

Munro Film has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to R.J. Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles starring Matthew Modine.
Modine stars as a coach of a group of incarcerated youngsters at a correctional school in Colorado, who he teaches to work together on a gruelling bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
Sean Astin, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams and Leslie David Baker star alongside Modine. Munro Film has set a UK-Ireland theatrical release for May 31, 2024.
The film played the US festival circuit in 2023, winning the People’s Choice Award at Denver International Film Festival. It is written by Hanna and Christian Sander,...
Modine stars as a coach of a group of incarcerated youngsters at a correctional school in Colorado, who he teaches to work together on a gruelling bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
Sean Astin, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams and Leslie David Baker star alongside Modine. Munro Film has set a UK-Ireland theatrical release for May 31, 2024.
The film played the US festival circuit in 2023, winning the People’s Choice Award at Denver International Film Festival. It is written by Hanna and Christian Sander,...
- 5/10/2024
- ScreenDaily

by Chad Kennerk
Jackson Kelly, Damien Diaz, and Zachary T. Robbins in Hard Miles. All images courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment / Pensé Productions
Directed by Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna and co-written by Hanna and producer Christian Sander, Hard Miles highlights the vast landscape of the American West and the depth of the human spirit. Handsomely shot on location across the Sierra Nevada, the Navajo Nation, Utah, Colorado, and Grand Canyon National Park, Hard Miles tells the uplifting true story of Coloradan Greg Townsend and Rite of Passage’s Ridge View Academy bicycling team. In the film, social worker Greg Townsend (Matthew Modine) assembles a motley crew of troubled teens for a (nearly) 1,000-mile transformative bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. Along with the reasoned judgement of fellow social worker Haddie (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams), Townsend leads the boys on a cross-country journey that challenges them to discover...
Jackson Kelly, Damien Diaz, and Zachary T. Robbins in Hard Miles. All images courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment / Pensé Productions
Directed by Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna and co-written by Hanna and producer Christian Sander, Hard Miles highlights the vast landscape of the American West and the depth of the human spirit. Handsomely shot on location across the Sierra Nevada, the Navajo Nation, Utah, Colorado, and Grand Canyon National Park, Hard Miles tells the uplifting true story of Coloradan Greg Townsend and Rite of Passage’s Ridge View Academy bicycling team. In the film, social worker Greg Townsend (Matthew Modine) assembles a motley crew of troubled teens for a (nearly) 1,000-mile transformative bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. Along with the reasoned judgement of fellow social worker Haddie (Cynthia Kaye McWilliams), Townsend leads the boys on a cross-country journey that challenges them to discover...
- 4/19/2024
- by Chad Kennerk
- Film Review Daily

Nathan Zellner and David Zellner’s Sasquatch Sunset is stomping into circa 850 theaters this weekend after debuting in 9 with a solid opening for a film many could find weird. A tribe of Sasquatch, possibly the last of their kind, live and love in the woods of northern California, where it was shot.
“We are taking Bigfoot to America. We have high hopes that the broader market will embrace the movie,” says Kyle Davies of distributor Bleecker Street, calling it “a very different” kind of movie and “a bit of an unknown.”
“It’s a wildcard.”
Marketing was mainly through social activations. “I wouldn’t call it traditional marketing. It doesn’t really fit in that box,” Davies adds. The Sasquatch standees in theaters are fun. And Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar is displaying a baby Sasquatch sitting in a glass case with umbilical cord and placenta.
This is “a polarizing film.
“We are taking Bigfoot to America. We have high hopes that the broader market will embrace the movie,” says Kyle Davies of distributor Bleecker Street, calling it “a very different” kind of movie and “a bit of an unknown.”
“It’s a wildcard.”
Marketing was mainly through social activations. “I wouldn’t call it traditional marketing. It doesn’t really fit in that box,” Davies adds. The Sasquatch standees in theaters are fun. And Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar is displaying a baby Sasquatch sitting in a glass case with umbilical cord and placenta.
This is “a polarizing film.
- 4/19/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV

