This is a film I’m really, really looking forward to. Last year, we got to see Bradley Cooper take a very impressive turn leading what became a stellar box office success in Limitless, and this year should be another great one for the rising star.

He’ll be starring opposite Ryan Gosling in Derek Cianfrance’s generational crime drama The Place Beyond The Pines (you just know that’s going to be immense), David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook along with his Limitless star Robert De Niro, and before all that, his latest film The Words will be going to Sundance Film Festival later this month.

EW have just got the first poster for the film, and Collider have a nice new set of images, and they’re all looking excellent. The film has a fantastic cast starring alongside Cooper, including Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Ben Barnes, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, and J.K. Simmons. It’s been co-written and -directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, writers on TRON: Legacy (which of course also starred Olivia Wilde), who wrote the script more than a decade ago. It’s been a long time coming for the pair, and it’s great to see that they’ve lined up such a fantastic cast for what should be a brilliant film. Here’s what the official synopsis looks like:

Rory Jansen, a struggling writer, aspires to be the next great literary voice. When he discovers a lost manuscript in a weathered attaché case, he realizes he possesses something extraordinary that he desperately wishes he had created. Rory decides to pass the work off as his own and finally receives the recognition he desperately craves. However, he soon learns that living with his choice will not be as easy as he thought as he faces a moral dilemma that will make him take a hard look at the man he has become.

In their directorial debut, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal have crafted a subtle tale that examines how overwhelming desire can lead to unforeseen and unwanted consequences. Bolstered by a strong cast, led by Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons, The Words adeptly assembles multiple narratives that reveal how one man’s lost legacy holds the life of another man captive.

Speaking to EW, Sternthal and Klugman said,

“We started by talking about writers and their lost work. What if you lost all your work? How long would it take you to move on?” says Sternthal.

“That led us to a question, what if you found the work?” Klugman adds.

Olivia Wilde co-stars as “someone who wants to be a great writer, and also wants to know the truth about what happened with this book,” Sternthal says.

The Words will be going to Sundance out in the States for its premiere, playing at four screenings between 27th and 29th January, including the closing day of the festival. With a bit of luck, it will be received with rapturous applause, and get picked up for distribution both across the Atlantic and here at home. And with a bit more luck, it’ll be one of the films selected for our own Sundance festival, coming to London in April for the first time. More news as we get it. For now, the first poster and the new images to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2012/01/12/great-first-poster-and-images-for-sundance-film-the-words-with-bradley-cooper-and-olivia-wilde/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/26/karl-urban-more-join-overdrive/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/26/karl-urban-more-join-overdrive/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:00:33 +0000 Jamie Neish http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=112950

Karl Urban (Star Trek), Ben Barnes (Stardust) and Emilia Clarke (Games of Thrones) are in talks to star in action pic Overdrive.

Overdrive centres on two adventurous siblings who find more trouble than they are looking for in the South of France.

Antonio Negret (Seconds Apart) is attached to direct from a script by screenwriters Derek Haas and Michael Brandt.

Filming is set to begin in Marseilles on October 29.

Overdrive has been in development since 2009, ever since scribes Haas and Brandt took a trip overseas in November 2008. Several actors, including Matthew Goode, Alex Pettyfer and Garrett Hedlund, have been attached at various points.

Source: THR

Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy), J.K. Simmons (Juno), Ben Barnes (Stardust) and John Hannah (The Mummy) have signed on to star in The Words.

The four new cast members will star opposite Bradley Cooper (Limitless), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), Dennis Quaid (Frequency) and Jeremy Irons (Being Julia) in the dramatic thriller.

A successful writer discovers he has a price to pay for stealing another man’s work.

Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal – who co-wrote Tron: Legacy – are attached to make their directorial debut on the project.

Production on The Words will begin later this year.

Source: Variety

You know how everyone hates Bono? Well, Neil McCormick hated him first. He hated him so much, in fact, that he has a gun pointed at his face. This is Neil’s story.

Flashing back to 1970s Ireland, lax journalist Neil (Ben Barnes) is eager to set up a band of his own after rival Paul “Bono” Hewson (Martin McCann) joins high school rockband The Hype. Using his relationship with Bono to ensure his younger brother’s (Robert Sheehan) rejection from the band, Neil and Ivan instead set up their own group, quickly falling into The Hype’s – now U2 – ever growing shadow. Borrowing money from the local gangster (Stanley Towsend), the McCormack brothers move to London where they begin a near-year-long search for a willing record label. Despite finding an albeit lesser success with producer Hammond (Peter Serafinowicz) and band Shook Up!, Neil continues to undermines his own luck – manipulating his own downfall and endangering already strained relationships with his label, his girlfriend (Krysten Ritter) and with his long-suffering brother.

While you immediately want to praise Robert Sheehan, the Misfits star has to be one of the most charismatic young actors working today, his incredulous and endlessly sympathetic Ivan is almost too easy to root for. Far more surprising is the pathos, humour and humility that Ben Barnes brings to the character of Neil. Essentially a selfish and jealous dreamer – verging on delusional, the egoistical acts of deception and betrayal carried out by Neil McCormick should be enough to turn the entire auditorium against his plight, and against the movie in general. Rather than dislike his luckless loser, Barnes’ brings a vulnerability and desperation to Neil that fully acquits a narrow minded attitude and distractingly flappy manner.

