Movie
production notes
The production notes
for the movie M2M have been released. The
production notes are essentially a studios
attempt to sell their movie to the press.
3.10.00
The
year is 2020 and NASA has made another giant
leap for mankind-successfully landing a team
of astronauts on Mars. However, shortly after
their arrival on the Martian surface, Mission
Commander Luke Graham (DON CHEADLE) and his
colleagues encounter something bizarre, shocking
and chilling that brings about a catastrophic
and mysterious disaster which decimates the
crew. Graham is able to send one hasty cryptic
message back to Earth before his nightmare
begins.
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Connie Nelson, Don Cheadle and Gary
Sinise in MISSION TO MARS
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Haunted
by the enigmatic last communication received
from the ill-fated Mars One crew, NASA hurriedly
prepares and launches a rescue mission to
investigate the tragedy and bring back survivors-if
any. Co-piloted by Commander Woody Blake (TIM
ROBBINS) and Jim McConnell (GARY SINISE),
with colleagues Dr. Terri Fisher (CONNIE NIELSEN)
and scientist Phil Ohlmyer (JERRY O'CONNELL)
on board, the astronauts set out on a heroic
six-month journey to Mars.
"Mission
To Mars" is the extraordinary story of the
astronauts of the Mars Recovery Mission, the
nearly insurmountabIe dangers that confront
the heroic crew on their journey through space,
and the amazing discovery they make when they
finally reach Mars.
Touchstone
Pictures presents a Jacobson Company production
of a Brian De Palma film, "Mission To Mars."
Directed by Brian De Palma, produced by Tom
Jacobson, the screenplay is by Jim Thomas
& John Thomas and Graham Yost. The story
is by Lowell Cannon and Jim Thomas & John
Thomas. Sam Mercer is executive producer.
Buena Vista Pictures distributes.
Genesis of the Project
"I
had always wanted to do a space adventure
movie; something dramatic, realistic and contemporary
about human space exploration," says producer
Tom Jacobson, who co-conceived the idea of
"Mission To Mars."
"It's
a great story and a great adventure," says
director Brian De Palma. "I'd never directed
science fiction before, so the problem of
shooting outer space and shooting a planet
nobody's ever seen before gave me a whole
new canvas with which to work. I tried to
avoid all the cliches of science fiction movies
and to give a whole new look and approach
to this fantastic story,"
Unlike
a lot of other science fiction films, the
director acknowledges, the most exciting aspect
of making the movie was to create realism.
He recalls the 1950 classic "Destination Moon,"
which he saw as a young boy, and was one of
the first science fiction films to attempt
a high level of technical accuracy. "I was
struck by how authentic that film looked.
What we've tried to do is to make 'Mission
To Mars' as authentic as possible, and it's
what we've realized. The film is all the more
exciting because you feel like it's extremely
real. The various things that happen to the
Mars One and Two crews in this film all come
out of the physics of what could happen in
the situations presented in the story. So,
it is realistic and extremely authentic."
From
the beginning, Jacobson knew the project was
on the right track. "We began at the crest
of a tremendous amount of public interest
in Mars," he says. On July 4, 1997, Pathfinder
landed on Mars and sent back its first images
from the planet. The day those images were
broadcast from NASA, there were one hundred
million hits on their web site. "People are
fascinated by the rich, mythological history
of Mars and I think one of the reasons that
the world was glued to those pictures is that
people want to find evidence of something
out there. They wanted that little rover to
come over the hill and make an amazing discovery,"
he says.
Jacobson
commissioned a script, and contacted NASA
before work began on it in order to meet with
the people involved in the future manned space
program and learn about how one would actually
go to Mars. It was a very educational process.
"A
very important part of the process of writing
the script and producing the movie was to
keep it as NASA-accurate as possible. It is
a work of fiction, but we wanted the science
and physics of astronauts getting there to
be factual. Many aspects of the script are
based on NASA theory and how they would actually
plan a Mars mission. We kept in touch with
NASA, and the more we talked with them, the
more excited they got and the more access
they gave us to different people and different
areas of the space program.
During
the development phase of the film, a magazine
article came to the producer's attention:
an excerpt from Robert Zubrin's book, The
Case For Mars. "It was about going to
Mars and it was fascinating, with a tremendous
amount of technical detail," Jacobson says.
