Benicio Del Toro's “Escobar: Paradise Lost” gets release date

PanARMENIAN.Net - Radius has set a June 26 U.S. release of Benicio Del Toro starrer “Escobar: Paradise Lost” in two dozen markets, Variety reports.

The film was originally scheduled to open Jan. 16. “Escobar,” the directorial debut of Italian actor Andrea Di Stefano, combines the true story of Colombia’s drug king Pablo Escobar with a love story between a young Canadian surfer, played by “Hunger Games” star Josh Hutcherson, and Escobar’s niece (Claudia Traisac).

The film received positive notices at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. “Escobar” “offers an odd mix of action movie, romantic melodrama and cautionary traveler’s tale, which works better than it should thanks to Del Toro’s fascinating performance and Di Stefano’s assured, muscular helming,” said Variety’s Scott Foundas in his Telluride review.

Escobar died in a shootout in 1993. Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp announced at Cannes that it was developing an Escobar biopic with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz starring.

Radius will open “Escobar” in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Memphis, Phoenix, Tulsa and Washington, D.C. The VOD release date has not been set.