Sony Classics sets new fall date for Michael Covino’s ‘The Climb’
(l-r): Gayle Rankin as Marissa, Kyle Marvin as Kyle, Michael Angelo Covino as Mike
(Zach Kuperstein/Sony Pictures Classics)
Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they will now release Michael Covino’s The Climb in New York and Los Angeles theaters on October 9, 2020, with additional cities to follow. Written by Covino and Kyle Marvin, The Climb stars Covino, Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche. The film was original slated for a March 20th release but was postponed due to COVID-19 Stay-At-Home orders.
Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond—until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. The Climb is about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.
Review: Michael Angelo Covino’s ‘The Climb’ is pitch-perfect buddy comedy
The film premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where Covino was the winner of the Un Certain Regard – Jury Coup de Coeur prize. The Climb went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. The film’s screening and Q&A at Sundance was simulcast live across ten cinemas across the U.S., in an innovative partnership with the Sundance Institute and Trafalgar Releasing.
Topic Studios (Leave No Trace, Spotlight) produced and financed the film. Producers are Noah Lang, Michael Covino and Kyle Marvin. Executive Producers are Michael Bloom, Ryan Heller Adam Pincus and Gilda Moratti.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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