Isle of Man Film presents
An Edward R. Pressman production
in association with
Grosvenor Park
in association with Remag Guerrilla Films
& Magnolia Pictures
A MAGNOLIA PICTURES RELEASE
MUTANT CHRONICLES
A film by Simon Hunter
111 min., 1.85:1, 35mm
Distributor Contact: / Press Contact NY/Nat’l: / Press Contact LA/Nat’l:Matt Cowal / Steve Beeman / Karen Oberman
Arianne Ayers / Falco / 42 West
Danielle McCarthy / 850 Seventh Ave, Ste 1005 / 11400 W. Olympic Blvd. Ste 1100
Magnolia Pictures / New York, NY 10019 / Los Angeles, CA 90064
49 W. 27th St., 7th Floor / (212) 445-7100 / (310) 477-4442
New York, NY 10001 / /
(212) 924-6701 phone
(212) 924-6742 fax
SYNOPSIS
In the year 2707, Earth’s natural resources have been exhausted by mankind and battle rages between the soldiers of the world’s four leading corporations: Capitol, Bauhaus, Mishima and Imperial.
Mitch Hunter (Thomas Jane) and Nathan Rooker (Sean Pertwee), battle-hardened Capitol soldiers and best mates, fight a desperate battle against a Bauhaus advance. Unbeknownst to both Capitol and Bauhaus, their battle wages above an ancient, buried seal. The seal was placed beneath the earth’s surface centuries ago to protect the planet from an enemy far greater than any corporation. When an errant shell destroys the hidden seal, the men find themselves face to face with a new enemy--the enemy of man--horrific necromutants whose weapons are deadly bone blades which mutate from their hideous arms. The mutant army strikes relentlessly. Mitch Hunter barely manages to escape their violent attack. Nathan does not.
The mutants multiply by millions, destroying all before them. The Corporations must ban together against the mutants if they are to have any chance of survival. The Corporations’ chosen leader, Constantine (John Malkovich), is preparing to abandon the planet and mankind, leaving countless innocents to a hopeless, violent fate, when he is approached with news from Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman), leader of the Brotherhood, an ancient monastic order.
Brother Samuel is keeper of the Chronicles, a book that prophesies both the rise of the mutants, and the coming of a ‘Deliverer’ destined to destroy them. Samuel believes he is that Deliverer--the lone human being meant to journey deep into the earth to obliterate the source of the mutant scourge for good. Desperate to convince Constantine to help change the course of the future, he implores the leader to provide him with a ship and crew to pursue the prophesy of the Chronicles.
Samuel manages to recruit fiercely independent Mitch Hunter to lead the perilous mission, along with a disparate band of brave soldiers to complete their crew--honor bound Bauhaus officer Steiner (Benno Fürmann); sword-wielding Severian (Anna Walton), the only female member of the Brotherhood and bound to silence; volatile street fighter El Jesus (Luis Echegaray); fearless beauty Duval (Devon Aoki); and stoic warrior Juba (Tom Wu).
Directed by Simon Hunter and written by Philip Eisner, Mutant Chronicles follows Mitch and Samuel’s mission into the very heart of the darkness in an attempt to save human kind and the planet from the marauding hordes of undying mutants.
The darkest age is yet to come. Have faith.
ABOUT THE FILM
MUTANT CHRONICLES, directed by Simon Hunter and written by Philip Eisner, is set on what is left of Earth in the year 2707. By this point four mega-corporations have pillaged the planet’s resources. During a blinding battle, an ancient seal once embedded in the earth is ruptured, releasing a demonic, marauding army of underworld necromutants who wage an all out war against human kind.
In creating the visual world of MUTANT CHRONICLES, director Simon Hunter envisioned a future of regression. Rather than depict a futuristic, ultra-modern world, Hunter wanted to illustrate a dismal, desperate future without technological advances--a world where mankind had inflicted ruin upon itself. “I wanted nothing high tech, everything retro, everything coal powered,” explains Hunter, “…a Victorian future world of chimneys and fires and boilers and dirt.” Hunter, a provocative visualist, classifies the world he created as ‘Steam-Punk’-- a subgenre of fantasy and fiction which refers to works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used.
