Doomsday

Universal has finally set a date for the DVD release of Neil Marshall’s Doomsday (review), a movie that, at best, divided fans as to its validity since it was really one big homage. But damnit, it was done the right way if you ask me!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 4:31pm.

All of you who bitched that Rhona Mitra’s turn in Doomsday was too similar to Kate Beckinsale’s role in the Underworld movies must’ve been predicting the future, as Sci Fi Pi discovered that Mitra is co-starring in Patrick Tatopolous’ Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 7:33am.

Johnny Butane Starring Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Craig Conway, Bob Hoskins Directed by Neil Marshall (interview)
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 1:59am.

We've all been counting down. We knew this day would come. Doomsday (review here) is finally here, and to celebrate (and who wouldn't celebrate the apocalypse?), we've got a battery of interviews for you!
Submitted by Uncle Creepy on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 8:38am.

Our world is coming to an end. The signs are all there; gas prices are on the rise, Rosemary's Baby is being remade and so on. Just how long will it take before we reach ... Doomsday? If you were in Hollywood this week then you probably saw it happening.
Submitted by Kryten Syxx on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 1:45am.

Oh, man, never thought I’d actually want to live closer to Brussels, of all places, but this year’s lineup for the Brusesls International Fantastic Film Festival is pretty damn tasty!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Sun, 03/02/2008 - 12:32am.

Neil Marshall’s final pre-release Doomsday blog just appeared over on his MySpace page, featuring a ton of new pics from the film including the one you see on your right. That’s his wife, Axelle, in one of her two roles in Doomsday.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 12:12pm.

All right, just under a month left before Neil Marshall’s Doomsday hits theaters (be sure to check out our ass-kicking contest for it right here) and finally the film’s official site has opened up beyond just the trailer.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Sat, 02/23/2008 - 1:48pm.

Doomsday is coming, we all know when (“Doomsday Gets a Date!” – January 2008) ... but what will it look like? What will the epic plague on Earth leave in its wake? Will the people who survived outside of the containment zone retain their humanity? Will the disease that drove the human race to near extinction be cured?
Submitted by Kryten Syxx on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 9:38pm.

I really can’t wait for Doomsday. Neil Marshall’s track record to date has shown us a director who loves working in our genre and knows how to do it right and even though Doomsday isn't horror, it is post-apocalyptic and in my book, that’s close enough.
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 12:49am.

While Neil Marshall is putting the finishing touches on his next film, Doomsday, which I’m sure is going to blow us all away (check out our Comic Con interviews for a look at why), movement is still happening on The Descent 2 (which may or may not be replacing its “s” with a “2”), which, as we first told you
Submitted by Undeadmin on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 1:14am.

Man, the folks at Twitch Film got their hands on some very sexy batches of sexiness today!
Submitted by Undeadmin on Thu, 05/31/2007 - 8:13pm.

