Sanctum (Cameron, Grierson and Wight)
Hello beloved children! I have some exciting news for you; the Australian International Movie Convention kicks off at Jupiters Hotel and Casino, Gold Coast, Australia tonight and I will be there covering all the exciting juice to come out of it. The convention runs until Thursday with executives from all the top studios in the world coming to screen their films, hold panels on issues affecting the industry, seminars, trade shows, premieres and sneak peeks. It’s going to be a crazy, but very exciting period and I will be posting as often as I can. Here are some of the things to look out for:
The event launches tonight with the Queensland premiere of Tomorrow When The War Began with all the stars and crew walking the red carpet. I will update you later tonight with what happened at the premiere and after party, but you will have to wait for the review in a few weeks time (sorry). On Monday morning I will be hanging out with the film's writer, director and producer Stuart Beattie (the lad behind screenplays for Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and G.I Joe: Rise Of The Cobra) and the film’s stars Lincoln Lewis and Phoebe Tonkin, so stay posted for extended interviews of that.
Later on Monday I will be trotting back to the convention command centre to find out what else has been happening and I will attend a screening of the sure-to-be-brilliant The Girl Who Played With Fire.
Tuesday will kick off with a screening of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, followed by some other exciting things which I can’t really tell you about just yet.
Wednesday is the big one and I mean BIG one. I got an unexpected call from Alister Grierson last week, who’s the director of James Cameron’s underwater 3D epic Sanctum. He’s a pretty awesome dude and after meeting with him dozens of times over the past year and a half, we’ve stayed in touch and he is surprisingly not a douche baggy film type and actually ENJOYS keeping the progress updates coming.
Anywho, he told me exclusively that they will be screening the first-ever footage from Sanctum at the event on Wednesday morning. It makes sense, Cameron blew delegates away when he showed exclusive footage from his blockbuster Avatar last year, now, 12 months later, he is set to do the same. Star of the Sanctum, Rhys Wakefield, and producer Andrew Wight will attend the event when Universal Studios will present the scenes. Sanctum, filmed on the Coast earlier this year, is in post-production in Melbourne where the visual effects and final touches are being added. Grierson said it will be 'very exciting' to have people see the footage.
''It won't be the fully finished version but what you will see will be in 3D. Universal pictures are really excited and pumped up to do the release and it's rare an Australian film gets this amount of positive review and anticipation before it's out. We're doing some pick-up shots and have built a mini set here for visual effects, so we're very close to finishing.''
Although he and executive producer Cameron will not be attending the convention, Grierson reckons they've had amazing support from their American partners.
"I flew over to LA and screened a version for Jim about a month ago and he really enjoyed that. He had some tips on how to improve it and a few nips and tucks.''
So following that world exclusive screening, I will then get to interview Will Ferrell and MARK FREAKIN’ WAHLBERG when they come to the convention for the Australian premiere of The Other Guys at Event Cinemas, Robina. Excited as I am about seeing the film and meeting Ferrell, it’s no secret I’m slightly obsessed with Wahlberg and it has been one of my dreams to meet him in person so... eeeeeeeekkk!
Thursday is the final day and I will still be coming down from the combined Wahlberg/Ferrell high of the night before. However, I do have an interview locked in with schlock kind George Hamilton about his new 3D film Bait. Yes, you may have heard of it, a tsunami washes a bunch of sharks into a supermarket and people need to escape. So bad it’s good, you know.
That’s a rough outline of what I have planned and what you can expect from me over the next few days. Like I said, I’ll be posting regularly, but I will also be tweeting like a mad dog and you can follow me here. There are a few things I can’t divulge, so be sure to stay tuned as there’s a bunch of exciting stuff happening that will blow your peuny minds.