Sci-Fi Thriller Outlander Begins Lensing

Outlander (No relation to Peter Hyam’s sci-fi adventure Outland) began principal photography on October 16, 2006. The sci-fi action/adventure film stars Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Count of Monte Crisco), Sophia Myles (Underworld: Evolution, Tristan + Isolde), Jack Huston (Factory Girl), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, The Chronicles of Riddick) and John Hurt (V for Vendetta, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone).

The film is helmed by Howard McCain from a screenplay he wrote with Dirk Blackman, and produced by Ascendant Pictures/VIP Medienfronds 4 in association with Rising Star. 

The producers are Chris Roberts and Barrie Osbourne. The Weinstein Company will handle distribution in the United States and Wild Bunch is handling international sales.

Outlander begins when a space craft crashes into the majestic fjords of ancient Norway and into the time of the Vikings. From the wreckage emerge two bitter enemies: a soldier from another world – Kainan – and a bloodthirsty creature known as the Moorwen. Man and monster both seeking revenge for violence committed against them. As the Moorwen ravages the Viking world, killing everything in its path, Kainan forms an unlikely alliance with the primitive but fierce warriors. Combining his advanced technology with ancient Iron Age weapons, the hero leads a desperate attempt to kill the monster – before it destroys them all. 

The Moorwen has been designed by famed monster/creature creator Patrick Tatopoulos (Silent Hill, I Robot, Godzilla, Independence Day). In addition, the film’s conceptual art and design was done by the team of conceptual artists (Iain McCaig and Ninth Ray) behind the Star Wars Trilogy. 

Rounding out the creative team are Cinematographer Pierre Gill (The Covenant, Maurice Richard: The Rocket) and Production Designer David Hackl (Skinwalkers, SAW II & III) and Costume Designer Debra Hanson (Beowulf & Grendel). Post-production will be handled by Toronto-based firm, Spin. 

Executive Producers are John Schimmel, Don Carmody Christopher Eberts, Kia Jam, Karen Loop, Dirk Blackman and Andy Grosch.

Filming continues through January 5, 2007 in Halifax and Newfoundland, Canada.