The founder and president of the Mars Society,
senior vice president of the National Space
Society and former senior engineer at Lockheed
Martin, Zubrin is known for his innovative
concepts for getting man into space faster,
better and cheaper.
Zubrin
was hired as a consultant during development
of the script and then Jacobson purchased
the rights to his book. "In this non-fiction
work, there is so much detail about how we
could go to Mars, including proposals for
spaceships, Mars habitats and mission plans,"
the producer says. "Once we started pre production,
we gave the book to practically everyone involved
in the movie. It's very inspirational."
Jacobson
was pleased with how the script evolved. "The
Thomases broke the back of the story and wrote
a really good draft."
He
then called upon Graham Yost, with whom he'd
previously worked on "Speed" and "Broken Arrow."
Following Yost's contribution, the script
was ultimately ready to be turned in to the
studio.
"The
script combines great action and thrills,
along with tremendous drama and wonderful
characters," says producer Jacobson. "We sent
it to Brian De Palma, he read it overnight
and we got a call the next day that he would
commit to directing the movie. From the moment
he came on, he was very clear about his vision.
The process with Brian is very definitive.
When he generates an idea or arrives at a
conclusion, you know exactly what he wants
and then you can produce it. A clear and inspirational
point of view is exactly what is needed for
a film of this size and complexity and it's
been a great collaboration."
"An
interesting aspect of the collaboration,"
the producer points out, "is that Brian De
Palma and I are both science enthusiasts,"
Jacobson smiles. Indeed, Jacobson studied
engineering before turning his talents to
film, while De Palma was a physics major in
university when he chose to embark upon his
illustrious filmmaking career. In fact, as
a teenager, De Palma went to the prestigious
National Science Fair a remarkable three times
with projects on cybernetics, and twice won
prizes.
De
Palma hopes that "Mission To Mars" will help
the cause of an eventual manned mission going
to Mars. He says, "By working on the film,
I reacquainted myself with my own interest
in this area. I started out reading science
fiction, building computers and being fascinated
by the exploration of the other planets in
our solar system. And everything like this
has been forgotten for a couple of decades
which, for me, is a great tragedy. I think
it's unfortunate that this aspect of the great
explorer part of Man has been left by the
wayside. We should be out there exploring
the planets, Mars being the first. We can
go there."
"Mission
to Mars" is set in 2020 because, according
to De Palma, "That's the date that experts
predict we should have a manned landing on
Mars."
De
Palma says, "We have tried to make this film
NASA real - all the space vehicles
in the film are vehicles that are either on
the drawing board or ones whose designs have
been approved by NASA, so that there's not
much science fantasy or science fiction to
this. We can, in fact, go to Mars if we wanted
to now. We've reached the 21st century, and
I think there's going to be a tremendous amount
of excitement about visiting Mars. This is
a very inspirational story, exactly about
that."
De
Palma says, "'Mission To Mars' celebrates
the pioneering and exploratory ideal in Man.
Our astronauts are great explorers, and get
themselves into a lot of difficult situations
and, through their ingenuity, manage to extricate
themselves. It's a very heroic, positive movie,
which I think is very much in line with the
times, We're looking to the future, and we
should be setting our sights high."
In
setting out to cast "Mission To Mars," "It
was very important that the three main characters,
the core of the movie, be strong actors,"
says Tom Jacobson. "When we were able to cast
actors of the caliber of Gary Sinise, Don
Cheadle and Tim Robbins we were thrilled,
because they bring a truthfulness to their
roles."
Emmy
and Golden Globe Award winner and Academy
Award'-nominee Gary Sinise was the first actor
cast. His reasons for accepting the part of
Jim McConnell were many: "The themes in the
story are very real and spiritual; Jim's a
great character and it was a great journey,"
he says. "There's so much in this movie that's
in essence about man's nature to explore and
constantly search for things beyond himself.
And Brian De Palma was directing." Sinise
previously worked with De Palma on "Snake
Eyes," and had already done a tremendous amount
of space travel preparation and research for
his role as real-life astronaut Ken Mattingly
in Ron Howard's "Apollo 13."
