Here is a new shot from the set of The Road, the film version of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name. The photo shows Kodi Smit-Mcphee as The Son, sitting on a road waiting for something. It’s unclear whether that’s Viggo Mortensen in the background or some other character.

The NY Times did a nice piece on the film today and there were some highlights of it worth passing on to you all.

First off, the filming is done and the premiere is still set for November 26th. Here are a few details about the filming locations:

“The Road” began filming in late February, mostly in and around Pittsburgh, with a later stop in New Orleans and a postproduction visit planned to Mount St. Helens. The producers chose Pennsylvania, one of them, Nick Wechsler, explained, because it’s one of the many states that give tax breaks and rebates to film companies and, not incidentally, because it offered such a pleasing array of post-apocalyptic scenery: deserted coalfields, run-down parts of Pittsburgh, windswept dunes. Chris Kennedy, the production designer, even discovered a burned-down amusement park in Lake Conneaut and an eight-mile stretch of abandoned freeway, complete with tunnel, ideal for filming the scene where the father and son who are the story’s main characters are stalked by a cannibalistic gang traveling by truck.

There appears to be a minor expanding of some scenes from the book. The flashbacks that The Father has of his Wife in the story will be enlarged, hence the reason Charlize Theron was cast in that role. I figured this would be the case once they choose such a big name actress for the part.

Robert Duvall will indeed play a dying man alongside the road, while Guy Pearce is another father leading his family around.

Finally, the main focus of the story by McCarthy is the boy and his father trying to find hope in a post-apocalyptic world. Mortensen hit on that with this quote from the article:

“It’s a love story that’s also an endurance contest,” he explained, and quickly added: “I mean that in a positive way. They’re on this difficult journey, and the father is basically learning from the son. So if the father-son thing doesn’t work, then the movie doesn’t work. The rest of it wouldn’t matter. It would never be more than a pretty good movie. But with Kodi in it, it has a chance to be an extremely good movie, maybe even a great one.”

I really, really hope so.

[NY Times]

The three actors who have been contacted are:

• Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)
• Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
• Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are expected to write the screenplays under the direction of Peter Jackson and del Toro. Concerning the scripts and keeping the original actors, del Toro said this:

We will all be involved in the script in some fashion but the exact definition is about a week away. I am all for keeping the actors who originated the parts, as much as availability and their willingness will allow.

As far as the actors go there seems little doubt they will return. Serkis already has the production listed on his calendar of his official website. Ian McKellen left little doubt of his intentions when he spoke with Empire Magazine last month:

Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part, and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down; I loved playing Gandalf.

I suppose there’s a chance that Viggo Mortensen could be too busy now that he’s an Oscar nominated actor, but somehow I think he’ll find the time. It’s shaping up to be a pretty good production.

I’ve been waiting and waiting for some sort of trailer or image to come from the studio and the first photo is finally here thanks to Row Three.

The picture has Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who play the Father and Son in the story, both of which are never given names by author Cormac McCarthy who wrote the book. The cast has grown, and I had no idea Robert Duvall was involved with this now, but I guess it’s just a rumor according to IMDB. He joins Charlize Theron as the Wife and Guy Pearce as The Veteran, along with a bunch of other costars. Duvall would play the Old Man.

John Hillcoat is directing, and with his previous film being the critically acclaimed The Proposition, I have high hopes here.

I’m so excited for this movie. You have no idea how that book impacted me personally. It was so amazingly written, so bleak and dark, it was an inspiration to me as a writer. I wrote a short story and started a long novel because of it.

The photo below is fantastic, almost exactly how I would picture these two characters in this post-apocalyptic world.

With it arriving late in the year, I’m curious to see what kind of Oscar buzz it will receive.

Enjoy!

I’ve been following the production of the movie a bit, obviously from the first day I heard it was going to be made into a movie and that Viggo Mortensen would play the lead character of the father. I can’t tell you how fantastic a choice it was to pick Viggo for this movie…he’ll do an amazing job. He has that ability to play a tired, weary, hard-luck guy and that’s what is needed here.

It’s now being reported that Charlize Theron will be joining Viggo in the film, which is good news considering what a great actress she is, but also puzzling news in the way the book goes.

Without giving too much away, the story is mainly about a father and his son trying to survive in a world around 2-4 years after a nuclear holocaust in the United States. You never get their names and the story is bleak, dark and dreary. There is hardly any food left, nothing growing, no power, nothing but desolation. Yet while it sounds like a slow moving book, it’s really a page-turning masterpiece.

The fact of the matter is that the only woman who appears in the story of any significance is the father’s wife, but it’s only done in short flashbacks.

So either Theron will be in the film for just a few short flashbacks, or else they are changing the story a bit.

Some other interesting news on this is that according to IMDB.com, Guy Pearce is in talks to also be in the film, as well as Danny Huston. Again, it’s going to be weird to see how additional actors fare in this film because of the main focus being on just two people and a desolate landscape.

I can see some of these guys turning up along the way, sort of like cameo appearances while they journey towards hope.

And as far as the son goes, it looks like (according to Production Charts) that he’ll be played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.

If you haven’t read the book yet, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy today and make sure you are all set for the movie’s release sometime in September of 2008.

It’s kind of slim pickings this week, although there is a great Blu-Ray addition and a few decent DVD titles.

The Kingdom

Kind of weird because the HD-DVD version of this released last week but EngadgetHD didn’t show it listed, but Amazon had it last week, but the regular DVD version comes out this week?

It’s all so confusing, but either way, both are available now!

I’ve not seen it yet, but I heard mixed reviews about it. Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman and others star in this movie about terrorism in the Middle East. The sum of what I’ve heard was that it started good, but ended more like an action flick.

Sounds a lot like I Am Legend.

Pan’s Labyrinth

This has been out for quite awhile now, but the HD versions on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD get released and thus are worth a look.

The special effects that show off the fantasy world created in this movie will look pretty amazing in HD I suspect. It was a crazy movie, but very good. Check it out.

Eastern Promises

Another movie I haven’t seen yet, but I plan on it. The reviews were good and Viggo Mortensen is up for a Best Actor in the SAG Awards.

The plot from IMDB:

“The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who is tied to one of London’s most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.”

Some other DVDs out this week:

DVD (buy these titles at Amazon)

• The Brothers Solomon – Worst movie of the year for Roeper? We’ll see.

Blu-ray (buy these titles at Amazon)

• Pan’s Labyrinth - More bloody than you think
• Azur & Azmar – Japanimation

HD DVD (buy these titles at Amazon)

• Pan’s Labyrinth - Most twisted fantasy in years
• The Heartbreak Kid – Ben Stiller, been there, seen that
• Cat People – hmmm…no?