Interview by: Johnny Butane Like most people who worked on Doomsday, this wasn’t the first time Production Designer Simon Bowles worked alongside director Neil Marshall. Along with being a fantastic director, Marshall inspires a lot of loyalty in everyone who makes movies with him. The unique challenges of Doomsday are what really got Bowles interested in seeing how it could be pulled off, we discovered through an e-mail interview with him. Check it out below to learn how Doomsday got its unique look! Johnny Butane: What was your first official gig as a production designer? Simon Bowles: The first feature film I designed was Edgar Wright's spoof western “A Fistful of Fingers” in 1994. I had an Art Department budget of £100 and came in £1 under, which the Producer gave me on the final day of the shoot. Since then the budgets have been going up, my Doomsday Art Department budget was nearly $4 million dollars. Weirdly, it doesn’t matter how much you have, it’s just never enough. We’re asked to make ever more impressive films on tighter budgets. This was one of the reasons we shot Doomsday in Cape Town, costs are cheaper, there are experienced teams and the climate is superb. JB: How much has changed in the industry since then? SB: These days the choice of country to shoot in is often based on tax incentives, good exchange rate and economic pay scale, these considerations are often as important as where the script is set. I’ve shot Cape Town as Glasgow, Luxembourg as Scotland and Canada, London as Washington and Italy, Morocco as Egypt and London. My skill is to make sure the audience would never know. JB: How did you and Neil Marshall end up working with one another? SB:: Before first meeting Neil I held the position of Senior Art Director for a production company in Luxembourg. A film came up called Dog Soldiers for which I and other experienced Production Designers interviewed for. I met the two DS Producers and Neil and we got on really well together. I got the job and together we collaborated to make the film look dynamic and action-packed. We also worked hard to retain a sense of realism to keep the audience from questioning what they’re witnessing. JB: What are the differences between DS, Descent and now Doomsday when it comes to challenging design? SB: I’ve been so lucky to work with Neil, he writes films in which the sets really are key characters in the story; in Dog Soldiers it was the Scottish cottage, which I built both the exterior, interior and a miniature to blow up, The Descent I designed and built the labyrinth of caves, and now Doomsday designing futuristic London, hardcore military vehicles and an overgrown Glasgow! I now have the reputation for giving the films I design a look of twice the budget. All the movies I work on are so totally different, that’s the beauty for a designer, there are no similarities. JB: Why is Neil obsessed with making “D” movies? SB; Neil is the Demon Dare-Devil Director of Dread and Disorder! JB: When you sat down to look at Doomsday what did you think would be the most difficult setting to pull off? SB: The Producers primarily wanted to know how I’d build the 40-foot high, 80 mile long steel wall that is erected in the story to divide Scotland and England. Of course the big wide shots could use CGI, but there were many scenes with vehicles driving through the huge doors, soldiers running along its parapet and Scottish civilians rushing up begging for release. Yes, it could have been a massive green screen, but Neil and I really like as much realism as possible on a set. There are limits to the ability of computer-generated objects and a modern audience is only too aware of them. It really was spine chilling seeing a couple of hundred extras running towards the huge closing metal doors and I think that comes across in the film. Beyond that, making the streets of Cape Town look like massively overgrown Glasgow was going to be a challenge too, especially as there were some iconic Cape Town locations that we had only a few hours to dress. Under pressure in the middle of a meeting with the producers I came up with an idea to buy large 50 foot square sheets of fine black netting, wire on trails of plastic creepers, fix them onto the top of the buildings on these roads and drop them down, quickly transforming the buildings and also covering up signage such as “Cape Town Quick-E-Mart”. The process was reversed when we wrapped at the end of the shooting day. JB: Did you draw inspirations from other post-apocalypse movies or did you try and keep it as original as possible? SB: Any project has its similarities to other films, it’s impossible not to be effected by them, but I always set out to design a look that is new and exciting to enhance the action and envelop the audience. JB: Should we, as the audience, be looking for any subtle nods to other films? SB: As with all Neil’s films there are nods to other movies within the dialogue, action and sets, but they’re not for me to point out, more for the fans to spot and list on the IMDB, no spoilers here mate! JB: The IMDB lists you as PD on Descent 2 … is that by default or are you actually working on it? SB: I’m working with the Descent 2 Director Jon Harris, (editor on the first film) and his scriptwriters to develop a script for the sequel. We’re eagerly waiting for the project to be green-lit, due any day. JB: Any director’s you would really like to work under? SB: As a huge Raiders, Star Wars and Alien fan I’d really love to get the chance to design for Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas and Ridley Scott on their astounding films. But truly, I’d love to keep working with Neil, I’ve had a sneak preview of the other scripts he’s developing and they’re all fantastic! He’s got so many ideas spewing from his fingertips! Q: What’s next for you? SB: My wife and I recently had a baby boy, little Indy Bowles. I turned down work to be around for his birth and to see him through his first few months. I’m now reading scripts and meeting directors to discuss their projects. I don’t think an audience could ever guess just how much time and passion it takes Directors and Producers to get funding for their films, so I freely offer any design advice I can give to help get their films made. The future? I really love working on horror films, but one day I must design a child friendly film for Indy and a beautiful period film that’ll make my dear pacifist parents proud. Thanks to Simon for taking the time to chat with us! Look for more Doomsday interviews as we approach the release date, Friday March 14th and be sure to visit the official Doomsday site to learn more about the movie! You can learn more about Bowles and the other films he's worked on at his official site, as well! Discuss this interview in the Dread Central forums!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 5:00am.

