Hot-selling thriller Last Passenger starts UK shoot today at Shepperton
BFI-Pinewood backed thriller starring Dougray Scott, described as “a micro-budget Tony Scott film”, gets underway today.
Shooting on writer-director Omid Nooshin’s feature debut Last Passenger gets underway today at Shepperton Studios.
The £1.6m ($2.5m)-budgeted thriller stars Dougray Scott, David Schofield and Kara Tointon in the story of a group of passengers battling to stay alive on a speeding London commuter train.
However, the ride to production was almost as fraught as the film’s plotline, requiring a “heroic effort” on behalf of the film’s creative elements and supporters, according to executive producer Kwesi Dickson of Future Films, who boarded the film early.
After receiving development backing from the UK Film Council in 2007, the film made the Brit List [of hot unproduced scripts] in 2008. At the time NDF International were the film’s main champion. But a proposed budget of £4m ($6.2m) was a stumbling block: “The script was gripping and economical,” says Dickson, “but the asking price was unrealistic. It’s about making a film that fits the market. When we later dropped the price from £4m down to £1.6m ($2.5m) financiers and distributors were willing to take that risk on a first time director trying to make a commercial thriller. The sweat was getting it there.”
As ever, the script saw countless revisions. And it wasn’t until Nooshin, Dickson, and NDF producers Zack Winfield and Ado Yoshizaki pooled together £500 ($780) to shoot a teaser trailer over Christmas 2010 that the project kicked into another gear:
“The trailer really kicked things off,” says Winfield. “We borrowed a train from the Bluebell Railway company but only had it for one day. We got friends to stand in as cast and guys from Future came down as crew. We had a big, dark, empty train, there was 6 inches of snow on the ground and it was freezing. But we were determined to get it done in the one day. We had aimed for 20 shots but got to 19 when the generator died. Then we did a day in a studio for close-ups.”
A few weeks after the December 24 teaser shoot the finished article caused a stir after being posted online and went on to become the key bargaining chip. The impressive quality captured by the makeshift unit belies its meagre budget and it wasn’t long before the requisite funding came together (the film’s visual effects supervisor is described by one investor as “a Dutch Gareth Edwards”) .
NDF chairwoman Michiyo Yoshizaki secured Japanese investment from the Fel Corporation at the beginning of the year and Winfield and Yoshizaki tied up a presale with German distributors Square One.
Pathe came on board to handle sales in March, around the same time as lead actor Dougray Scott, and the BFI committed further production funding in May through the BFI Film Fund.
BFI senior production executive Chris Collins comments: “Supporting the film felt completely right. It was something we wanted to be a part of. We had worked with Omid before on his impressive short Panic. He’s a very exciting talent and we wanted to give him a shot at making his first movie.”
Netflix gets split valuation
In 2008, DVD rental company Netflix sold for less than $20 a share. This year, it peaked above $300.
But content owners are seeking more cash for streaming their movies and TV shows. Just last week, Netflix inked a deal reportedly paying DreamWorks Animation $30 million per film. And Netflix alienated customers by announcing a significant price increase in July.
On July 11, the day before the price hike news, Netflix stock closed at $290.74. On Sept. 20, the day after CEO Reed Hastings sent his mea culpa letter to subscribers to announce the split between streaming (Netflix) and DVD rental (Qwikster), the stock ended at $130.03.
According to data from Thomson-Reuters I/B/E/S, the mean Netflix 2011 earnings estimate on Wall Street rose from $4.47 to $4.51 over the same time period.
Are the analysts right, or is the market? We'll get an inkling later this month when Netflix releases September-quarter earnings.
Paramount moves up 'Puss in Boots'
'Shrek' spinoff will now bow on Oct. 28
DreamWorks Animation has its costume all picked out for Halloween, with Paramount moving up "Puss in Boots," the toon studio's "Shrek" spinoff, to Oct. 28.
Pic had previously been set to walk into theaters Nov. 4.
Sony is releasing Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous," while Fox's "In Time," FilmDistrict's "The Rum Diaries" and Universal's "Johnny English Reborn" also on Oct. 28, leaving DWA with the family market to itself.
The date change is meant to benefit from a dry spell in the family market (Warner Bros.' "Dolphin Tale" is the last family pic to launch before "Puss in Boots"). And while Halloween typically isn't a big weekend for family pics, the holiday falls on a Monday this year.
With the lead characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, "Puss in Boots" revolves around the swashbuckling feline off on an adventure with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws and the mastermind Humpty Dumpty to save his town. Pic is an origin tale of the character that appeared in the "Shrek" series and is being eyed as his own standalone franchise.