"It
was great to work with Gary again," says the
director, "he's a marvelous actor."
"The
great thing about Gary Sinise," producer Jacobson
says, "is that he brings integrity and credibility
to the role."
Golden
Globe winner and Academy Award'nominee Tim
Robbins, who stars as Mission Commander Woody
Blake, had wanted to do an action adventure
movie for some time. He says he jumped at
the opportunity to be cast in "Mission To
Mars" because it was, "a very exciting, visually
stimulating story that did not rely on gratuitous
violence and was about discovery, adventure
and daring, courageous people risking it all
to gather information and knowledge to see
if there is life on Mars, There was also a
special allure because of the sensibility
Brian De Palma would bring to this."
Golden
Globe winner and, while filming "Mission To
Mars," a nominee for two Emmy Awards, Don
Cheadle stars as Mission Commander Luke Graham,
the first man to walk on Mars and leader of
the illfated Mars One mission. He says, "I
think what drew me to the role of Luke was
that he was going to change 180 degrees from
the first time you see him. From the beginning
of the film to the end, he's an entirely different
human being and that's always fun for an actor
to play - the same person but a completely
different aspect of that person, pushed as
far as you can push it."
When
Connie Nielsen came in to read for the part
of Terri Fisher, Jacobson says, "We knew she
would be fabulous. She did a reading that
brought tears to our eyes and she has brought
a sense of intelligence to the role."
Jerry
O'Connell was cast very early on. "There's
a spirit Jerry has that we thought was great
to have in this cast," says Jacobson. "He
has exuberance and a youthful vitality and
a sort of "let's go to Mars" enthusiasm.
He makes you smile and that's a really good
quality to have on board."
"Let's
put it this way," quips Jerry O'Connell, "I
did not get this part because of my scientific
background." He admits, "It's every American
little boy's dream to get to be an astronaut."
A recent
graduate of New York University's film program,
O'Connell was also thrilled by the prospect
of working with the great director. "During
my sophomore year, I wrote a paper on De Palma,"
he says with some pride and great enthusiasm
- but not quite enough to have shown the paper
to his director.
The
Mission to Mars
Columbus
took the same amount of time to get to the
New World as the "Mission To Mars" astronauts
take to get to Mars. On Columbus' voyage,
he didn't know if he would fall off the edge
of the Earth. Well, eight minutes after lift
off, you do fall off the edge of Earth. And
then, you float the whole way to Mars.
- Dr. Joseph Allen,
Retired NASA Astronaut
Gary
Sinise stars as Jim McConnell, whom the actor
says, "has lived his entire life dreaming
of going into space and being an astronaut.
He's put his whole life's work toward that
and his ultimate goal was to be the first
man on Mars." When McConnell's wife and fellow
astronaut, Maggie (KIM DELANEY), dies, not
only does he lose the love of his life, he
loses Mars, too.
"But
Maggie's spirit is always there," says Emmy
Award-winner Delaney. "And in a sense, her
spirit keeps him going, like an angel. They
were so connected and such soul mates," she
says.
No
longer deemed "fit" for space travel because
he refused to submit to psychological evaluations,
McConnell now serves as "Capcom" (Capsule
Communicator) at Mission Control.
In
his place, McConnell's best friend, Luke Graham
(DON CHEADLE), replaces him as commander of
Mars One-and makes the monumental voyage.
But as Luke and his crew investigate an anomaly
on the planet, something goes horribly wrong
and the commander watches in terror as his
crew is wiped out. He manages to get one cryptic
radio message back to Mars Mission Control
on the World Space Station, and then all communication
ends.
Woody
Blake (TIM ROBBINS), the astronaut slated
to command the Mars Two mission months ahead,
convinces Ray Beck, head of the NASA Mars
program, that their only chance of rescuing
Luke - that is if he can manage to stay alive,
alone on Mars during the six months it will
take them to make the journey there is with
McConnell as his co-pilot. Reluctantly, Beck
agrees, and so the Mars Rescue Mission is
hurriedly put together. Woody's wife, Dr.
Terri Fisher (CONNIE NIELSEN), and young scientist
Phil Ohlmyer (JERRY O'CONNELL) complete the
crew.
