FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION: iPOP Alumni Jacob Batalon and Addison Riecke feature gets U.S. Release Date

February 17, 2020 - (Los Angeles, Calif.) Vertical Entertainment has acquired the rights to the Benjamin Kasulke directed indie teen comedy Banana Split, in which iPOP Alumni Jacob Batalon and Addison Riecke star. The pair join a star-studded cast alongside co-writer Hannah Marks and Dylan Sprouse. With this acquirement, a release day and date has been set for March 27 of this year.

Banana Split focuses on a kindred friendship between two teenage girls as it encounters one major problem, one of them is dating the others ex. The comedy also stars Liana Liberato, Haley Ramm and Jessica Hecht.
The teen comedy's plot was developed by Marks and Joey Powers and produced by LD Entertainment, American High and Burn Later Productions.

Filmed in Syracuse, NY, Addison Riecke and Jacob Batalon began production on the film in 2017, with it hitting the festival circuit between 2018-2019 making its theatrical debut a major milestone for the indie hit.

Both stars have kept busy since, with Batalon seen in last year's box office hit, Spiderman: Far From Home, the sequel to Spiderman: Homecoming, where Batalon made his big-screen debut.

As for Riecke, her sights have been set on producing with the launch of her own production company La Cov, last fall. She will be seen next as a supporting role in the production company's first feature, "The Lions of Little Rock". When asked about this shift, Addison had this to say:

"I've grown up on film and television sets and I'd love to see more women on-set, more female lighting grips, camera operators, boom operators, set builders, etc.," Rieke said. "I want to give women a greater opportunity to show their talent, but because of their talent, not because of their gender. That's what equality and a true sense of feminism is about: that women should have an equal chance at a job as men, and vice versa."

The Lions of Little Rock is currently in production with a release date not yet set.

Banana Split will open in U.S. Theatres on March 27 and be available the same day on Digital.

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