Chris Miller helms from a script by Tom Wheeler, based on a story by Wheeler, Brian Lynch and Will Davies.
Andrew Adamson and Guillermo del Toro executive produced the pic with Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou producing.
"Puss in Boots" will be the third release for Par in as many weeks, following "Footloose" on Oct. 14 and "Paranormal Activity 3" on Oct. 21. "Like Crazy," from Par Vantage, launches limited the same weekend as "Puss in Boots."
Gone with the Wind tops film list
Gone With the Wind, the epic 1939 film starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, has been seen by more cinema-goers than any other film in UK movie history.
Experts at the British Film Institute (BFI) studied cinema ticket sales since the advent of the talking picture.
The US civil war epic, based on Margaret Mitchell's novel, topped Channel 4's The Ultimate Film poll with audience figures of more than 35m.
The most recent film in the top 10 was 1997's Titanic, with 18.9m admissions.
The poll marks the first time researchers have compiled a list of the biggest UK cinematic hits, based on audience figures.
'Nation's favourites'
"These are the nation's favourites - selected not by vote, or by critics, but by the number of actual visits [to the cinema] by everyone living in this country over the past 100 years," said BFI director Amanda Nevill.
"The result is a remarkable record of the nation's film tastes."
Figures for films released before the 1970s were collated from figures in trade magazines and anecdotal evidence, as official records were not always filed.
Second place in the poll was Robert Wise's Oscar-winning favourite The Sound of Music (1965) - with audience figures of 30m - ahead of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at number three, and Star Wars at number four.
A handful of musicals made the top 20, including South Pacific and high school romance Grease, at number 12.
The only other animated film in the top 20 is The Jungle Book at number seven.
The first instalment of Harry Potter - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - released in 2001, lies just outside the top 10 at number 11 with audience figures of 17.5m.
Blockbusters Jaws (1976), Jurassic Park (1993) and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) all make the top 20 at 14, 15 and 16 respectively.
The Oscar-winning final instalment to Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is the most recent film in the chart - at number 19 - with admissions of 15.22m.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4049645.stm
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Rumblings started coming from the LA Times last week that director Pete Travis was facing some issues in the Dredd editing room and had been "asked to step aside". The news was leapt upon with glee by the fanboys who are perversely desperate for the film to fail, but Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland have now released a joint statement scotching the reports of Dredd's demise. Nothing to see here, perps. Move along.
Anonymous LA Times sources "close to the production" had reported that there were tensions and "creative disagreements" between the producers and executives in charge of rescuing Joe Dredd from the ignominy of the Stallone film. According to the story, writer/producer Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) was running post-production alone, and seeking a co-director credit for his efforts. Potential reshoots were also mentioned, with a question mark over who'd man the cameras for them.
But, say Travis and Garland now, "During all stages of the filmmaking, Dredd has been a collaboration between a number of dedicated creative parties. From the outset we decided on an unorthodox collaboration to make the film. This situation has been misinterpreted. To set the record straight, Pete was not fired and remains a central part of the collaboration, and Alex is not seeking a co-director credit. We are all extremely proud of the film we have made, and respectfully suggest that it is judged on viewing when it's released next year."
The truth, or damage limitation? Are Travis and Garland the Reynolds and Costner of the 21st Century, or are they really the best of pals being misrepresented? We'll keep you updated on the drama.
Dredd, starring Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby, shot in the Mega-City of Cape Town, and is out next September.
Source: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32186
Gleeson Joins The Company You Keep
Alongside Anna Kendrick
Robert Redford is keeping the quality level high in regards to the actors he’s adding to his latest thriller The Company you Keep: the director/star has now hired Brendan Gleeson, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick and Sam Elliott.
Company, adapted by Lem Dobbs from Neil Gordon’s novel, will see Redford as Jim Grant, a former member of US domestic protest/terrorist organisation the Weather Underground. Having been in hiding for 30 years as a target of the FBI following a bank robbery, he’s forced to surface and go on the run when an ambitious young reporter (Shia LaBeouf) cracks his true identity.
Kendrick’s signed to play Diana, LaBeouf’s ex who gives him the first details about Grant’s name and his involvement with the robbery. Gleeson will play Henry Osborne, a retired chief of police who investigated it in the ‘60s. Howard is Cornelius, the biggest thorn in Grant’s side and the head of the FBI taskforce looking to hunt down the remaining Weather Underground members. Elliott will work alongside Julie Christie, playing her boss in the marijuana trade.
Given that the cast already included Brit Marling, Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Richard Jenkins, Stephen Root, Stanley Tucci and Chris Cooper, it’s not a stretch to say that Redford has an embarrassment of character acting riches. He’s busy shooting the movie in Vancouver.
Source: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32184
