Celine Dion, the international superstar and best-selling female artist of all time, has toured around the world and back again, and now, Sony Pictures Releasing’s special programming division, The Hot Ticket, will let audiences follow her everywhere. For a limited engagement beginning early next year in wide release, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World will bring Celine Dion’s 2008-2009 Taking Chances World Tour to theaters. This special motion picture event gives Dion fans who attended the extremely popular tour – which placed Dion second only to Madonna in ticket sales in 2008 – another chance to experience the magical event, this time from a vantage point unparalleled by any ticket. Join Celine as she travels to five continents and 25 countries, putting on show-stopping performances of some of her biggest hits. However, this world tour is different as Celine is traveling with her husband, her 8-year-old son, her mother, and her extended family. Intercutting concert performances with behind the scenes footage, audiences will get the chance to really know Celine, her family, and her co-performers as well as those fans that she meets and performs for around the world. Inspirational, moving, honest and surprisingly funny, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World captures Dion’s deft balance between the demands of an elaborate and extensive year-long worldwide tour and Dion’s top priority – caring for and enjoying time with her family. Commenting on the announcement, Rory Bruer, president of Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing, said, “Celine Dion is a beloved performer all around the world and early next year, The Hot Ticket will offer fans a front row seat as she performs on stage her most recognized hits. Through this special film, audiences will also see Celine as they have never seen before as she travels and interacts with her family and creative collaborators while touring extraordinary and exotic locations around the globe. We believe Celine: Through the Eyes of the World offers a unique perspective on Celine, her life, and her inspiring dedication to creating a stage experience like no other.” Celine added, "This was an amazing world tour, but there's a lot more than just concert footage on this film. I let the cameras follow me everywhere. There are a lot of ups and downs, and it's very personal...and it's definitely the most intimate journey that I've ever shared with my fans." Having sold more than 200 million albums around the world, Celine Dion is one of the most immediately recognized, widely respected and successful performers in pop music history. During her spectacular career Celine has been honored with over 1000 awards. She is a 5 time Grammy Award winner, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Album for Falling Into You (1996); and Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "My Heart Will Go On" (1998). Her recordings have won two Academy Awards?: Best Original Song in 1992 for the title song of Beauty and the Beast (with Peabo Bryson), and Best Original Song in 1998 for "My Heart Will Go On" (From Titanic). She has earned 7 American Music Awards, 20 Juno Awards (Canada) and an astonishing 40 Felix Awards (Quebec). In 2004, Celine received the Diamond award at the World Music Awards recognizing her status as the best-selling female artist of all time. In 2007 she was honored with the Legend Award at World Music Awards in recognition of her global success and outstanding contribution to the music industry. On her Taking Chances World Tour, which took place between February 2008 and February 2009, Dion played concerts in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, the UK, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Italy, Monaco, Canada, Mexico, and 41 cities in the United States. The 5-continent, 25-country, 93-city tour – Dion’s first in nine years – was wildly successful, selling over three million tickets. Stephane Laporte, director of the film, added, "After touring the world with Celine, I can say confidently that there is no performer anywhere like her. She is a consummate entertainer – not only was she committed to giving the fans who came to the shows the best performances she could, but she was just as committed to this film, to make it entertaining and give some insight into what it's like to be on the road for a year with one's family. This is Celine’s world and it's a wonderful experience to live in it and be a part of it.” The Hot Ticket also recently announced plans to present Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D in movie theaters this April. Celine: Through the Eyes of the World extends the division's commitment to bringing audiences premium alternative content experiences to theaters with state of the art audio and visual capabilities. Since the division was launched in 2008, The Hot Ticket has presented motion picture presentations of Cirque du Soleil and the final performance of the Broadway production of Rent.