A grueling two-pedal route to the Grand Canyon just might provide the course-correction male juvenile offenders need in “Hard Miles.” With Matthew Modine as their teacher-coach, this fact-inspired tale covers familiar redemptive sports drama terrain. But it’s traveled with affectingly understated assurance by director R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Miss Virginia”) and a strong cast, making for a satisfying scenic ride that picked up several festival audience awards last year.
In a film loosely based on the life and work of his character’s offscreen namesake, Modine plays avid cyclist Greg Townsend, welding instructor at a medium-security correctional residential school in Colorado. That job environment is no picnic, given volatile students who can go from bantering to insults to fistfights in a flash. Plus he’s got his own demons to wrestle with — there are flashbacks to an abused childhood, and phone calls from an incarcerated brother keep urging Greg to...
In a film loosely based on the life and work of his character’s offscreen namesake, Modine plays avid cyclist Greg Townsend, welding instructor at a medium-security correctional residential school in Colorado. That job environment is no picnic, given volatile students who can go from bantering to insults to fistfights in a flash. Plus he’s got his own demons to wrestle with — there are flashbacks to an abused childhood, and phone calls from an incarcerated brother keep urging Greg to...
- 4/18/2024
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV


Chicago – The journey of a thousand miles begins … in the case of “Hard Miles” starring Matthew Modine … with a single pedal. “Hard Miles” joins the pantheon of cycling movies, in this case with Modine portraying a social worker who teaches his life lessons through a bicycling journey with his youthful charges.
The based-on-truth story features Greg (Modine) as a beleaguered social worker at a Colorado juvenile correctional cente, with a passion for bicycle challenges and a revelatory idea for rehabilitation … rounding up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students to complete a transformative 762 mile ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. To achieve their goal, this determined mentor and his disgruntled teenage squad will battle heat stroke, speed wobbles, mountainous inclines, and most of all each other to come together as a unified team.
Matthew Modine in Chicago, October of 2023
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Matthew Modine was born in California,...
The based-on-truth story features Greg (Modine) as a beleaguered social worker at a Colorado juvenile correctional cente, with a passion for bicycle challenges and a revelatory idea for rehabilitation … rounding up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students to complete a transformative 762 mile ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon. To achieve their goal, this determined mentor and his disgruntled teenage squad will battle heat stroke, speed wobbles, mountainous inclines, and most of all each other to come together as a unified team.
Matthew Modine in Chicago, October of 2023
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Matthew Modine was born in California,...
- 4/16/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com

Exclusive: Blue Fox Entertainment announced on Monday that Hard Miles, its cycling drama starring Matthew Modine (Stranger Things), will hit theaters nationwide on April 19. They also unveiled a series of first look stills, which you can view above and below.
Directed by 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna, Hard Miles tells the true story of the bicycling team at Rite of Passage’s RidgeView Academy, a medium-security correctional school in Colorado. The film follows beleaguered coach Greg Townsend (Modine) as he rounds up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students for a seemingly impossible bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
As the beginner bicyclists battle heatstroke, speed wobbles, and the greatest enemy of all cyclists — a chafed crotch — they must learn to stop fighting and ride together as a peloton. The bicycle serves not just as a means of transportation, but as a test; a way for each of...
Directed by 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna, Hard Miles tells the true story of the bicycling team at Rite of Passage’s RidgeView Academy, a medium-security correctional school in Colorado. The film follows beleaguered coach Greg Townsend (Modine) as he rounds up an unlikely crew of incarcerated students for a seemingly impossible bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
As the beginner bicyclists battle heatstroke, speed wobbles, and the greatest enemy of all cyclists — a chafed crotch — they must learn to stop fighting and ride together as a peloton. The bicycle serves not just as a means of transportation, but as a test; a way for each of...
- 2/26/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV

Nationwide theatrical release set for spring 2024.
Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired worldwide sales on cycling drama Hard Miles starring Matthew Modine and will kick off sales talks in TIFF next week.
Sean Astin, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, and Leslie David Baker also star in the coming-of-age sports film about a coach who must get students at a medium security correctional school to work together on a gruelling bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with producer Christian Sander. Scott Sander at Pensé Productions also served as a producer.
Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired worldwide sales on cycling drama Hard Miles starring Matthew Modine and will kick off sales talks in TIFF next week.
Sean Astin, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, and Leslie David Baker also star in the coming-of-age sports film about a coach who must get students at a medium security correctional school to work together on a gruelling bike ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.
Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with producer Christian Sander. Scott Sander at Pensé Productions also served as a producer.
- 8/29/2023
- ScreenDaily


