Cult gang life epic The Wanderers getting 2K re-release

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Kino Lorber has announced the limited theatrical release of a new 2K restoration of Philip Kaufman’s 1979 cult favorite The Wanderers this November, with screenings in New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

Based on the acclaimed first novel by Richard Price (The Night Of), Kaufman’s The Wanderers follows the exploits of the titular Italian-American gang from the Bronx in 1963, just before America underwent profound change. Part comedy and part drama, the film is an evocative and thrilling look back at a different time.

The cult classic features a jukebox full of golden oldies and a young cast of up and comers including Ken Wahl (Wiseguy), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Linda Manz (Days of Heaven), and co-stars John Friedrich, Toni Kalem, Alan Rosenberg, Jim Youngs, Tony Ganios, Dolph Sweet, Michael Wright, Val Avery, Olympia Dukakis and Erland van Lidth de Jeude.

The Wanderers was adapted and directed by Oscar-nominee Philip Kaufman, whose career spans 13 films and more than 50 years, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Henry & June.

The idea to make a film from Price’s novel began when the book was brought to Kaufman’s attention by his son. Kaufman was struck by the book’s colorful characters and sense of time and place in depicting early ’60s New York, and, with his wife Rose, immediately began turning it into a screenplay.

“It was a dream of a time that was no more, a remembrance of a teenage urban yore, an idyll filled with angst, haunted by music seared into the brain. And it was written with a fast-beating heart and oozing glandular secretions; it was painful, scary, tragic, and funny as hell,” recalled Kaufman.

Despite resistance from the studios in getting the film produced, Kaufman persevered, re-writing the script and striving to capture the larger-than-life characters and vivid sense of period detail that Price had conveyed so well in his book. Kaufman successfully created a film of striking visual style and period texture, which was achieved with a talented production team including cinematographer Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), costume designer Robert De Mora, and production designer John Jay Moore.

Although not initially a success at the box office, over the years The Wanderers has gone on to achieve worldwide acclaim and enduring status as a cult classic, including a fan club that meets each year during the Telluride Film Festival, wearing replica Wanderers jackets, singing along with the film’s Oldies soundtrack and reciting all of the dialogue.

Kino Lorber brings The Wanderers back to theaters in this new 2K restoration for a new generation of audiences, and looking better than ever before for long-time fans.

Check out the official re-release trailer for The Wanderers, below.

Here’s the current list of cinemas scheduled to screen The Wanderers:

  • Wisconsin Cinematheque
    Madison, WI
    March 6, 2017
  • Brattle Theatre
    Cambridge, MA
    January 4 – January 5, 2017
  • Jean Cocteau Cinema
    Santa Fe, NM
    December 30, 2016 – January 5, 2017
  • Denver Film Society
    Denver, CO
    December 16 – December 22, 2016
  • Webster University Film Series
    St. Louis, MO
    December 16 – December 18, 2016
  • TIFF Bell Lightbox
    Toronto, ON
    December 10, 2016
  • Landmark Ritz at the Bourse
    Philadelphia, PA
    December 9, 2016
  • Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers
    Yonkers, NY
    December 6 – December 7, 2016
  • Film Forum
    New York, NY
    December 4-5, December 19
  • Cable Car Cinema
    Providence, RI
    December 4, 2016
  • Landmark Ken Cinema
    San Diego, CA
    December 3, 2016
  • Alamo Vintage Park
    Houston, TX
    November 30, 2016
  • AFI Silver Theatre
    Silver Spring, MD
    November 26-27, November 29
  • Northwest Film Forum
    Seattle, WA
    November 25-27, November 30
  • Coral Gables Art Cinema
    Coral Gables, FL
    November 22, 2016
  • Cinestudio
    Hartford, CT
    November 20 – November 23, 2016
  • Alamo Ritz
    Austin, TX
    November 20, November 23
  • Hollywood Theatre
    Portland, OR
    November 18, 2016
  • Cinefamily
    Los Angeles, CA
    November 17 – November 18, 2016
  • Rafael Film Center
    San Rafael, CA
    November 13, 2016
  • Alamo Drafthouse New Mission
    San Francisco, CA
    November 10 – November 17, 2016