Press Releases

NEW YORK, NY (June 18, 2025) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired North American and worldwide airline rights to James Vanderbilt’s NUREMBERG from Walden Media and Bluestone Entertainment. The film, written and directed by Vanderbilt and produced by Walden Media, Bluestone Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment, is a thrilling drama set in post-war Germany based on the book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” by Jack El-Hai. NUREMBERG stars Academy Award© Winner Russell Crowe (GLADIATOR), Academy Award© Winner Rami Malek (BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY), and Academy Award© Nominee Michael Shannon (NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD). Rounding out the all-star cast are Richard E. Grant (SALTBURN), Leo Woodall (BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY, “One Day”), John Slattery (“Mad Men,” SPOTLIGHT), Mark O’Brien (READY OR NOT, ARRIVAL), Colin Hanks (“Fargo,” KING KONG), Lydia Peckham (KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES), Wrenn Schmidt (“For All Mankind”), Lotte Verbeek (“Outlander”), and Andreas Pietschmann (“Dark,” “1899”). The film will be released in theaters nationwide on November 7, 2025, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Trials.   

NUREMBERG chronicles the true story of the eponymous trials held by the Allies against the defeated Nazi regime. The film centers on American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Malek), who is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their war crimes and finds himself in a complex battle of wits with Hermann Göring (Crowe), Hitler’s right-hand man.   

The film is produced by Richard Saperstein, Bradley J. Fischer, James Vanderbilt, William Sherak, and Walden Media’s Frank Smith, Benjamin Tappan, and Cherilyn Hawrysh, along with István Major of Filmsquad and George Freeman. Executive producers include Jack El-Hai, Brooke Saperstein, Annie Saperstein, Beau Turpin, W. Porter Payne, Jr., Paul Neinstein, and Széchenyi Funds Géza Deme and Tamás Hajnal.    

The Academy Award© winning and nominated below the line HOD’s includes: DOP, Dariusz Wolski (THE CROW, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE MARTIAN), Production Designer, Eve Stewart (THE DANISH GIRL, LES MISÉRABLES, THE KING’S SPEECH), Costume Designer, Bartholomew Cariss (CHURCHILL), Hair/Make-Up, Jan Sewell (BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, TETRIS), Editor, Tom Eagles (JOJO RABBIT) and Casting Director, John Papsidera (OPPENHEIMER, “Yellowstone”).  

“I am beyond thrilled to be reuniting with Michael and Tom and the whole Sony Pictures Classics team, who ten years ago took a chance on me as a first-time director, and whose legacy of championing great films makes them an incredible partner,” said writer-director James Vanderbilt.  “NUREMBERG explores the fragile boundary between justice and vengeance in the aftermath of unimaginable atrocity. As we approach the 80th anniversary of this unprecedented moment in history, this story feels more urgent than ever, and I can’t wait for audiences to see it on the big screen.”   

“Written and directed by James Vanderbilt, Nuremberg is a major work, a riveting subject, even more relevant today, that will speak to audiences of all ages. Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Rami Malek, and Leo Woodall are all at their career best here. Nuremberg will be a standout in theaters this Fall,” added Sony Pictures Classics.  

James Vanderbilt previously wrote and directed TRUTH, starring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford. He also wrote ZODIAC for David Fincher for which he was nominated for a WGA award. He has written and produced over 20 films.      

The film is financed by Bluestone Entertainment, Walden Media, and Széchenyi Funds (Budapest, Hungary). Mythology Entertainment developed the project for over a decade after first acquiring the underlying rights to El-Hai’s original article and book in 2011. WME Independent represented the worldwide rights to the film and negotiated the deal with Sony Pictures Classics on behalf of the filmmakers.    

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992—which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.  Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 42 Academy Awards® (38 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 190 Academy Award® nominations (164 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for I’M STILL HERE, THE FATHER, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, WHIPLASH, AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.   

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services. http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html