Producer, Edward R. Pressman, discovered MUTANT CHRONICLES in the mid-90s when his brother, James Pressman of Pressman Toy, licensed the role-playing game. The Crow starring Brandon Lee had just been a huge box office hit. Pressman was interested in finding another franchise property. MUTANT CHRONICLES was exactly what Pressman was looking for. He immediately acquired the rights to the property from Paradox Entertainment.
Screenwriter Philip Eisner was brought in to the write the screenplay. The original screenplay by Eisner was innovative and inspired; however, the project based on that original screenplay, had a false start which was to the advantage of the production as the technology was not yet in place to shoot this film on such a grand scale at a modest budget. Despite the false start in the 90s, Pressman’s signature tenacity and belief in the project kept the film alive.
In 2005, Hunter and his producing partner, Tim Dennison, approached Pressman with Hunter’s take on MUTANT CHRONICLES. Hunter had been tracking the project for years. He sought out Pressman and declared that he could make MUTANT CHRONICLES for a fraction of the budget citing changes in technology and cutting-edge visual techniques he would create specifically for the world of MUTANT CHRONICLES. “I wanted to make MUTANT CHRONICLES,” says Hunter, “because I wanted a fresh take on this type of material—a dark, tough and gritty future. The last thing I wanted was for this film to look like Alien…whilst that film is excellent, it has been done, and I really wanted to strike on fresh ground.” Because so much of the visual world Hunter wanted to show had not technically been achieved before, he proposed to Pressman that he shoot a teaser film to prove he could realize his vision at the budget required.
Hunter and his crew spent five days shooting the 7 minute film against blue screen, and nearly four months of post-production followed. The entire short film was shot without the use of any facility house. The effects were done on two Macs at Hunter’s home. Hunter proved advanced technological feats were feasible on a modest budget. He sold Pressman on his vision.
Hunter officially came on board to direct, and he and Pressman spent the next few months screening the short film around Hollywood. They were successful in securing financing, distributors, and cast—including Thomas Jane and John Malkovich. “Watching Simon’s short, it was obvious the guy had a singular vision and an innate understanding of the technical means to get it done,” says Jane.
Following a few drafts by other writers, Pressman went back to Eisner and asked him to write the final shooting script. Hunter and Eisner worked closely to create the world of MUTANT CHRONICLES. “Philip has been a real delight to work with,” says Hunter, “he has a real insight and appreciation for the genre. Throughout the process, he would remind me to keep it fun. The degenerate future we’ve created of war and mutants is Saturday afternoon entertainment, and Philip was integral in crafting that entertainment.”
As Jane was in discussions to play ‘Mitch Hunter’, Hunter and screenwriter Philip Eisner decided to adapt the tone of the film. “Thomas was going to play the part as our Steve McQueen figure—cool, a loner, and iconoclastic,” explains Hunter.
Hunter knew he had to find a skilled and innovative pioneer as his Director of Photography. He chose DP Geoff Boyle because of his expertise in new technology. They chose to shoot on the cutting edge Viper camera system where uncompressed images are captured on hard disk records resulting in incredible detail and texture. This method would simplify post-production for the compositors and eliminate the need for scanning film. Though artistically frustrated at times by dealing with the enormous green screens, Boyle would make ground-breaking strides with the technology, pushing it to its fullest potential.
To achieve Hunter’s Steam-Punk vision of the future he chose Production Designer, Caroline Greville-Morris. She and Hunter created the world of MUTANT CHRONICLES using a variety of methods which included a mixture of sets, partial sets extended in post, miniatures layered with CGI, green screens and matte paintings. Explains Hunter, “These techniques are inexpensive and have an original and interesting look.” Costume Designer, Yves Barre, looked back in time for the foundation of his multi-layered design concept. He incorporated elements of design from various centuries spanning the medieval period, the 12th Century for the monks, the 19th and early 20th Centuries for the military uniforms and the 1950s for the members of the council chamber. This combination of historical design supported and illuminated the ambitious and original Steam-Punk visual experience envisioned by Simon Hunter, Production Designer Caroline Greville-Morris and Director of Photography Geoff Boyle.
In the spring of 2006 principal photography of MUTANT CHRONICLES began. The film was shot over a nine-week schedule beginning in May 2006 at Shepperton Studios and on location in the Isle of Man. The production process would involve nearly 2000 visual effects shots (a British record) and take nearly two years to complete. Hunter has devoted three years to MUTANT CHRONICLES.
