer (Disney's The Kid), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, The Shipping News) Ricky Tomlinson (Cracker) and Sean Pertwee (Soldier, Event Horizon). Musician, singer and actor Meat Loaf (Fight Club, Crazy in Alabama) completes the line-up.

The film is produced by Andras Hamori, Seaton McLean and Jonathan Debin. The screenplay was written by Stel Pavlou. David Pupkewitz and Malcolm Kohll are producers, and Mark Aldridge is co-producer. Samuel L. Jackson is the executive producer with Artist Management Group's Eli Selden, Julie Yorn and Stephanie Davis. AMG clients include Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer and director Ronny Yu.

In addition to The 51st State, ALLIANCE ATLANTIS' current roster of films include Neil Jordan's Double Down starring Nick Nolte and Tcheky Karyo; Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chaykin and John Hurt; Word Traveler starring Billy Crudup and Julianne Moore from Bart Freundlich; Ararat from Atom Egoyan starring Charles Aznavour, Bruce Greenwood and Christopher Plummer; Claire's Hat from Bruce McDonald starring Juliette Lewis and Gina Gershon and Dirty Deeds from David Caesar starring Brian Brown, Toni Collette and John Goodman.

Screen Gems was established as a new marketing label under Sony Pictures Entertainment in December 1998. 2001 releases Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" and Gary Hardwick's "The Brothers." Screen Gems' upcoming releases include "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars," starring Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge; "Two Can Play That Game," starring Morris Chestnut and Vivica A. Fox, "Lone Star State of Mind"," starring Joshua Jackson and James King and "The Mothman Prophecies" starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney.

ALLIANCE ATLANTIS COMMUNICATIONS INC. is a leading vertically integrated broadcaster, creator and distributor of filmed entertainment with ownership interests in 18 specialty channels, including seven existing analog channels: Showcase, Life Network, History Television, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, Series+, Historia; seven new digital channels scheduled for launch in September 2001: Showcase Romance, Showcase Action, Independent Film Channel Canada (subject to CRTC approval), Discovery Health Channel, National Geographic Channel, BBC Canada, BBC Kids; and four specialty channels in which the Company has minority interests: Scream, The Score, Pride Vision and One: the Body, Mind and Spirit Channel.

The Company's principal business activities are conducted through three operating groups: Broadcast, Motion Picture and Television. Headquartered in Toronto, ALLIANCE ATLANTIS operates offices in Los Angeles, Edmonton, Montreal, Halifax, Shannon, London and Sydney. The Company's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange - trading symbols AAC.A, AAC.B and on NASDAQ - trading symbol AACB. The Company's Web site is www.allianceatlantis.com.