Red
Planet Press Release
The
below Press Release from Warner Brothers was
found over on The
Val Kilmer Newsletter. It contains information
about the actors of RED PLANET and a little
synopses of the story. 10/18/99
WARNER
BROTHERS PRESS RELEASE
9.17.99
RED
PLANET Starring Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss,
Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon Baker
and Terence Stamp, Begins Production
Mars
Production Pty. Ltd. Production to Be Distributed
by
Warner
Bros. and, in Select Territories, by Village
Roadshow
Principal
photography began Aug. 30, 1999, on "Red Planet,"
a psychological adventure-drama starring Val
Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin
Bratt, Simon Baker and Terence Stamp.
The
announcement was made Friday by Lorenzo di
Bonaventura, president of Worldwide Production,
Warner Bros. Pictures, and Bruce Berman, Village
Roadshow chairman and chief executive officer,
whose companies will distribute the completed
film.
"Red
Planet" is directed by Antony Hoffman and
produced by Mark Canton, Berman and Jorge
Saralegui. It is executive-produced by Charlie
Schlissel, Andrew Mason and Chuck Pfarrer,
and written by Pfarrer and Jonathan Lemkin.
Set
in the near future, "Red Planet" follows a
team of American astronauts making the first
manned expedition to Mars. Earth has become
a dying planet, and a new colony on Mars is
now humanity's only hope.
The
astronauts, each a specialist in a different
field, struggle to overcome the differences
of their personalities, backgrounds and ideologies.
When
their equipment suffers life-threatening damage
and the crew must depend on one another for
survival on the hostile surface of Mars, their
doubts, fears and questions about God, man's
destiny and the irrefutable nature of the
universe become defining elements in their
fates.
Principal
photography will take place in Australia and
Jordan. The Mars Production Pty. Ltd. production
will be distributed by Warner Bros. and, in
select territories, by Village Roadshow.
Kilmer
was most recently seen in Irwin Winkler's
"At First Sight" and heard as the voice of
Moses in "Prince of Egypt." Kilmer starred
in "The Saint," "Batman Forever" (as billionaire
Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman), "The
Doors" (as Jim Morrison) and "True Romance"
(as Elvis Presley) and played the title role
in "Billy the Kid." He also starred with Robert
De Niro and Al Pacino in "Heat" and appeared
opposite Marlon Brando in "The Island of Dr.
Moreau."
Kilmer
made his film debut in "Top Secret," followed
by "Real Genius," "Top Gun," "Willow," "Thunderheart"
and "Wings of Courage." On television, he
received a CableACE Award nomination for his
acclaimed work in the HBO telefeature "The
Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains."
Moss'
recent role in the Wachowski brothers' international
smash-hit film "The Matrix" has landed her
in the Hollywood spotlight. Moss recently
completed production on the mobster comedy
"The Crew" for Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry
Josephson, and will next star opposite Guy
Pearce in the independent thriller "Memento."
Moss
has appeared in a number of television series,
including "Models Inc.," and in 1996 she guest-starred
in "Due South," for which she received a nomination
for the Gemini Award. Her feature-film credits
include starring roles in "Sabotage" and "The
Secret Life of Algernon."
Sizemore
most recently starred in Steven Spielberg's
Academy Award-winning "Saving Private Ryan"
and will next be seen in Martin Scorsese's
"Bringing Out the Dead" opposite Nicolas Cage.
Sizemore recently completed a starring role
in Ron Shelton's "Play It to the Bone" (along
with Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas)
and in the HBO telefeature "Witness Protection."
Sizemore's
additional feature credits include both Oliver
Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Natural
Born Killers," "The Relic," "Heat," "Devil
in a Blue Dress," "Strange Days," "Heart and
Souls," "True Romance," "Wyatt Earp," "Passenger
57," "Watch It," "The Florentine," "The Match"
and "Guilty by Suspicion." He also starred
as Mafia figure John Gotti in NBC's highly
successful miniseries "Witness to the Mob."
After
starring in several television projects and
feature films, Emmy-nominated actor Bratt
came to national attention as Detective Rey
Curtis on the long-running and award-winning
series "Law & Order." Bratt's upcoming
motion-picture projects include John Schlesinger's
"The Next Best Thing" opposite Madonna and
Rupert Everett, and "The Last Producer," in
which he stars with Burt Reynolds.
Bratt's
feature-film credits include "Follow Me Home"
(on which he served as producer), "Clear and
Present Danger," "The River Wild," "Demolition
Man," "Bound by Honor," "One Good Cop," "Bright
Angel" and "Chains of Gold." He also starred
in the Showtime telefeature "Woman Undone";
the series "Nasty Boys," "Knightwatch" and
"Juarez"; the miniseries "James Michener's
Texas"; and the telefeature "Gladiator School."
