Reel News
Producer gives
isle high gradeExecutive producer Ric Kidney was in an exceptionally cheerful mood Monday, the first day of five weeks of filming on Oahu. Crew and execs were setting up in a rainforest just 10 minutes from downtown Honolulu.
"Hawaii is a good, easy place to shoot, with an excellent local crew," Kidney said before the first shot with stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann William Scott. "Universal shoots a lot of movies here, so here we are."
Positive word-of-mouth from other studios about Hawaii, where Universal filmed "Blue Crush" last year, were major influences on getting the formerly titled "Helldorado" to Hawaii rather than Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico.
"Every producer and studio we talked to who had filmed here had positive things to say about Hawaii, and Universal had a great experience with 'Blue Crush'," Kidney said. Everybody wants to come to Hawaii."
He added that security in Hawaii is not "a principal concern." See, there was this little incident in Brazil during a June research trip. Berg, Kidney, producer Kevin Misher and production designer Tom Duffield were ambushed and robbed in the jungle of cash and a laptop computer, and held for about 15 minutes by their thieves. The group escaped without harm.
This new movie is about a bounty hunter (The Rock) who travels to the Brazilian jungle to settle a debt, but realizes that the bad guy (Scott) really isn't who he is supposed to be. The two join forces to search for hidden riches in the town of Helldorado while avoiding the town's evil kingpin, Bloomocks, played by Christopher Walken.
The Universal production will film all week in the rainforest and later at Kualoa Ranch. The sequences will include aerial shots, drive-arounds and a spectacular, highly secret stunt scene. (Stay tuned for details.)
A third of the movie -- five weeks' worth -- is being filmed here, with the rest in Los Angeles, including a major scene in the fictional Helldorado.
As for Monday's scenes, the 6-foot-5 Rock chased down a smaller, fleeing Scott through the forest. When a sweaty Rock caught the fatigued Scott on the trail, there was a small, funny fistfight, with little damage done to either man. And there was no trademark lifted eyebrow from The Rock.
The movie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2003. The budget was not disclosed.
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Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.