Once again fuelling the suspicion that I may be the only human being on this planet – other than Pierce Brosnan, of course – who can’t sing, director Nick Hamm lets Barnes, Sheehan and McCann karaoke their way through Irish pop history. While Neil sets about writing songs about rape and ‘existential angst’, and U2 provokingly confess that they still haven’t found what they’re looking for,  the film’s soundtrack is inextricably tied to the character motivations and plot. They could really be bandmates, with their aspirations and inter-relations filling the void between stock band member and human being, creating an exhilarating and massively uplifting amalgam of truth and fiction.

A welcome extension of this is the haunting presence of Bono in the movie, lending credence to Neil’s obsession and growing Bono-complex. Continuously told that they may be “the next U2″, mishearing their landlord’s (a delightfully camp encore for the late Pete Postlethwaite after The Town’s gritty unlikeability) inquisition as to “how long have ‘you two’ been together?” and their rival’s massive billboard presence somehow managing to earn sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

This is Killing Bono’s finest strength. While it mercilessly sexes up Neil McCormack’s memoir Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelgänger, Hamm’s film never loses its own solid grounding in reality. Its reality, that is. Yes the gangster, Bono’s butter-wouldn’t-melt persona and the unrealistic rapidity of U2′s fame may require a certain suspension of belief, but as soon as you disregard the source material and take Killing Bono for what it is – a bizarre odd-couple comedy and (most importantly) a movie – the plot takes on a relentless fluidity that leaves you feeling like you’ve just reached the bottom of the very best of waterslides: thrilled and entertained, ready to go again.

And when I say bizarre, I really mean it. From the bonkers wardrobe – Lorna Marie Mugan is either incompetent or ingenious (I suspect the latter!) – to Barnes’ wild gesticulations on stage, this is a film that makes an instant and lasting impression. It raids genres almost as often as it raids wardrobes, with a wonderfully eclectic mix of comedic, dramatic and borderline farcicle elements that conspire to create a surprisingly fulfilling and poignant narrative, showcasing its stars abilities beautifully. That it does this whilst maintaining a delightfully heightened tone is testament to the abilities of screenwriters Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, who tread the line between fact and fiction with endless finesse.

Raw and more than a little rough around the edges, Killing Bono is an unassuming, yet simultaneously larger than life tale of self-distruction that goes beyond the call of duty to round out a surprisingly honest relationship and tether its more extreme elements with moments of genuine poignancy. You can have your Source Codes and keep your Sucker Punches, as Killing Bono satisfied all of my own cinematic needs with a verve and bombast that never ceased to entertain.

****½ (4.5/5)

Earlier this week, HeyUGuys sat down to discuss Killing Bono with the film’s director Nick Hamm, and the writer of the semi-autobiographical book upon which the film is based, Neil McCormick.

Our conversation started out, as most interviews tend to, with fairly bland questions, discussing the way the book and the film differ from McCormick’s life, but moved into far more interesting territory, with Hamm lambasting the anti-Bono bandwagon jumpers, and discussion of the insanity of the eighties music scene.

HUG: Obviously the book is based on your life story, and the film is based upon the book. How much have you edited, altered, made more dramatic as it were, because obviously in the film there’s all sorts of crazy…

Neil McCormick: There’s all sorts of extra, added drama. It’s like a Chinese whispers version of my life, and it gets worse with every retelling. There’s a lot of added things. There’s a lot of psychological and philosophical ideas bubbling under my book, told through disjointed anecdotes and internal monologues, and everything internal in a film, has to be externalised. And what is a metaphor, which is the metaphor of slaying your dragons, which is the very idea of Killing Bono, started to become a physical reality. So it’s a very different version of my story, my life in a parallel universe. I still don’t get to be a rock star, but I get played by a really handsome actor.

HUG: Nick, you’re translating, as it were, the book to the screen. At what point whilst reading these ‘disjointed anecdotes’ were you thinking, ‘right, these ones work, these ones definitely don’t’?

Nick Hamm: When you do a film like this you’re not telling a story of someone’s life, you’re telling a story of a character based on someone’s life, and you’re extrapolating from that all of the comedy you could get out of it, and you’re also condensing into an hour and a half of straightforward narrative, rather than a series of incidents that happened. So some of the film is authentic, some of the film actually happened: the U2 auditions, the stuff in the school, the hype tracks and all of that, that’s authentic rock and roll history. Neil did some of the other stuff, but proportionally quite small. There’s a fictionalisation, if you like, of what the character might have done in certain scenarios, and then used certain incidents. So the movie takes fact and fictionalises it, and takes fiction and makes it fact, but you kind of play with it, and you make it authentic to what it is at that moment, if that makes any sense. So you steer that course to try to get that narrative journey going.

HUG: Getting back to the real life cross over, Neil, are you still in contact with Bono at all?

NM: Yes, I’m in contact with Bono on a fairly regular basis. I wrote U2 on U2, I was his ghost writer. In fact, I lost contact with Bono for a few years, because he weighed down too heavily on me. His success was just a bit too big and overwhelming, and my failure at that point, the end of the band, was just a bit of a bitter pill that I had t o swallow and get over. There was a period of about five years where I just didn’t see him, but in the mid nineties we connected somewhere, it was actually at the funeral of a mutual friend, Bill Graham, a great writer, and after that we stayed very much in touch. I realised he was not this rock icon bestraddling the world, he was the same person I went to school with. When you’re in that position like his, you’re surrounded by a lot of voices; sometimes the older voices, the people who knew you before you were this idea, are the ones you can trust. He always knows I’ll l give him an opinion about anything, and he’s not afraid of opinions.

