ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Extraordinary Measures
Starring: Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, JaredHarris, Courtney B. Vance
Directed by: Tom Vaughan
Written by: Robert Nelson Jacobs
MPAA rating: rated "PG" for thematic material, language and amild suggestive moment
Opening Date: Friday, 1/22/10 (wide)
Website: http://extraordinarymeasuresthemovie.com
Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford and Keri Russell star in "Extraordinary Measures" for CBS Films. The project, which wrapped principal photography in mid-June 2009, was the first film to go into production for CBS Films. Ford is also executive producer on the project. Tom Vaughan ("Starter for 10," "What Happens in Vegas") is directing. In the tradition of great inspirational dramas like the Academy Award nominated film "Erin Brockovich" and "The Pursuit of Happyness," "Extraordinary Measures" is inspired by the true story of John Crowley, a man who defied conventional wisdom and great odds, and risked his family's future to pursue a cure for his children's life threatening disease. From his working class roots, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) has finally begun to taste success in corporate America. Supported by his beautiful wife Aileen (Keri Russell) and their three children, John is on the fast track. But just as his career is taking off, Crowley walks away from it all when his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with a fatal disease. With Aileen by his side, harnessing all of his skill and determination, Crowley teams up with a brilliant, but unappreciated and unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford).
Together they form a bio-tech company focused on developing a life-saving drug. One driven to prove himself and his theories, the other by a chance to save his children, this unlikely alliance eventually develops into mutual respect as they battle the medical and business establishments in a fight against the system - and time. But, at the last minute, when it appears that a solution has been found, the relationship between the two men faces a final test - the outcome of which will affect the fate of John's children.
About Harrison Ford:
Over the course of his career, Harrison Ford has become one of the most popularly acclaimed actors of our time. His body of work includes 41 feature films, eleven of which have exceeded $100 million each at the box office. Through his starring roles in such cinematic blockbusters as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, The Fugitive, Air Force One and Patriot Games, he has come to embody the quintessential American hero for moviegoers around the world.
An Oscar and Golden Globe nominee for his performance in the suspense thriller Witness (1985), Ford also earned Golden Globe nominations for his starring roles in Sabrina (1995), The Fugitive (1993), and The Mosquito Coast (1986). The National Association of Theatre Owners named him Star of the Century in 1994. People Magazine picked Ford as "The Sexiest Man Alive" in 1998 and that same year, he won the People's Choice Award as Favorite Motion Picture Actor. In 1999, he won the People's Choice Award as Favorite All Time Movie Star and, again, in 2000 they named him Favorite Motion Picture Actor. Also in the year 2000, he received the prestigious Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 2002, the Golden Globes honored him with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Born in Chicago, Ford attended Ripon College in Wisconsin before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He began as a contract player with Columbia Pictures, making his film debut in the crime drama Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966).
In 1973, after a three-year hiatus from the screen, George Lucas cast him in American Graffiti, which sparked the initial relationship that lead to his casting as the cocky rebel starship pilot Han Solo in Star Wars (1977), the film that shattered all box office records and made Ford a household name. He went on to star in Hanover Street (1978) and The Frisco Kid (1979), and had cameo roles in Apocalypse Now (1979) and More American Graffiti (1979), before being cast by Steven Spielberg as intrepid adventurer Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The movie became another of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Between the Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) and the Raiders sequels Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Ford starred in a number of other memorable films. In Blade Runner (1982), he delivered a gritty performance as a cop in the nihilistic future of L.A. He earned critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his role as a cop on the lam, hiding out in Amish country, in Witness (1985). Ford followed that with starring roles in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Frantic (1988) and Working Girl (1988).
Throughout the 1990's and 2000's, Ford continued forging strong roles in films, such as the heroic ex-CIA agent Jack Ryan in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), a doctor wrongly convicted of murdering his wife in The Fugitive (1993), a deeply committed New York City cop in The Devil's Own (1997) and President James Marshall in Air Force One (1997). Some of Ford's other credits include Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), What Lies Beneath (2000), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).
Strongly committed to environmental concerns, Ford is actively involved in a number of conservation groups and has participated in numerous Public Service Announcements. He has received numerous awards for this work.
With his enthusiasm for flying and being an avid pilot, Ford has served as Chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Young Eagles Program since March 2004, teaching children about flying. He has flown several hundred children in his De Havilland Beaver plane. In January 2009, he was honored with a Living Legends of Aviation Legacy Award for his commitment to aviation.