With over 2,000 visual effect shots, the effects were essential to fulfilling Hunter’s vision. “The only way to achieve the Steam-Punk future on screen was to build sets or create our own world in post-production,” says Hunter. “By creating our own world in post, we were able to give the film a strong design from start to finish that is original and fresh.”
The VFX Company, Men From Mars, especially Visual Effects Supervisor Simon Carr, worked meticulously with Hunter and editor, Alison Lewis, to fully realize MUTANT CHRONICLES as Hunter originally envisioned it.
MUTANT CHRONICLES is an epic science-fiction action thriller starring a tour de force ensemble cast, Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Benno Fürmann, Sean Pertwee, Devon Aoki, Anna Walton, and John Malkovich.
MUTANT CHRONICLES is produced by Edward R. Pressman, Tim Dennison, Peter La Terriere, Stephen Belafonte, and Pras Michel. Steve Christian of Isle of Man Film, Ltd served as Executive Producer along with Alessandro Camon, Paradox Entertainment’s Fredrik Malmberg, Lee Solomon, Christian Halsey Solomon, Charles Finch, Stephane Bibeau, and Jon Katz. The film is financed by Grosvenor Park and Isle of Man Film, Ltd. Voltage Pictures is handling international sales. Cinetic Media is handling domestic sales. Edward R. Pressman and Paradox Entertainment recently completed a publishing deal with Dark Horse Comics and merchandising deals with C.O.G. Games and Fantasy Flight.
Since it began as a popular role-playing board game more than a decade ago, MUTANT CHRONICLES has won over fans worldwide. The property has been translated in 17 languages in a variety of formats, including collectable card games, videogames, books, comics and miniature games.
ABOUT THE CAST
THOMAS JANE - Mitch Hunter
Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1969 Thomas Jane has a solid raft of film and major TV credits to his name and has worked with some of the international film industry’s most acclaimed directors including Frank Darabont, Renny Harlin, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Madden, Terrence Malick, and John Woo.
Early appearances in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Crow: City of Angels then led to roles in John Woo’s Face/Off and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. Jane was then cast in Anderson’s Magnolia, before taking a role in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line.
Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea followed, as well as Stephen Hopkin’s Under Suspicion, Original Sin and 61* for HBO which Billy Crystal directed, and Jane portrayed famed baseball legend Mickey Mantle.
Other notable credits include The Sweetest Thing, Dreamcatcher and South African cop-turned-bank robber Stander, but Jane’s role as the lead in The Punisher is the one that brought him most acclaim.
More recently, he has starred in John Madden’s Killshot, Simon Hunter’s futuristic film MUTANT CHRONICLES, and The Tripper which is directed by his brother-in-law David Arquette. He recently wrapped filming on Stephen King’s The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont.
In 2005 Jane started his own publishing arm Raw Studios with Steve Niles and Tim Bradstreet, producing the science fiction comics Bad Planet and Alien Pig Farm 3000. Upcoming film projects include the noir thriller Dark Country, which Jane is currently directing and starring in for Sony and is being shot stereoscopically.
RON PERLMAN - Samuel
Award-winning actor, Ron Perlman has moved seamlessly between the worlds of film, television, and theater for almost three decades. Having received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, he returned to his native New York to begin his professional career in theater, delving into the works of contemporaries like Pinter and Beckett as well as the classics of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ibsen, and Checkov with two recent trips back to Broadway in A Few Good Men and Bus Stop.
His film career began in the early eighties with two films back to back for director Jean Jacques Annaud--Quest for Fire, for which he received a Canadian Academy Award nomination, and the role of Salvatore, the hunchback in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. Most recently Perlman resumes his unique collaboration with French directors Jean Pierre Juenet and Marc Caro co-starring with Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder in Juenet’s Alien Resurrection. Perlman first worked with Juenet and Caro on their award winning City of Lost Children. Other film work includes roles in studio ventures such as The Island of Dr. Moreau, Romeo is Bleeding, Fluke, The Adventures of Huck Finn and Sleepwalkers, as well as independent films including Cronos, The Last Supper and When the Bough Breaks. Soon to be released pictures include, Frogs for Snakes, I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, Tinseltown, and Miramax’s Happy Texas.