So we stay in touch, and he really liked the book. I discussed the book with him when I wrote it, and he loved it when it came out, because it’s the first time he had read himself, and recognised himself in print, because I knew him from a different bunch of dimensions than most people would ever see him. He was very in favour of the book, and he asked me to write his own book, so I went from a point in my life where the last thing I wanted to do was be involved with U2, to actually becoming his ghost writer. I spent two years hearing him tell me the story of his life, the whole lot of them, and seeing the U2 organisation from the inside. That was very interesting. It was interesting for them to tell their own story, because I saw so many points where everything was in jeopardy and it could have gone so wrong for them, and they might have just evaporated, and not become U2, and that’s what people forget, in those struggles, they weren’t born U2, a lot of things happened, and some of those things were accidents that made them the band. So I stay in touch with Bono, and he knew about the film, he even saw a script and he talked to me about it. He’s delighted with the idea of it. I think the big thing for all of us is the early stuff, particularly the school disco scene, which really just feels completely authentic, when the two bands are playing before you’ve become who you are, when you’re about to set out on that road. Practically everything in U2’s life from 1980 on is documented, there’s lots of photographs, and there’s demos and there’s videos and everything, but that’s a time before they became U2, and nobody was documenting it, and now here it is to be seen.

That scene just took me back, that pulled me back in a brutal way. It was like being in that disco, and watching our debut, and watching The Hype. I just loved that band, I loved that song. It’s a song that doesn’t exist anymore, and there it was, and the first time I heard them doing it, I still knew every word and nuance of it, because those were gigs. I must have seen U2 a hundred times before they even left Ireland.

HUG: You’ve clearly got a lot of affection for the band, and for Bono, and that translates onto the screen, but did you ever feel perhaps that, Bono in the film, is the nicest man on earth. He certainly comes across as such, and I wondered whether that was a decision, to offset him against the meanness, and the mean-spiritedness of some of the other characters on the screen, or whether it was accidental because he’s your friend.

NM: In my life he is a really nice guy. You talk to the other members of the band, about this image of Bono as a saint, and they’ll laugh at you, because in the rehearsal room with Bono, I think there’s a better chance that he might punch you than lift you up to heaven, but in my life, he’s my friend, and he’s tried to help me. I have always been reciprocal of that help, but I see him as a good guy, I’ve always seen him as a good guy I really think what he’s done is amazing, and the way his image has, in some ways, been demonised in a cartoonish fashion. I’ve seen too much of the other side of that; I know the truth, and I think it’s nice to see him presented as an actual, good natured human being, which is what he is.

NH: I don’t actually think that’s true that he comes across in the movie as a saint-like figure. Number one, I actually, personally find all of this anti-Bono stuff tiresome, and quite intellectually boring, and so ‘too cool for fucking school’, if you’re somehow, yeah, this is the bandwagon and we’re gonna… I mean grow up, for God’s sake. Have a fucking thought of your own once in a while. It’s nothing to do with any of that. This is a movie about the notion of failure. Represented in the movie is a guy who has success. This is his role in the picture, and I had no intention of being hyper-critical of somebody’s work who wasn’t a part of the movie.

HUG: I think you may have misunderstood my question.

NH: No, no. It wasn’t about you. That comment was about the rather fatuous comments about the title. If I read another crap thing on the internet about ‘I wish he was dead’. You just think, really, is that the extent…

NM: You know, Bono came up with the title. He understands that he’s not in control of how he’s perceived anymore, but he tries not to let it get in the way…

NH: You know, we’re obsessed with celebrity in a way which is like, you know, we laud these losers on a regular basis on tabloid television, and destroy talent with the same thing. We must address this. The movie isn’t about that, the movie’s just a romp.

HUG: Following on from that, one of the things that did strike me along the same lines of Bono being nice, it seems that Robert [Sheehan] and Ben [Barnes] are going through it as very normal guys, and throughout the film they meet people on a spectrum of utter bizarre. Peter Serafinowicz is amazing, but he’s a complete caricature of a man.

NM:  Do you think so? I can’t agree with you. The eighties were nuts…

NH: I can walk you down the street and sit you in the middle of Soho now… I’m gonna introduce you to fifteen producers he’s less of a caricature than.

NM: I went into one place, I can’t say where it is, the head of A&R, we went for a meeting in the middle of the day, and he had all the lights down. He was lying on the sofa with his sunglasses on, and he’s like ‘hey man’. Twenty-one year old guys off the boat from Ireland, and this is what your being introduced to…

NH: Let me tell you about the eighties. The eighties was cocaine on the table, and lines at night, and if you think that’s an exaggeration, then Jesus. That’s an underplayed version…

NM: There was a guy called The Captain, who was the head of A&R at  Island, and actually signed U2, and he used to watch the cricket while he was listening to your demos…

NH: Peter was way, way less caricatured than that.

Killing Bono is out in UK cinemas today.

How does one actually go about Killing Bono?  A man that has grown to such stardom that he is nearly untouchable to the world, let alone his school pals who are simply trying to achieve rock stardom just as he did.

That is the basic premise of Nick Hamm’s new film starring Ben Barnes (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Robert Sheehan, Krysten Ritter and Pete Postlethwaite…minus the actual killing of course.

The latest poster for the film has just been released and, thanks to Empire, we now have access to the mugshot looking poster.  When you look at it it kind of looks like the Burlesque poster with two extra faces added to the mix.  I’ll let you be the judge as to whether or not that is a good thing.

Check out the poster below and be sure to leave your comments in the section below.  I’ve also posted the trailer for you in case you’ve missed it.  Killing Bono hits theaters on April 1, 2011.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, starring Ben Barnes and Liam Neeson, opened at the top of the US box office this weekend, taking an estimated $24.5M, but failed to meet many analysts’ predictions.