Interview by: Johnny Butane MyAnna Buring got her start in the eyes of horror fans playing the doomed sister Sam in Neil Marshall’s The Descent and has stayed pretty damn close to our genre ever since. Her role in Doomsday isn’t as high profile, but it is one of great importance (you’ll understand when you see it) so we had to take the opportunity to find out more about the woman and her character. The results follow! Johnny Butane: Was there any film or actor who inspired you at a young age to act? MyAnna Buring: I grew up in the Middle East and in many ways it was a comparative desert in terms of opportunities through which a young kid could grasp the real possibility of being able to act for a living. We did have amateur dramatic groups and school plays and those teachers might feel bad hearing me say that, but it is very much how I felt. However, I always loved imagining myself away into different scenarios, wondering how another being might feel in those situations and that has followed me throughout my life and probably led me to acting. I do remember being spell bound by Neverending Story; it is was a film that I watched repeatedly as a kid – it killed me when the horse sank to it’s death! But I don’t know if I then ever really believed that I one day too could play in imaginary lands apart from in my head... cut to now and I’ve just spent the last few years running around on crazy sets and locations playing different characters for a living! JB: So how did you first hook up with Mr. Marshall? MB: Three months out of drama school I auditioned for The Descent. I was warned that the room might feel a bit grim when I walked in and not to be put off if everyone seemed a bit serious (they were maybe struggling to find the right people to cast and were feeling the time pressure), so I walked in a little bit apprehensive and came face to face with Neil. Within five minutes we were all laughing, and a month later I walked onto my first film set as an actor! JB: Tell me about your role in Doomsday… MB: I play Cally - a little urchin who is caught in a war between her ruthless father Kane - who seeks to shelter his flock from the world beyond the “wall” with an iron fist and her rebellious and equally ruthless black sheep of a brother – Sol - who desires to know the truth of what lies beyond. She’s grown up only knowing a world in which people have had to turn to medieval ways of living - as they have no access to the luxuries of modern day life, as we know it today. This is a world which is comprised of those who remember how life was before a deadly virus forced the rest of the planet to abandon them and leave them for dead behind an impenetrable wall of steel and mine fields and those who cannot. When we first meet her she has run away from her father - a deadly sin - in order to try and reason with her brother for peace but instead he has locked her up. In the cell she overhears Sinclair – a woman from the other side being questioned by Sol and realizes that her father has lied and that all along there has been life beyond the wall and that by helping these “foreigners” she may also be able to save her own life and get to see the other side. JB: What were the marked differences between the shoot on The Descent and Doomsday, aside from the climate? MB: The Descent was a very intimate film in a lot of ways. It was shot on enclosed studio sets, it was contained mainly in one location, the action was all climbing and caving based – obviously! And it was a horror. Doomsday is much more of a fantastical action film - the action was more varied - from horse riding to car chases to gladiator style pit fights. The worlds that were imagined where also more varied – a futuristic police force, a post apocalyptic cannibal tribe, a medieval castle-dwelling community. It was shot at so many different locations, there was a bigger crew, stunt team and of course many more actors. But - and I’ve said this before - the experience of Doomsday retained the same family feel to it that The Descent had for me. I think that is a very special quality that Neil encourages on all of his sets. JB: Did you get to don any cool post-apocalyptic gear for your role? MB: No funky suits for me - I got to wear a Hessian sack – proper medieval stuff! And real nice and toasty in the scorching South African sun… But my boots were hand made for me - I couldn’t believe it - I felt very special… JB: Did you do your own stunts? MB: I wish I could say that I rock and that I did all these awesome stunts on my own - but it was a gorgeous lady called Dororthy who did most of it for me apart from running and tripping over. The best lady in the country did all the riding on my behalf too - which was a bummer because Neil called me after I got the job and asked if I could ride and I said yes and promptly went out to learn - I even fractured my back in pursuit of equestrian skills – not badly I hasten to add and I got time to heal before filming and was equipped with top surgeons notes saying I was fit to do any stunts that may be required of me. But in the end I only rode a horse for about two metres - pathetic – but I can say that I literally broke my back for Neil Marshall! JB: How was it working with big names like Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell? MB: Unfortunately, I didn’t do any filming with Bob Hoskins, but obviously the legend that is Malcolm McDowell played my dad - my own day was impressed! It is special to work with people who have so much more experience and who have been part of so much amazing film. And when they are so lovely boot it’s really encouraging. This entire job however was like a master class for me - all the actors were amazing to watch and learn from. JB: You got to use yet another accent in this movie than you did in The Descent; was it hard to perfect? MB: I love working with different accents and am so grateful to get the chance to use them. My dad is based in Scotland and I’ve spent a lot of time there. However, as there were so many of us doing a Scottish accent I did worry about sounding too different from everyone else - although, Neil wasn’t too bothered as he felt that that these were characters from all over Scotland who had formed a community and different accents were bound to prevail. Although naturally you do put in the work and hope that you don’t offend anyone by not getting it right. JB: I see you’re going to be in Paddy Breathnatch’s Red Mist; what can you tell us about it? MB: Very little I think – apart from that it is a fun script and there is a really exciting team behind it and of course Paddy - who is a very lovely man. I got asked if I would play a nurse who smacks Martin Compston’s head on the ground – I immediately said yes! Martin was my mate in Doomsday so it’s awesome to work with him again. We’re still filming in Belfast at the moment – the crew and cast are a lot of fun – and I highly recommend a night out in Belfast with them! JB: What’s next for you after that? Hope to work with Neil again? MB: We shall see... I love what I do and I hope to be doing it for a while. As for working with Neil – it is always a joy and if he wants me to join him on another adventure, I will absolutely be there - even if I’m 89. JB: Any dream projects you’d love to be involved with? MB: So many. I love the idea of doing as many varied projects as possible – there are so many amazing stories to tell and so many great people telling them and I want to be a part of that. Big thanks to the lovely MyAnna for taking the time to answer my inquiries! Doomsday is out in theaters everywhere on Friday, March 14th; be sure to visit the official Doomsday site to learn more!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 5:00am.