Robbins
describes his character, Woody as "A space
cowboy. He's a great pilot, but he's got a
wild side to him. He likes to drive fast,
but he's also rational and scientifically
intelligent. He's a good person to be around.
As far as being in an enclosed community,
you have to have this kind of distinct personality
in order to survive with the other people.
"Woody
and Terri," he continues, "have a unique,
fun relationship. It's to NASA's benefit to
have couples in space."
Connie
Nielsen, who plays Woody's wife, Terri, points
out, "It's not unusual that Terri's a female
astronaut. There have been women astronauts
for a long time now, and we've just had the
first female commander in space," she says,
referring to Eileen Collins, who commanded
the Space Shuttle Columbia while "Mission
To Mars" was filming. "What I think is interesting,"
Nielsen continues, "is that in this case,
they're actually sending up a married couple."
She
describes Woody and Terri's marriage as "that
kind of very special relationship where people
work together really well as a team, as well
as human beings. They're completely different
people, yet they just complement each other.
He's fun-loving, she's sort of serious. They
function very well together." Nielsen also
sees it as a beneficial idea to send couples
on long-term space flights. "Anyway, there's
not much risk of divorce out there," she laughs.
The
actress says her character, Terri, is "tenacious,
brave, rational and big-hearted."
Don
Cheadle stars as Luke Graham, the first man
on Mars and the one marooned there. "He's
a scientist," Cheadle says, "so the discovery
of this anomaly Is exciting and thrilling,
but at the same time, he's seen it kill his
crew. And he knows it's dangerous - it almost
killed him. The explorer in him is passionate
and the scientist is excited and the man with
the wife and child back on Earth is terrified
of what it all means."
The
most challenging aspect of the role, he says,
was "finding the right line between being
as mad as the March Hare and the scientist
whose mind is going two miIlion miles an hour
because he's discovered something that no
other human being has ever seen. He's the
only one alive at that point who can tell
anyone about It, and he's also alone on the
planet with that thing."
Cheadle
enjoyed the work he did to prepare for Luke.
"It was difficult trying to figure out how
to prepare myself to be an astronaut who gets
stranded alone on Mars in 2020," he says.
"I had to determine what would the character
be eating for a year? What kind of exercise
was he doing in a third gravity? What was
his mental state?" One of the things Cheadle
did was to spend several nights sleeping in
the Mars One habitat set, built on a sound
stage. As he says, "I wanted to feel what
it would be like to be alone in a completely
foreign environment. I didn't stay there a
week, or anything like that," he laughs. "I
Just stayed a few nights to try and get the
feeling of isolation and to make the set -
if it was going to be my home for a year -
my home for a while and see how I would operate
and work and where I would run if I thought
there was trouble? It was helpful and more
real and visceral than an idea might have
been. And sometimes, it was really scary in
there."
Like
the actor who plays him, Jerry O'Connell describes
Phil Ohlmyer as "someone who finds humor in
the more stressful situations that the crew
gets into." He recalls his first few days
on set. "We did the first couple takes and
I just thought to myself, 'this is it. I've
made it. I'm an astronaut and I'm going to
fly the spaceship out of here.' It was so
cool."
Although
he admits to not being a devout science fiction
fan, Gary Sinise says he is "Intrigued and
awed by people that go 'into space and what
they do and what they've accomplished in the
last 40 years in terms of space flight and
travel. This movie is about our next big mission.
We've been to the moon. We may go back. We're
building a space station and all of that is
ultimately knowledge that will come into play
when we make the decision to go to Mars. So
I was very excited to be asked to be a part
of this."
Connie
Nielsen's research involved reading a lot
of literature on Mars, space and mythology.
She was especially drawn to the very human
dimensions of "Mission To Mars." Referring
to the popular image of astronauts, she says,
"We have images of super heroes who can go
through all sorts of dangerous situations
and not react at all, and it turns out they're
human beings. I think that's why we were very
interested 'in showing what you would really
feel like if you were out there. You're not
just some machine."
A couple
of months before filming began, Don Cheadle
and Jerry O'Connell went to the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida to observe a shuttle launch.
"Of course, all of that starts piquing your
'interest as to what's out there," Cheadle
says. "Once I became involved, everything
became about space."
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