It’s poor opening weekend means it has a long way to go to break-even and reclaim the $140M production budget.

Sony’s action-thriller The Tourist, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, landed in second place, bringing in an estimated $17M, again falling short of expectations.

Disney’s Tangled dropped to third taking $14.6M, bringing it’s three-week domestic total to $115.6M.

In it’s fourth week, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 earned another $8.5, reaching an incredible four-week domestic total of $257.7M.

Unstoppable rounded off the top five with an estimated $3.8M, bringing it’s domestic total to $74.3M.

Darren Aronofsky’s psychological ballet thriller Black Swan climbed to six, earning a very impressive $3.3M in only 90 locations.

Completing the top ten were Burlesque ($3.2M), Love and Other Drugs ($3M), Due Date ($2.6M) and Megamind ($2.5M).

HeyUGuys kicked off our week at the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair where the press gathered around the round table to catch up with Skandar Keynes.

Despite feeling quite under the weather (‘tis the season!) Skandar arrived with a smile on his face and a steaming tray of honey and lemon, all ready to let us pick his brains about his starring role as King Edmund the Just in the third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia.

Are you doing a lot of travelling to promote Voyage of the Dawn Treader?

Well we wanted to make a bit of a story out of the premiere in the USA. I mean normally there’s a big city premiere but they’re all very similar. Here in the UK we had the Royal Premiere which people find really interesting whereas in the States we’re organizing small town showings. First of all we’re going to Knoxville Tennessee and there we will pick the name of a town out of a hat and fly out to show the Narnia premiere there. So it could be anywhere, it could be in Alaska! After a day there we’re off to Washington DC where we’re going to christen a lion cub ‘Aslan’ before spending a couple of days in New York.

How has your life changed since The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe?

Well between the age of 12 and 19, I’m not sure how to begin answering that question! I’ve grown up and people like to say I’ve grown up through these films but I think I’ve grown up alongside them. It’s not as if Narnia has been my life. A lot of people draw comparisons between us and the Harry Potter kids but you’ve got to realize that they’ve been releasing a film every year for 8 years or so. Whereas for us we’ve had 7 years where we’ve made 3 films. It’s been a very different situation, we may go and film for 6 months and have an amazing experience but then we go back to our normal lives. The majority of those 7 years have been off camera.

Is it harder to make your mark as an actor when you’re performing in front of green screens?

I think the special effects in the film are fantastic and amazing to watch but at the same time the core of the story really relies on the characters and the journeys that they have. It is amazing to sit down and see just how visually stunning a big-budget special effects movie can be but it means nothing if you don’t believe in the characters. I think Voyage of the Dawn Treader exceeds itself because C.S. Lewis’ story is so strong and powerful that it’s a real pleasure to film.

Was seeing yourself in 3D a strange experience?

I normally see myself in 3D. (laughs) I really like the 3D, we didn’t actually film in 3D, it was added on at the end. What I loved about it was how it wasn’t at all gimmicky. At no point do you think the sea serpent is going to come out and tickle the audience! I think it allowed you to immerse yourself in the action and it proved to be a really nice touch. Hats off to James Cameron for pioneering that sort of technology and trend.

How did you feel walking away from Narnia?

It was the end of an era but it wasn’t frightening. It was sad, these are amazing experiences and you wish those could last forever but that’s never going to happen. I was happy and ready to move on to university and do other things. When I saw the film the other night I was really proud of it, everyone did such a good job and it left me in a position where I was leaving on a high.

Edmund’s character is pushed into temptation and weakness far more frequently than his siblings, how did you find playing such a demanding role?

Edmund does have a deep and ingrained vulnerability which was established in the first film. It is what’s been haunting him, it’s what will always haunt him. I think the decision to bring Tilda back, although it’s not necessarily found in the books, was a really good idea in that she symbolizes his fears and temptations and his past mistakes. Lucy now has to deal with her temptations but that’s a relatively new experience for her character.

Any temptations in reality?

My thing is…I’m a big car man. I don’t have one unfortunately but I’ve been lucky enough to drive a couple of nice cars. I watch Top Gear every week! Andrew Adamson has an Audi R8 and he let me drive it which is actually perfectly legal as he has an insurance policy which lets anybody drive it. So much fun!

With relatives such as Charles Darwin your family tree is quite impressive and diverse, what’s it like being the first actor in your family?

First of all if anybody has been reading Wikipedia it’s almost entirely wrong! (Charles Darwin is true, HeyUGuys checked!) As far as acting goes, my sister acts but I suppose I’m the first to do it to any serious degree and I don’t think of myself in my family’s shadow. I’ve just been enjoying having my own path. I’m also the first of the Keynes to study Arabic and I chose it for a couple of reasons. On the one hand it’s personal because my mother’s Lebanese and I was never brought up speaking the language but I wanted to learn it. We have a family house in Lebanon I want to visit and I’d like to overcome that barrier language can create against really exploring a region. Secondly academically I find it a really interesting area of study, both historically and politically.

What was your favourite scene in the film?
My favourite scenes to watch on screen were most definitely my least favourite to actually film! For instance the sword fight with Ben because what happened was…I stabbed him a couple of times. It was a horrible feeling! One of the worst days of my life! The first time I stabbed him in the leg, the blades had a metal core but a rubber exterior so you’re not going to maim anybody but the speed we were going at means they can give you some nasty bruises. Then I hit him in the cheek and I was mortified because a centimetre the wrong way and I might have got him in the eye….Then I got him in the lip and I remember the moment it happened he screamed out and he was crouched over. I just thought ‘oh my God’ and looked around at everybody and they were all completely appalled and one of the stunt men was actually shaking his head at me!

