"A BEAUTIFUL MIND," THE MULTI-OSCAR-WINNING BLOCKBUSTER, WILL AIR AS THE "ABC SATURDAY MOVIE OF THE WEEK," AUGUST 20

"A Beautiful Mind," the winner of four Oscars Awards - including Best Picture and Best Director -- from its eight nominations, will air as the "ABC Saturday Movie of the Week" AUGUST 20 (8:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network (rebroadcast. OAD: 5/24/04). Russell Crowe ("Cinderella Man," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World") turned in an Oscar-nominated performance based on the real life of Dr. John Nash, a mathematician with a brilliant but tormented mind. Also starring in the intense drama are Ed Harris ("Radio," TV's "Empire Falls"), Jennifer Connelly ("House of Sand and Fog"), Christopher Plummer ("Nicholas Nickleby") and Paul Bettany ("Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"). The feature will be broadcast in HDTV format with 5.1-channel surround sound.

In "A Beautiful Mind," which spans a period between the late 1940s to the mid 1990s, Crowe stars as a genius whose early discoveries in the field of math still influence our lives today. Jennifer Connelly won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of the graduate student who met, fell in love with, married and ultimately sustained Nash as his world and mind spiraled out of control. Paul Bettany portrays Nash's college roommate, as well as best friend and confidant, and Ed Harris is a secretive government agent who enlists Nash into a murky world of spies.

In addition to the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar, the film also won the award for Best Picture (Ron Howard and Brian Grazer), Best Director (Howard), and Best Writing Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (Akiva Goldsman). Its other Oscar nominations were for Best Editing, Best Makeup and Best Music, Original Score.

"A Beautiful Mind" stars Russell Crowe as John Nash, Ed Harris as William Parcher, Jennifer Connelly as Alicia Larde Nash, Christopher Plummer as Dr. Rosen, Paul Bettany as Charles Herman, Adam Goldberg ("The Salton Sea") as Sol, Josh Lucas ("Secondhand Lions") as Martin Hansen, Anthony Rapp ("Road Trip") as Bender, Jason Gray-Stanford (TV's "Monk") as Ainsley, Oscar nominee Judd Hirsch ("Ordinary People"; TV's "Taxi") as professor Helinger, Austin Pendleton (the voice of Gurgle in "Finding Nemo") as Thomas King, Vivien Cardone as Marcee Herman, Jill M. Simon as bar co-ed, Victor Steinbach as professor Horner and Tanya Clarke as Becky.

"A Beautiful Mind," released in 2001, was directed by Ron Howard ("Cinderella Man," "The Missing") and written by Akiva Goldsman ("Cinderella Man," "A Time to Kill"), based on the book by Sylvia Nasar. The film is a production of Imagine Entertainment.

"A BEAUTIFUL MIND" IN HDTV:
The ABC Television Network's HDTV broadcast of "A Beautiful Mind" will air in 720 Progressive (720P); ABC's selected HDTV format and 5.1-channel surround sound (CLOSED-CAPTIONED) (Broadcast in stereo where available). This program carries a TV-14,D,S,V parental guideline.