A Great Divide, a anti-Asian racism drama that stars Ken Jeong, Jae Suh Park and Emerson Min, is set to open the competitive program for Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival, running June 13-18.
The feature directorial debut of Emmy-winning commercial and short film director Jean Shim, which also star Miya Cech in a lead role, will get a world premiere during the ninth edition of the Bentonville, Arkansas festival. A Great Divide follows a Korean-American family that leaves the Bay Area for a fresh start in rural Wyoming after experiencing a devastating loss.
Also getting a first look at Bentonville is director R. J. Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles, which dramatizes the true story of a youth prison social worker who took a cycling team comprising teenage inmates on a transformative 1,000-mile ride. The film, written by Hanna and Christian Sander, stars Matthew Modine, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Jahking Guillory, Jackson Kelly,...
The feature directorial debut of Emmy-winning commercial and short film director Jean Shim, which also star Miya Cech in a lead role, will get a world premiere during the ninth edition of the Bentonville, Arkansas festival. A Great Divide follows a Korean-American family that leaves the Bay Area for a fresh start in rural Wyoming after experiencing a devastating loss.
Also getting a first look at Bentonville is director R. J. Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles, which dramatizes the true story of a youth prison social worker who took a cycling team comprising teenage inmates on a transformative 1,000-mile ride. The film, written by Hanna and Christian Sander, stars Matthew Modine, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Jahking Guillory, Jackson Kelly,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News

Exclusive: Oscar nominee Sean Astin has signed on to star alongside fellow Stranger Things alum Matthew Modine in the cycling drama Hard Miles, which 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna is directing from his and Christian Sander’s script.
Additional cast set for the indie includes Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey), Leslie David Baker (The Office), Jahking Guillory (On My Block), Jackson Kelly (Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion), Damien Diaz (Marvel’s Runaways) and Zachary T. Robbins (Bloodline).
The film is based on the true story of the cycling team at Colorado’s Ridge View Academy, which for decades has given at-risk youth a second chance through academic rigor, targeted treatment, competitive sports and leadership. Modine stars as Greg Townsend, who has led the team at Ridge View for the last 30 years, as previously announced. Astin will play benevolent local bike shop mechanic Speedy, with McWilliams as...
Additional cast set for the indie includes Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey), Leslie David Baker (The Office), Jahking Guillory (On My Block), Jackson Kelly (Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion), Damien Diaz (Marvel’s Runaways) and Zachary T. Robbins (Bloodline).
The film is based on the true story of the cycling team at Colorado’s Ridge View Academy, which for decades has given at-risk youth a second chance through academic rigor, targeted treatment, competitive sports and leadership. Modine stars as Greg Townsend, who has led the team at Ridge View for the last 30 years, as previously announced. Astin will play benevolent local bike shop mechanic Speedy, with McWilliams as...
- 8/1/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV

Exclusive: Matthew Modine (Stranger Things) will star in the cycling drama Hard Miles, which is currently in production in Los Angeles and Lone Pine, CA.
The film is based on the true story of the cycling team at Colorado’s Ridge View Academy, which for decades has given at-risk youth a second chance through academic rigor, targeted treatment, competitive sports and leadership. Modine is playing Greg Townsend, who has led the team at Ridge View for the last 30 years.
Ridge View Academy was conceptualized by the Colorado Division of Youth Services in the mid-1990s, as a means of responding to the steady rise of juvenile offenders in the state. The charter school opened its doors in 2001 and has since helped set upwards of 4,300 young men on the right path. 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna is directing Hard Miles from his and Christian Sander’s script. Hanna’s co-writer is also producing,...
The film is based on the true story of the cycling team at Colorado’s Ridge View Academy, which for decades has given at-risk youth a second chance through academic rigor, targeted treatment, competitive sports and leadership. Modine is playing Greg Townsend, who has led the team at Ridge View for the last 30 years.
Ridge View Academy was conceptualized by the Colorado Division of Youth Services in the mid-1990s, as a means of responding to the steady rise of juvenile offenders in the state. The charter school opened its doors in 2001 and has since helped set upwards of 4,300 young men on the right path. 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow R.J. Daniel Hanna is directing Hard Miles from his and Christian Sander’s script. Hanna’s co-writer is also producing,...
- 6/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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