Have you been keeping an eye on Voyage of the Dawn Treader’s reception?

It’s something I try not to get bogged down in. Honestly, I’m really waiting to see what the general public think. I’ve not read it but I’ve heard that apparently the Guardian man didn’t like it but it sounds like his views were unconnected to the reality and heart of the film. It’s a children’s film! Coming from north London I’d say it’s not necessarily a film for north London farts. I think if you get into the spirit of it as a family film. Something you can enjoy and be innocent with. I find it really silly when critics don’t like it because of ridiculously high brow nitpicking. It’s not like 5 year olds are going to turn to their parents and say, ‘Well Mummy, I thought the dynamic wasn’t right…’

What do you think makes a hero in real life?

I feel that a hero is somebody who will stand up for their values and what they believe in and that can take any form. People that have values and have thought them through rather than those who just do what they’re told.

Who was your hero as a child growing up?

Thierry Henry. I saw Arsenal vs. Manchester United and in the 90^th minute when he headed that goal in, 1-1. One of the highlights of my life! That and Andrew’s R8!

Do you have a favourite book in the Chronicles?

My favourite of the books will always be The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe because it’s the first book and it’s beautifully written. I love that initial discovery of Narnia. I think that as a film crew we’ve succeeded most in the final film, so many of the elements we’ve been working on have finally come together. I think the effects are seamless. It’s visually stunning. I think it’s captivating in 3D and the pace and heart are spot on. I enjoyed this film the most.

Will Poulter will be taking over the Narnia story in The Silver Chair, how do you feel about handing over the torch to him?

I couldn’t think of a worthier torch carrier! He’s a great guy and I really enjoyed working with him. We became great friends and he lives in London and I meet up often with him and his family. It was an absolute pleasure and honour to have him on the film and I do hope they make The Silver Chair for his sake.

Skandar is currently studying Arabic and Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University where he’s informed us he plays on the Pembroke basketball team, apparently much to his friends’ amusement! Check out HeyUGuys interview with his co-star Georgie Henley here.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is released in UK Cinemas today.

On Monday HeyUGuys enjoyed a little brunch at the Dorchester hotel in Mayfair before we sat down with a few press folk to do a round table interview with Her Majesty Queen Lucy the Valiant, best known outside the land of Narnia as 15-year old starlet Georgie Henley.

The youngest of the Pevensie children told us how it felt to take centre-frame as the female-lead in Voyage of the Dawn Treader and in what would be her final major appearance in the Narnian Chronicles.

It must be exciting to reach this point?

It’s so fun to finally be showing the film to people because we never knew how it would be received. The second film was received so differently to the first film we weren’t sure how Voyage of the Dawn Treader would fare but people seem to really like it! It’s everybody’s favourite so far – I think it appeals to a wider range of people.

How was it working with new director Michael Apted after two films and six years with Andrew Adamson?

We were filming in Australia and Andrew lives in New Zealand, so he flew over roughly five times during filming which was really great. But it was quite good that he didn’t stay for very long because it could be difficult for Michael worrying ‘is Andrew watching what I’m doing?’ We were very happy to have such a talented director to work with and Michael is so experienced. I always think you learn more by working with directors than with other actors. He had a wonderful vision as well because he’d already been involved in the film for two years before we started filming so he knew exactly what he wanted. So it proved to be a completely different experience to working with Andrew.

Why do you think the books are still so popular, do you have a favourite?

My favourite book is actually Voyage of the Dawn Treader which is probably ideal for publicity reasons! (laughs) It‘s true though, it is my favourite one and it always has been! I think the Chronicles of Narnia are classics because the writing is timeless and C.S. Lewis’ descriptions are minimalist in a way which lets you apply your own imagination and interpretations to them which is wonderful for children and their creative development. On top of that you have elements of escapism and excitement which everybody can relate to.

You were only 7 years old when you joined The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, did growing up in Narnia have much impact on your childhood?

I was definitely thrown in at the deep end. It’s strange because I flew in at the top but now I have to almost work my way down the ladder because I’m finished with Narnia now and am carrying on with school. I feel like I’ve had a brilliant childhood just with bits added on, I don’t feel like Narnia took anything away. It’ a little hard at school when you miss out on the inside jokes but that happens to everyone. You can’t have everything. So what if you miss a person’s birthday because you know you’ll be there the next year.

Will you carry on acting?

I hope so. It’s funny because when I had my gap between The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian there were tonnes of scripts piling in and I much preferred the idea of school and being with my friends. I had literally just started secondary school so why would I still want to be filming? Now, ironically I’ve decided I want to be working whilst I’m still at school so I can continue to pursue acting as a career the scripts are slowly trickling through…I’ve got to concentrate on my GCSE’s but I hope I’ll be working in the near future. You have to be picky when you’re at school.

Did you have a tutor on set during filming?

Yes. Legally you have to have 3 hours of teaching a day then on a day off we’d have 5 so it would be like a normal school day but more intense because it’s one on one. We were lucky to have good tutors and a crew which understood that they were working with minors and that we needed that school time. But I can’t pretend it’s fun coming in from filming and having to get straight into your coursework whilst your mum’s watching ‘Come Dine with Me’ whilst you’re beavering away!

Would you consider Harry Potter’s Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe’s career choices as a model for your own?