Australian-born
Baker was most recently seen in the acclaimed
film "L.A. Confidential" and will next be
seen in the feature "Sunset Strip" opposite
Anna Friel, Jared Leto and Nick Stahl. Baker
will also be seen in Ang Lee's Civil War ensemble
drama "Ride With the Devil" (slated for the
1999 Deauville Film Festival and as a gala
presentation at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival).
His
other film credits include "Judas Kiss," "Restaurant"
and "Love From Ground Zero." Baker's television
credits include the lead role in the CBS pilot
"The Last Best Place" and "Naked: The Blind
Side Breakaway" and a guest lead role in "Sweat."
Stamp
made his motion-picture debut in Peter Ustinov's
screen version of Melville's "Billy Bud";
Stamp's work in the title role earned him
an Academy Award nomination and international
attention.
He
followed that by collaborating with some of
Hollywood's finest filmmakers, on William
Wyler's "The Collector," Joseph Losey's "Modesty
Blaise," John Schlesinger's "Far From the
Madding Crowd," Ken Loach's "Poor Cow," Federico
Fellini's "Spirits of the Dead" and Pier Paolo
Pasolini's "Theorema."
His
subsequent film credits include "The Mind
of Mr. Soames," "Superman" and "Superman II,"
"Meetings With Remarkable Men," "The Hit,"
"Link," "Legal Eagles," "The Sicilian," "Wall
Street," "Prince of Shadows" and "The Adventures
of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
Stamp
was most recently seen in George Lucas' "Star
Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and
stars in Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey,"
which premiered at this year's Cannes Film
Festival.
Hoffman
attended the American Film Institute and the
Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles,
becoming a lauded television commercial director
whose work on the Budweiser spot "Clydesdales"
won him international acclaim. In 1996, he
won the Cannes Gold Lion; in New York, he
won an AICP Cinematography Award and two Clios,
for Direction and Sound Design.
Hoffman
has worked on campaigns for such products
as Miller Genuine Draft, Boeing, American
Airlines, MCI, Marlboro, Michelin and Nike.
"Red Planet" marks Hoffman's feature-film
directing debut.
Canton
has been a pre-eminent force in the entertainment
industry over the past two decades. Most recently,
his production entity, The Canton Co., has
located at Warner Bros., where Canton began
his career as a studio executive, moving from
vice president of production to president
of Worldwide Theatrical Production. While
at Warner Bros., Canton created two major
motion-picture franchises, the "Batman" and
"Lethal Weapon" series.
From
1990 to 1996, Canton served as a top executive
at Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), most
recently as chairman of Columbia-TriStar.
Among the productions he green-lit and supervised
are "Jerry Maguire," "My Best Friend's Wedding,"
"Men in Black" and "Air Force One." In addition,
Canton initiated the Sony hit films "As Good
as It Gets," "Godzilla" and "Zorro."
During
1997, the studio broke all box-office records,
earning $2.4 billion from pictures green-lit
by Canton.
Canton
is currently in production on the WB television
series "Jack & Jill" and is in advanced
development on six feature films and several
other television series.
Berman
joined the production department of Warner
Bros., rising through the ranks of executives
to become president of Worldwide Theatrical
Production.
Under
his aegis, the studio produced and distributed
such titles as the Oscar-winning "Driving
Miss Daisy," as well as "GoodFellas," "Presumed
Innocent," "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,"
"Batman Forever," "Malcolm X," "The Bodyguard,"
"JFK," "The Fugitive," "Dave," "A Time to
Kill" and "Twister."
In
1996, Berman started Plan B Entertainment,
the Warner Bros.-based independent production
company, which was later acquired by Village
Roadshow Pictures. Village Roadshow Pictures,
where Berman now holds the post of chairman
and chief executive officer, currently has
25 projects in various stages of development
at Warner Bros.
Most
recently, Berman executive-produced "Deep
Blue Sea," "The Matrix," "Analyze This" and
"Practical Magic"; over the coming year, he
will executive-produce the upcoming "Three
Kings," "Three to Tango" and "Gossip" through
Village Roadshow's relationship with Warner
Bros.
Saralegui
segued from Twentieth Century Fox to Warner
Bros. as an independent producer in January
1998. After a career as a novelist in San
Francisco, Saralegui joined Fox as a reader
in 1989, quickly becoming a creative executive
and moving through the ranks, eventually reaching
the position of executive vice president of
Production.
Among
the films he oversaw during his tenure at
Fox are "Speed," "Independence Day," "Broken
Arrow," "Die Hard With a Vengeance" and "Alien
Resurrection." Since founding his production
company, Material, Saralegui is currently
packaging "Showtime," "Replay" and "The Queen
of the Damned" at Warner Bros., and "End Game"
at Mandalay Pictures.
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