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War of the Worlds - update
Since events of 11 September...
Pendragon Pictures' principals are concerned over a rumour that production
of WAR OF THE WORLDS is about to resume on October 8th.
Director Timothy Hines expresses dismay at the rumour,
"It is absolutely not true that War of the Worlds is about
to resume. The reality is that we are massively reworking the script in
the wake of the World Trade Center disaster and we will not be able to
go before the cameras for a little over a year."
The Pendragon principals lost a close friend and investor
in WAR OF THE WORLDS in the World Trade Center attack.
Timothy Hines goes on, "It has been a very difficult
time for everyone. The whole world was touched by the WTC experience.
For us personally those planes slammed directly into our lives. We lost
a very close friend and have been in mourning. We also watched portions
of our fictional screenplay being played out on September 11th. I knew
immediately we couldn't do War of the Worlds as conceived. It was
a strange time. I found myself weeping on the phone with Michele Jeffers
at Foundation Imaging. They were great in that they wrote off some of
the effects work we had built for War of the Worlds. The fans of
War of the Worlds will be very pleased with the direction we are
taking, but I won't just slap it out there. War of the Worlds deserves
care and time and there is no other way I could do it."
Pendragon Producer Susan Goforth adds, "The script
has to be rewritten from the ground up. This new version will be a true
and accurate adaptation of the Wells classic story placed in its original
1898 setting. It's been emotionally difficult for us to see sets and thousands
of preparations scrapped. But Timothy has made the right choice."
Here's an earlier press release...
War of the Worlds - Summer 2001
Pendragon Pictures announces that its production of WAR
OF THE WORLDS will premiere for general release on Halloween, October
31, 2002 instead of summer 2003, as originally planned. Director Timothy
Hines explains, "As the details of our production became more refined,
we realized we had it within our grasp to release by Halloween, which
I really want to do as Halloween is the night Orson Welles broadcast his
famous radio version of WAR OF THE WORLDS. I feel the approach to our
production has a great deal in common with the approach Orson Welles took
with the material, and we will make history on Halloween night, 2002."
Copyright
© 2001 Pendragon Pictures. All rights reserved.
While casting and star talent negotiations continue, newcomer
Katie Tomlinson has been cast as
a principal character, beating out over 900 other hopefuls for the role.
Ms Tomlinson has recently appeared in The Fugitive TV series and
is an honours graduate of The New England Conservatory. "Katie's auditions
were miles above the rest. She has a truth in her performing that few could
match, as well as a powerful star-talent charisma," beams Timothy Hines.
The principals of Pendragon Pictures have just returned
from a whirlwind deal making trip to Hollywood, where director Timothy Hines
met with Ron Thornton and Michele Jeffers of special effects house, Foundation
Imaging (Star Trek Voyager, etc). Foundation Imaging will handle
a major portion of the visual effects for WAR OF THE WORLDS. Hines commented,
"Originally, I had thought to go entirely in-house. But when we toured
their facilities, met their principals and artists, I knew we were philosophically
aligned. Ron (Thornton) is a huge fan of WAR OF THE WORLDS, and has a strong
background in miniature construction, which is fantastic, as we are favouring
miniatures over CG as our primary approach to the effects."
That is not to say Pendragon's Magic Dragon Visual Effects
will not be involved. "We're bringing on people like Jon Sorenson,
who contributed to many effects films, such as the construction of the Nostromo
for Alien," says Hines. "Jon has a wide range of background
experience in scifi/horror films, including Alien Brood, which he
wrote and directed."
As far as the darkness of Pendragon's script, "I'm
convinced more than ever that we are doing WAR OF THE WORLDS right,"
says Hines, candidly. "We met with many studio executives and Hollywood
agents, and the vast majority have flipped out at how great our script is,
though a few have expressed concerns as to how frightening our approach
is. Talking with one major producer, when I expressed that the fans of WAR
OF THE WORLDS demand that the story be told true to Wells and must be dark,
he responded by telling me, 'These people are not your audience. Kids are
the ones going to the movies the most and your film will terrify them.'
He tried to convince me that my production needed more 'dramedy'. Whereas
script polishing is inevitable as you go in production, I assure the fans
of WAR OF THE WORLDS that our movie will be truly terrifying and contain
no 'dramedy'.
More pictures: war machine
Visit the producer's website
for details about WAR OF THE WORLDS.
DOWSE
Guide to the Movies
is
compiled by Tony
Lee editor of Pigasus Press
You
can order videos and DVD releases reviewed on these pages at
Blackstar
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