Interview by: Johnny Butane Cinematographer Sam McCurdy’s been working with Neil Marshall from the beginning, with 2002’s Dog Soldiers, and like everyone else who’s worked with the man hopes to continue working on his films for years to come. With this Friday’s release of Doomsday looming, we took the opportunity to pick McCurdy’s brain about just what makes the film so damn interesting. Hope you enjoy the results! Johnny Butane: So how did you get your start behind the camera? Any influences in the business who inspired you? Sam McCurdy: Goodness, how did I get started...? I started in a very traditional manner I guess. Started as a trainee, moved to loader, focus, operator and then finally DP. I think I realised I wanted to be behind a camera after seeing all the great movies of the late 70’s early 80’s. I know its not a period that people would say was that special, but it was when I really got into movies. When I realised that movies can do more than just inform you about the past, when movies were fun. I love the popcorn movie. The two biggest movies that made a difference to me personally were Halloween and Goonies. I know you couldn’t get two more different movies but (and I guess I didn’t know it at the time) Halloween got me into horror (which is still my first love, really) and Goonies reminds me every day that we are making something that should be fun, to work on as well as for audiences to enjoy. So as far as influences has to be Dean Cundy, what he did with Halloween stayed with me forever; to this day. JB: How did you and Neil first hook up? SM: Neil and I have know each other forever, I think. We knew each other as mates first really and the rest just seemed to fall into place. We have the same love of the same movies whether that be horror, comedy, whatever really, it just worked so well the first time and we kept on going. It makes a difference, I think, that we’ve grown up with the same influences and the same love of cinema. We always work together with a smile! JB: This is the third film you’ve shot for Marshall and the first with a studio behind it. Were there any marked differences in how the shoot actually went? SM: No real differences between this and any other Neil Marshall movie, really. I think Neil would work exactly the same given $50 or $50 million. Yeah we have more toys to play with more time(ish). JB: What was the most challenging part of shooting Doomsday? SM: The challenges come from Neil more than anyone else; shooting with 3 cameras was a challenge (3 cams on everything!) We’ve done 3 movies, all very different in looks, feel and content style, and the next will be no different. That’s what’s so fun about working with Neil; everything is always different. JB: Were there any scenes or actions that turned out better than you expected during planning? SM: Working with Neil is always special, we have a great relationship a great respect and a willingness to do pretty much whatever he wants, I think Neil will always get a little more from me than anyone else does, just because he can! JB: How does your experience differ shooting with someone like Neil as opposed to doing a for-hire job like Hills Have Eyes 2? SM: A for-hire job is always different; not having the relationship is the hardest thing. I find film making very personal, I like to throw myself into a project I want to know my director be inside their head as it were, and sometimes its not given back that’s always tough ... JB: What would you call a dream project? SM: There are so many people out there I would love to work with, of course given the opportunity a Tony Scott pic would be my dream. But really anyone who works with passion is the sort of person I would love to work with. JB: Any other directors you’d like to work with? SM: John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Torro, Greengrass, Chris Nolan, Martin Weisz (would love to work with again) to name but a few. JB: What’s next on you plate? SM: Next on my plate, there’s lots of talk at the moment, hopefully working in the states soon, there’s a nice horror project coming up soon for me too... JB: Do you plan on always working with Neil? SM: I’m around as long as he will have me. I hope that’s a long time! Thanks to Sam for taking the time to chat with us; look for more Doomsday interviews as the March 14th release date approaches! Visit the official Doomsday site to learn more! Discuss this interview in the Dread Central forums!
Submitted by Johnny Butane on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 5:00am.