They’ve both taken very different paths. Daniel Radcliffe was tutored even when he wasn’t filming and now he’s doing The Woman in Black and really paving a successful career for himself whereas Emma Watson is studying at Brown and pursuing her education. So as young actors they present polar opposites. I would personally be more likely to take Emma’s approach because I would like to go to university but it is impressive the way Daniel came away from Harry Potter refusing to be typecast.

Now it’s all over, are you daunted at all?

I am really glad I’m leaving Narnia at the age of 15 rather than 25 because then at least I have school! If I’d left Narnia and I didn’t have school I’d be very scared. I miss that security of thinking I’m going to be working next year and I find it hard to act unprofessionally. I don’t have time to act, work, dance and go to school and still have some sort of a social life! I miss that security but it’s a good time for me and I’m doing as much as possible to get myself out there. Hopefully it will all work out…

The cast appear to be quite close to Liam Neeson, do you guys see him as a bit of a father figure?

It’s interesting because we’ve only met him a few times. I met him for the very first time at the Prince Caspian premieres which was crazy because I’d been in two films with him. The thing about Liam is he’s the kind of person who you meet for the first time and you feel like you’ve known him all your life. He’s a really warm and welcoming person but also very internal so you understand that he’s not like this with everyone – he saves it for people he believes are special. So I’m very lucky because I do feel like I have a close relationship with him which is strange considering I’ve only met him four or five times. He’s wonderful and he brings a lot to the film as Aslan and we’re incredibly fortunate to have him on board. Liam was going to fly out for the final part of the film and perform all the last scenes with us because it’s such a pivotal moment for our characters but sadly it fell through so we’re thrilled he’s doing a lot of publicity. I’ve always thought that Lucy’s the favourite of Aslan which might sound boastful but she has the first sightings of him and lots of special scenes so I do feel they have a very pure and strong connection.

Do you have a favourite scene from the film?

I love the scenes on the Dawn Treader! I think the boat looks incredible and we had such a great time filming on it! We had a set crew of at least 40 sailors who used to come on land with us and when we were on the boat there’d be big crew sing-a-longs. It’s wonderful to watch those scenes back and think of all the fun we had and the friends I made.

Was it emotional when filming finished?

I didn’t realize it was my last shot! We were filming an important scene for Skandar actually, one of his big shots in the sea serpent sequence where I was standing and watching him and sending out ‘don’t die, because you’re my brother’ vibes. It was the last take though and Michael came up onto the ship and mumbled ‘ well something something, our last shot’ and that was that! It was very sad for all of us! All the costume and make-up girls were crying their eyes out. It was horrible! And a little silly as I technically had another two weeks of filming on second unit to finish everything off.

What’s it been like working in films with so much CGI and stunt work, does it tear away at all from your acting?

I’m definitely looking forward to doing something without CGI because it can prove quite difficult! But I think it’s actually harder to organize your timing and stunt-work in scenes like our entrance into Narnia or later when we returned. Hitting your mark under water without drifting anywhere is nearly impossible!

Obviously Lucy is tempted in the film, which desire would tempt you in real life?

I have this urge to jump off tall buildings! It’s this overpowering desire to feel that rush of falling but not hitting the ground of course… (HeyUGuys thoroughly recommended bungee jumping.)

Georgie is currently listening to Kanye West and went on to admit with the smallest of blushes that her guilty pleasure has been watching this year’s X Factor. Check out HeyUGuys interview with her co-star Skandar Keynes here.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is released in UK Cinemas today.

Our third trip to Narnia sets sail in a few days and if you’re keeping an eye on all thing Voyage of the Dawn Treader then we’ve got some new posters this evening. I know. We spoil you don’t we?

The film had its Royal Premiere last week and we have our review of the film right here, and there’s been a slew of trailers and images already and if you’ve seen those then you won’t be too surprised by what you see below, they’re all much of a muchness really.

IMPA rolled these new posters out and very fancy they look too,

Posters ahoy,

On Tuesday night, HeyUGuys fussed ever so slightly over what to wear to walk down the red carpet in Leicester Square on behalf of Sky Movies HD for the third chapter in the Narnia film chronicles. I say slightly because no sooner had I chosen appropriate attire for the Royal Film Performance I had to cover it all up with two cardigans, a scarf and a very thick, oversized coat. We’re not sure whether it was 20^th Century Fox or Aslan organizing the precipitation but no premiere could have asked for more appropriate weather conditions as the snow fell delicately across the square’s stunningly arranged tableau and various pink-cheeked stars.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were both in attendance and arrived promptly and without ceremony (monarchy or not, we Brits don’t willingly hang around in the cold) at 7.30pm before being introduced to director Michael Apted, producer Mark Johnson and producer of this and director of the last two Narnia instalments Andrew Adamson. The two youngest Pevensie siblings Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley also received a moment in the Royal limelight as well as a Royal nod sent in the direction of Anna Popplewell and Will Poulter (it must be noted that the latter’s superior performance effortlessly outstripped his cast-mates but more on that in a moment). Liam Neeson and Simon Pegg provided more familiar Hollywood faces despite their lack of physical appearance in the film as they had offered their vocal stylings to the great Lion Aslan and the courageous mouse Reepicheep. Michael Apted made a small parade of his cast in front of both audiences who attended the screenings and apologized on behalf of Ben Barnes, the once Prince but now King Caspian, who was absent for his performance in Birdsong at the Comedy Theatre close by. I can tell you more than a few small sighs exhaled from the disappointed female members of our audience during that gentle letdown.

Now, onwards to Narnia.

