I mentioned earlier this week that 2013 was shaping up to be a great year for science fiction film lovers. The trailer for Oblivion was released on Sunday, showing an Earth practically devoid of human life. Another film with a bleak outlook of humanity’s future in the upcoming science fiction thriller, After Earth.
“One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.”
The film also stars Isabebelle Fuhrman (The Hunger Games), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Gabriel Caste (Toy Soldier), Lincoln Lewis (Bait), Zoe Kravitz (X-Men: First Class) and David Denman (The Office). The film was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, from the screenplay by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli). James Newton Howard will compose the film’s score, his eighth time working with Shyamalan.
Filming began at the Sun Center Studios in Chester Township, Pennsylvania in February 2012 before moving to Costa Rica, the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Weott, California, Utah and Switzerland. After Earth is the first motion picture to be filmed using the F65 Digital Camera, which shoots at up to 120 fps, by Sony. Shyamalan spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about using Sony’s latest piece of technology, “Our director of photography wanted me to consider digital cameras for the film because we were considering anamorphic lenses and also because we were going to shoot in dark locations. It ended up that the picture was the warmest for me, which is what I look for in terms of the human quality — which is strange because you don’t think that a digital camera would be able to convey the humanity. Since we’re shooting a lot in nature, you wouldn’t think that it could capture all the complexity of nature and still not impose on it a coolness or that detachment that digital for me does. It didn’t do that.”
The film has an interesting premise and a great cast; Will Smith is one of the most talented, and profitable, actors working today. According to the trailer, it looks like Jaden Smith will have the bulk of the screen time, so this role looks like the perfect opportunity for him to stand out among Hollywood’s young actors. Shyamalan is in dire need of a hit; his last three films (Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender) failed to meet the expectations of the studios, critics and more importantly the fans. This film will be released in the middle of the summer season, just a week before Man of Steel, so if it doesn’t have a strong opening weekend, this just might be the last big studio project Shyamalan is linked to for quite a while.
by the fans for the fans
