National Geographic Celebrates Three-year Anniversary of Alex Honnold’s Historic Ascent of El Capitan With a “Jared Leto Cinema Club” Virtual Viewing Party of FREE SOLO on Wednesday, June 3, at NOON PT

On June 3, 2017, renowned rock climber Alex Honnold became the first person to reach the top of Yosemite’s 3,200-foot El Capitan Peak without a rope or safety gear, completing what may be one of the greatest athletic accomplishments of any kind. To celebrate the three-year anniversary of Honnold’s record-breaking three-hour and 56-minute ascent of the daunting face of El Cap, National Geographic is celebrating with a virtual viewing party of the Academy Award, BAFTA and seven-time Emmy Award-winning documentary FREE SOLO on Wednesday, June 3, at NOON PT.

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Alex Honnold holds all of his climbing gear atop the summit of El Capitan. He just became the first person to climb El Capitan without a rope. (Credit: National Geographic/Jimmy Chin)

Hosted by Academy Award-winning actor and climbing enthusiast Jared Leto, the FREE SOLO watch-along will be part of his “Jared Leto Cinema Club,” which has entertained audiences across the globe amid the coronavirus crisis with virtual watch parties of films including the Oscar-winning “Parasite” — in celebration of its Hulu debut — as well as “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” and “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Leto will be live-tweeting while watching the stunning and vertigo-inducing FREE SOLO along with Honnold and director, producer and cinematographer Jimmy Chin. Join them as they share behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the documentary. Following the National Geographic Channel broadcast, tune in to Leto’s Instagram page for a live post-show at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET.

Leto will also be releasing a FREE SOLO-inspired T-shirt with 100% of the profits being donated to two organizations—the Honnold Foundation and Partners in Health. Founded by Honnold in 2012, the Honnold Foundation supports solar energy for a more equitable world by providing solar power access to those who need it most. Partners in Health is a global health organization restoring social justice by bringing quality health care to the most vulnerable around the world. The T-shirt will be available to purchase at https://store.thirtysecondstomars.com/pages/jared-leto-cinema-club.

Where to watch: FREE SOLO will broadcast on National Geographic on Wednesday, June 3, at noon PT/ET. The Twitter discussion will take place during the West Coast broadcast beginning at noon PT. For viewers in other time zones, the film is streaming now on Hulu and Disney+. Check your local TV provider schedule here.

Join the virtual party and follow along using: #FreeSolo and #JaredLetoCinemaClub with @NatGeoDocs, @AlexHonnold, @JimKChin and @JaredLeto on Twitter beginning at NOON PT. Follow @JaredLeto on Instagram to watch the live post-show at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET.

“Free-soloing El Cap had been a lifelong dream of mine and after over two years of preparation it finally became a reality on June 3, 2017,” said Honnold. “I’m looking forward to celebrating the three-year anniversary of the climb with everyone at home, while raising funds for the Honnold Foundation to continue promoting solar energy for a more equitable world.”

“I’m excited to celebrate the three-year anniversary of Alex Honnold’s epic climb on ‘Jared Leto Cinema Club.’ Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s FREE SOLO is exactly the type of story that we all need right now,” said Leto. “A triumph of the human spirit and a reminder of how we can change our perception of what is possible. This incredible adventure has captured audiences around the world — including myself — and Alex’s story has inspired others to question their fears and follow their dreams.”

From the award-winning filmmaking team of E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, FREE SOLO, among its many accolades, ranks as Nat Geo’s most viewed unscripted special ever (P2+) and the No. 1 on demand and download in the network’s history. Throughout its theatrical run, it set several box-office records, becoming the second highest grossing documentary of 2018 in the United States, the highest grossing documentary of 2018 in the United Kingdom, the highest grossing international documentary ever released in China and was named one of the top 20 documentaries of all time in the United States and Australia.

About National Geographic Documentary Films

National Geographic Documentary Films is committed to bringing the world premium, feature documentaries that cover timely, provocative and globally relevant stories from the very best documentary filmmakers in the world. National Geographic Documentary Films is a division of National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between Disney and the National Geographic Society. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 132 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27% of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic

Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

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