C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader charts Lucy and Edmund Pevensie’s return to the mythic and beautiful land, or more accurately waters, of their Narnian kingdom, grudgingly flanked by their haughty and bumptious younger cousin Eustace Scrubb. The three characters stuck frustratingly in the limbo and unreality of their British wartime childhood are pulled suddenly through an ocean portal inside a bedroom portrait and land in Narnian waters where King Caspian and his majestic vessel the Dawn Treader await them. Michael Apted’s adaptation of the third part of the author’s epic is undeniably a good effort however it is best to remember upon viewing that ‘Based on the book by C.S. Lewis’ is in the credits for a reason. So let’s try and get the nit-picking out of the way. Although it remains difficult not to compare Narnia to the popular fantasy turned blockbuster worlds of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, especially when one considers the timing of Tolkien and Lewis’ story-writing, there is a clear distinction which sets the Chronicles apart – Narnia contains a balance of mythical sophistication and childish whimsy that the other two sagas just don’t have based on story alone. Surely this should give Dawn Treader and its previous high-budget brothers the edge? Sadly, not quite, but they’re on the right track.

Apted’s dedicated attempt to squeeze in every delicious morsel of visual imagery and plot from the original tale doesn’t over-stuff Dawn Treader however it certainly leaves the film unfortunately over-paced. Dawn Treader is a relatively healthy and well-rounded adaptation but in its attempt to keep itself in perfect motion it sets the treadmill a little too fast and as a result gets quite out of breath in places. The initial exposition is snappy and aesthetically pleasing, one can’t help but be caught up in the superior CGI and high-impact, energetic action of it all. However this sprint pace doesn’t let up…for half of the film. We aren’t given enough time to absorb and appreciate just how much beauty and thought has been manifested on screen as we island hop like restless adrenalin junkies rather than the travelling ocean-tossed heroes we aspire to relate to. What use is Hollywood adrenalin if you don’t let it sink in a little first? Visually the film hits the mark with punchy battle sequences, towering camera angles and rich diverse scenery but we only really get to savour these 3D delights once we leave the penultimate isle. It would have been nice to have had a few lingering encounters so we could giggle properly at the ridiculous Dufflepuds on Coriakin’s island or feel that potent sweep of moral terror on the shore of the gruesome Golden Lake. Obviously it is a balancing act and I am thankful that the director chose to keep us a little too on our toes rather than lulled into a disenchanted sleep.

The cast perform admirably and it must be said I was relieved and slightly stunned to find that Simon Pegg’s bold little Reepicheep was the first talking rodent I’ve ever been able to stomach, minimum irritation and maximum gallantry! We catch some entertaining glimpses of the variety of creatures Narnia has to offer as Tavros the Minotaur throws a slave-trader across the set and mermaids beckon and wave from the sea foam but there is a far greater emphasis on the people of Narnia in Dawn Treader. The people and their ability to overcome their personal monsters and demons: temptation, greed, vanity, and fear. The film-makers have carefully downplayed the religious overtones of the book in favour of fleshing out a more universally distributable sense of morality and justice. With the exception of a few inadaptable moments, because if you took those away well then Aslan would really just be a big furry fake and even children aren’t going to subscribe to that.

Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley and even Caspian despite his handsomely Herculean effort were entirely out-shined by Will Poulter as Eustace Scrubb who is best known for his debut role in Son of Rambow. He was far and away the most believable human-character and I personally couldn’t be happier that if the franchise survives long enough to produce The Silver Chair, he’ll be back! The first half of the film is dominated by Poulter as his presence usurps his cast mates’ performances in far less screen time than it took their characters to build them up. As Eustace he undermines the severity of every character and situation he is reluctantly thrown into. On top of this his characterization is so full and such incredible fun that even when the actor technically disappears for the majority of the latter half he is so firmly secured in the audience’s imagination that his CGI replacement more than manages the job. Georgie Henley shows a more interesting scope and wider range of emotion and maturity now that she has a little space from Anna Popplewell’s shadow but again her development is repeatedly ushered on and sacrificed to keep the plot moving.

Funnily enough I enjoyed the second half of the film much more than the first despite some glaring differences between the events unfolding on screen and the book. Then again all that metaphorical evil mist and island-hopping smacks a teensy bit of J.J. Abrams’ Lost without the J.J. Abrams (aka a little bit tacky and misplaced although I think it had the correct effect on a younger audience) and there is an amusing reincarnation of the Ghostbusters’ marshmallow man thanks to Edmund during the film’s crescendo, do watch out for it, I found it deeply entertaining. For all its flaws this film has a lot of soul and it really mustn’t be taken too seriously. There is an unrefined, imperfect quality to the Narnia Chronicles which I think in a roundabout way happens to work in their favour. We enjoy the talking animals and proper English children flung into ridiculous danger, responsibility and magic a darn sight more when we aren’t trying to make everything fit seamlessly. Don’t try to, the director tried and he only got halfway there this time so you won’t do any better.

In the end, quite simply Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a family picture which isn’t asking you to think too much, just to imagine and don’t ask too many questions. Later I walked gingerly home through the snow with a complimentary bag of popcorn and when the wind finally broke my sad-looking umbrella I happened to look up properly. There wasn’t a soul in sight and as the snowflakes danced in the light from the streetlamp I forgot the cold and began to see the magic behind Narnia a little more clearly than when I’d left the house.

The December episode of Sky Movies’ The Family Show is a Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Special, in which host Craig Stevens will bring viewers all the action from the red carpet of the title’s World Premiere in London’s Leicester Square, as well as interviews with the cast and clips from the movie.  The Family Show Narnia Special airs on Sunday 12^th December at 2.25pm on Sky Movies Family/HD.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is released in UK Cinemas on December 10^th 2010.

