Press

FAME film
09 February 2007
By Lauren Stevenson
Source

Filming begins on The Escapist

SITUATED within the unfathomable labyrinth beneath London, new thriller The Escapist written by Rupert Wyatt and Daniel Hardy has begun filming in Dublin and London.

The film tells the absorbing story of Frank Perry (Brian Cox), a prisoner of thirteen years striving to console his estranged daughter who’s dying.

He takes on the outrageous plan of escaping, his goal being to make peace with her before she dies.

But this insurmountable task cannot be completed single-handedly and he embarks on the mission of assembling a group of professional escapists to aid him.

This new feature film with an interesting twist includes a cast of exceptional British and Irish talent, featuring actors who can be found in hit movies such as The Bourne Supremacy and Shakespeare In Love.

But the cast is not the only attribute to this film. The emotive storyline and a guilty man’s honourable quest to restore peace within his family will appeal to audiences across the nation.

The movie will shoot in Dublin for four weeks in various locations across the city including Kilmainham Jail, Connolly Station and the John Player Factory on South Circular Road. It will also shoot for a week in London’s underground and in low-key venues throughout the city.

The Escapist is being produced by Parallel Films (Ireland) and Picture Farm (UK) and is an Irish-UK co-production. Parallel Films’ credits include Irish features Intermission and Breakfast on Pluto and UK company Picture Farm previously co-produced the Irish feature film The Front Line and recently delivered The Baker which screens in Berlin this week at the European Film Market.

The film is financed by the UK Film Council, Board Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, and produced with the support of investment incentives for the Irish Film Industry provided by the Government of Ireland, with Goalpost Film handling international sales and Vertigo Films taking UK distribution.

JJ Lousberg, UK Film Council European Executive said: “We have been tracking this project for a while and it is exciting to see it come to fruition.

“This is an exciting collaboration for producers Adrian Sturges and Alan Moloney as it brings together a strong British and Irish cast with a new director Rupert Wyatt who came to our notice through the Cinema Extreme short film scheme and it will be released in the UK by the enterprising independent, Vertigo Films”. Irish Film Board Chief Executive Simon Perry added: “The Escapist is a wonderfully original project which shows that Irish/UK co-production is alive and well”.

The Escapist is a rare event, don’t let the opportunity escape you!