“Well, it’s almost exclusively terror,” James Gray told us earlier this year when it came to preparing to shoot Lost City of Z. “It’s funny: I don’t actually derive much pleasure from making a movie. I derive a lot of pleasure from having made a film. I’m very excited; it’s going to be a huge challenge. But I’m very scared, and I’m under no illusions that I’m going to go to the jungle and have a great time and it’s going to have a party. I mean, it’s going to be an epic struggle, and I’m going to try and do my very best. I have many, many ideas. The project’s been gestating for a long time, and, in some respects, that’s a challenge in and of itself, because you have many, many ideas, and you want to make sure the project has a unity and a singularity and a uniqueness and a consistency. So, if it’s gestating for a long time, you worry that you won’t have that.”
As we promised late last month, production has now began on the highly-anticipated project with a few new members. First up, Tom Holland (star of The Impossible and the forthcoming Spider-Man re-reboot) has joined the cast, which is toplined by Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, and Robert Pattinson. We’ve also confirmed that cinematographer Darius Khondji will reteam with the director after The Immigrant, one of the main reasons Woody Allen had to recruit the legendary Vittorio Storaro for his currently filming next feature after working with Khondji on four out of his five previous films.
Check out the press release below for the project we hope will see a festival debut next year.
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMMENCES ON JAMES GRAY’S LOST CITY OF Z
Film Starring Charlie Hunnam will be Filmed in Belfast and Colombia
Los Angeles, CA August 19, 2015 – Production has commenced on James Gray’s LOST CITY OF Z starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland. The film will first be filmed in Belfast for five weeks and continue filming in Colombia throughout September and October.
David Grann’s acclaimed New York Times best-selling book serves as the basis for the movie which MICA Entertainment is financing. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner are producing via Plan B Entertainment along with Anthony Katagas and Dale Johnson. MadRiver Pictures’ Marc Butan is executive producing as are MICA Entertainment’s Julie B. May and Glenn Murray. Sierra/Affinity is representing international sales of the title with CAA overseeing domestic rights to the film.
LOST CITY OF Z follows Percy Fawcett, a conscripted soldier and born explorer who disappeared in the 1920s while searching for a mythical city in the Amazon jungles of Brazil that he believed he discovered on a prior expedition.
Are you looking forward to the project?