Last night saw Mrs Queen sat among her subjects in the Odeon Leicester Square in London to enjoy the latest film from the Narnia team, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

With the world premiere behind it there’s only a week or so until the Dawn Treader hoves into view so let’s complement the new images and video we saw yesterday with another clip released today by the good people at Moviefone.

This video is a nice introduction to Simon Pegg’s Reepicheep as he crosses swords with Will Poulter. From what I can gather from the clips and trailers shown so far the film has a certain charm which I’m hoping is threaded through a decent storyline and is strong enough to bring the people in.

Here’s the clip,

Last night was the Royal World Premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and here’s the official footage and interviews from the evening which took place in London’s snowy Leicester Square.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh turned up to enjoy the 3D spectacular alongside the stars of the film including Simon Pegg, Liam Neeson, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell and Will Poulter.

We’ve got a few Narnian treats coming up on the site ahead of it’s release on the 9th of December, and you can see all of our coverage right here.

In around twenty four hours the Queen will dance gaily up the red carpet to attend the Royal Film Performance and World Premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

If the Narnians go as far as their Potter brethren did a few weeks ago then Leicester Square will be filled with gallons of water and the Queen will arrive on the Dawn Treader itself, so extravagant were the wizarding celebrations and the Narnia films have had to carve out their our own identity against the onslaught of the Chosen One.

Time will tell if the third film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will have the success of the first film in the series, the charming outing in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, I hope it does.

Anyhoo, this is all preamble to let you know that we’ll be on the red carpet tomorrow and then, dressed to the nines, we’ll be enjoying the film and bring our review back to you as soon as possible. To get you in the mood IESB have found a nice behind the scenes video and a couple of images which have been photoshopped to oblivion.

Here’s the video,

And here are the dubious pictures,

There’s a recognisable sheen to the slew of CG heavy action movies out this year, something in the glint and glitter of it all, from the Owls of Ga’hoole to the neon network of Tron, through Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch and its unapologetic visual riot via the annual Potterfest and now with this new trailer for the third Narnia film, it’s getting less and less impressive to see the impossible placed on screen.

That said, if you’ve been keeping up with the Voyage of the Dawn Treader then this trailer will keep your interest sufficiently whet before its imminent arrival on the big screen. Though my problems with the wholly derivative nature of the film (not the source material) from what we’ve seen so far is still unmoved by this new display you can’t help but feel charmed by a rodent voiced by Simon Pegg.

Here’s the trailer, Narnians.

The official Facebook page for the third film in The Chronicles of Narnia have released a few new images from the film and it looks like we’re in for a visually stunning Voyage of the Dawn Treader when the film hits cinemas in the 10th of December.

Michael Apted inherits the directing reins from producer Andrew Adamson and after the (relatively) disappointing box office of Prince Caspian Fox are hoping that the Dawn Treader will bring back the crowds. Setting sail on the Silver Sea Edmund and Lucy join King Caspian and a talking mouse by the name of Reepicheep, voiced by the nation’s favourite – Simon Pegg.

Here are the pics in all of their glory,

German picture book Die Reise auf der Morgenrote: Fotos aus Narnia (via Narniaweb.com) has published a series of 15 new stills from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Originally scheduled for a May, 2009 release, production was first held up by concerns over the safety of a Mexico shoot and then by a change in distributor, with 20th Century Fox replacing Walt Disney Pictures, caused by budget disputes.

With producers admitting “we made some mistakes with Prince Caspian, and I don’t want to make them again”, that Prince Caspian lacked the “wonder and magic of Narnia”, and that the previous instalment was “a little bit too rough” for a family movie; it looks as the the Narnia series is back on track with Voyage – these stills (in keeping with the impressive trailer) hinting at a swashbuckling adventure suffering no such lack of magic.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will sail into cinemas this December in 2D and 3D.

MTV have gifted the world with 28 new images for movies that are coming up over the next few months. In a series of posts over the next few hours, I’m going to be putting up the image(s) and giving you a low-down on the cast, the synopsis and the release date (if there is one). If you want to see all the other posts in this series, click here.

These new images come from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and show is more of William Moseley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell and Ben Barnes from the third movie to come in the series. We got to see a trailer for the movie a month or so ago which you can see here.

It also stars Georgie Henley, Will Poulter, Laura Brent, Simon Pegg and is directed by Michael Apted. It’s scheduled for release 10th December.

Click the images to enlarge.

NarniaFans.com have released three brand new clips from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is directed by Michael Apted, and stars Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Arthur Angel, Shane Rangi and Liam Neeson.

The movie is scheduled for release in the UK 10th December. I’ve placed the synopsis below and scroll down to view the new clips.

Synopsis: Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Clip #3: Sea of Lilies from NarniaFans.com on Vimeo.

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Clip #2: Greedy Eustace from NarniaFans.com on Vimeo.

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Clip #1: The Adventure Begins from NarniaFans.com on Vimeo.

While the first trailer unfurled a fairly derivative, though enjoyable, Potter-esque fantasy the new trailer looks far more enticing.

Michael Apted succeeds Andrew Adamson as the director for the third film in the series based on the beloved C.S. Lewis books, and with competing fantasy franchises shutting up shop Fox must be hoping that Voyage of the Dawn Treader brings the fans in.

The trailer is below, looking epic and treading lightly between CGI overload and a genuinely magical touch.

The comprehensive fansite NarniaFans.com (via Bleeding Cool) plucked this one from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD.