COURTESY HERB KANE
This impression of Kamehameha as a young man was painted by Big Island artist and historian Herb Kane, who used all available historical resources to determine what the "Warrior King" may have looked like.
LIKE the Father Damien story a few years ago, Hollywood interest in a "Kamehameha" movie might result in competing productions. Another ‘Kamehameha’
film in the works?By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.comNorth Shore Pictures Entertainment of Glendale, Calif., this week made public their attempt to film the story of Hawaii's first king of all the islands.
This would be up against a Sony production starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and written by Maui's Greg Poirier.
North Shore principal Greg German, in an interview with the Star-Bulletin last week, said that film-production plans were low key, "pending what our attorney says about possible litigation with Sony over the rights to Kamehameha the Great's story. We're trying to keep it secret for the sake of our sponsors. But you know, if it's historical, you can do whatever you want."
According to North Shore, the movie will begin filming on Oahu, Hawaii and Maui in October, with the completed film to be distributed next spring. It's based on "Kamehameha," an unpublished novel and screenplay by David Kahala, a Hawaiian novelist.
"I'm Hawaiian myself, and so we take this seriously," said German. "We have cast a Hawaiian descendant of Kamehameha as the star ... it would be a great 'taboo' for the part of Kamehameha to go to a (person whose ancestors were) a fierce enemy of the Hawaiians during that time. So that we don't have this taboo over our heads during filming, we are opting for a true Hawaiian actor."
German did not reveal the name of this actor, and said that the novel would be released simultaneously with the film. "We're not book publishers, but we'll have it printed in the Far East and distribute it ourselves," he said.
According to Donne Dawson, head of the Hawaii Film Office, North Shore has not yet applied for any permits to film in the islands. She wondered if next spring might be too soon to shoot, complete and distribute a major film.
She added that Hawaii-born David Cunningham, director of "To End All Wars," was also doing some research on Kamehameha for a major studio "that isn't Sony."
Another project in the works for North Shore is "Waikiki," a pre-contact epic written by novelist/screenwriter Peter Kahalani. Kahalani is in Honolulu for pre-production work and has been noted elsewhere as the screenwriter of the Kamehameha movie.
According to North Shore publicity statements, "Waikiki" is a historical thriller about Kamehameha's father, called "The Dolphin King," and involves a missing ritual necklace, time-traveling tourists and a cast of thousands. "Waikiki reminds me of 'The Scorpion King,' 'The Lion King' and 'Tarzan' all wrapped up into one great novel," claimed a man named James Grannan in North Shore's publicity release.
"Waikiki" is also due to start filming "soon," said German. "It's going to be an epic miniseries. It's too big a feature film."
North Shore could not be reached for additional comment.
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