Crew members work on a scene during the filming of 'Arthur Newman, Golf Pro,' on the beach at Ft. Fisher on Thursday, October 13, 2011. The movie began filming this week in Wilmington and will film through mid-November.
Photo By Matt Born
Photo By Matt Born
Published: Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:57 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:57 p.m.
Colin Firth, dressed in rolled up khakis and a plaid shirt and with a small orange tent in the background, strolled down the beach Thursday afternoon near the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, waded into the surf and tossed his top into the water, revealing a short-sleeve, white T-shirt.
Photo Galleries
The temperature, elevated by the bright sun and nearly cloudless sky, hovered around 80 and a brisk south-southwest wind blew as "Arthur Newman, Golf Pro" made its Pleasure Island debut.
Before Firth lost his shirt, the crew filmed some boats maneuvering near the shore – a scene meant to simulate a search for Firth's character based on the discovery of his lone piece of clothing floating in the water, said Pat Story, the movie's publicist.
The film planned additional shooting in Carolina Beach on Thursday and Friday nights, when the production is to close off Lake Park Boulevard from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. between Charlotte and Atlanta avenues for low-speed chase scenes.
Academy Award winner Firth and Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt are starring in "Arthur Newman," which opened offices at EUE/Screen Gems Studios last month and will shoot in the area from mid-October to mid-November.
"We couldn't be more excited," said producer Alisa Tager on the set Thursday afternoon. "We needed a place with a certain amount of geographic diversity and architectural diversity, and we found it in the Wilmington area."
The lower-budget, independent dark comedy began filming Monday at D&E Mitsubishi, 6220 Market St., and Smith Creek Bridge. Crews also shot scenes at the vacant Brunswick Community Hospital building in Supply earlier this week.
More shoots are planned all over Wilmington in the following weeks. According to a press release from the production company, this is the movie's plot: Wallace Avery (Firth) hates his job. His ex-wife and son hate him, and he's blown his one shot at living his dream.
Not wanting to face all this, he stages his own death and buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman.
However, Arthur's road trip towards a new life is interrupted by the arrival of the beautiful but fragile Mike (Blunt), who is also trying to leave her past behind.
Drawn to one another, these two damaged souls begin to connect as they break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners: elderly newlyweds and a high-roller and his Russian lady, among others. Through this process, Arthur and Mike discover what they love most about each other are the identities they left at home, and their real journey of healing begins.
Local film officials said landing "Arthur Newman, Golf Pro" with its big-name stars highlights the strength of Wilmington's film industry.
"We're honored to have a film of this quality here at EUE/Screen Gems, and we have a good sense about being able to help them make this film," said Bill Vassar, executive vice president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, last month.
"And there's something in the quality of the script that is attracting people to want to work on it.
"It's a very exciting film to be associated with."
The film is being directed by Dante Ariola from an original script by Becky Johnston, who most recently wrote "1906," about the San Francisco earthquake, for director Brad Bird. Her credits include co-writing "The Prince of Tides," which earned her Academy Award and Writer's Guild Award nominations, "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Under the Cherry Moon."
No comments:
Post a Comment