USA: "THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO" FILM PREMIERE

Record ID: 634089

  • Title: USA: "THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO" FILM PREMIERE
  • Date: 18th January 2002
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 18) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JIM CAVIEZEL SAYING: "Well, I never saw any of the other versions, myself, but I did, Kevin (Reynolds, the director,) when we first met, I said, number one, I don't know if I can do this role. I'm gonna try like hell. Number two is, you know, this has got to have something there that's different, and, like you were saying and I felt that a big part of this movie, really, the core of it, was going to be in the prison, with Richard Harris." (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEVIN REYNOLDS SAYING: "The script was intriguing but I really had a new respect for what the writer had done after I read the novel because it's just so damn dense, I mean, it's just, it's thick and it's a style of writing that is so archaic and it just doesn't work for today's audience and so un-cinematic and that was the task, was how do we turn this into a piece of cinema?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAGMARA DOMINCZYK SAYING: "I think every timeless tale, you know, that is told over and over again, Shakespeare is a prime example, a director's vision brings something new to the story and illuminates and makes it pertinent to what is going on right now and I think this version is a bit more fast-paced, it's not as indulgent as the older versions, you know, it'll reach out to a broader audience because it's got all the elements, you know, the romance and the adventure and the action and the suspense and there's a moral message as well."
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAE5152L1A5M10FD9OMQV8V191E
  • Story Text: Even though it's been adapted into a feature film more than a half a dozen times, the Walt Disney Company is once again hoping the classic Alexandre Dumas story "The Count of Monte Cristo" will deliver moviegoers to the multiplexes. Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris star in this version of the legend, which celebrated its World Premiere on Wednesday January 23 in Los Angeles.
    "The Count of Monte Cristo" is Alexandre Dumas' classic story of an innocent man wrongly but deliberately imprisoned and his brilliant strategy for revenge against those who betrayed him. In this film version, Jim Caviezel plays the dashing young sailor Edmond Dantes, whose peaceful life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes, played by newcomer Dagmara Dominczyk, are abruptly shattered when his best friend Fernand, played by "Memento" star Guy Pearce, deceives him.
    Dantes is unlawfully sentenced to the infamous island prison of Chateau D'If and is trapped in a nightmare that lasts for thirteen years. During that time he becomes consumed by thoughts of vengeance against those who betrayed him and, with the help of another inmate, played by Richard Harris, he plots and succeeds in his mission to escape from prison.
    After his escape, he transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy Count of Monte Cristo and cleverly insinuates himself into the French nobility and systematically destroys the men who manipulated and enslaved him many years earlier.
    Behind the scenes in this version of the story is Kevin Reynolds, who previously directed Kevin Costner in the epics "Waterworld" and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Although he was used to staging huge productions while juggling complex logistics, he says this film was even more of a challenge than his previous projects because he had limited budget and time constraints.
    The crew shot the film in locations throughout two very different parts of the world: Ireland and the island of Malta, which was chosen to replicate the French port city of Marseilles circa 1814.
    "The Count of Monte Cristo" was originally scheduled to be released during the end-of-year holiday seasons but was moved back to late January in order to avoid the holiday glut of films and maximize its prospects of finding a sizeable audience. It opens throughout North America on Friday, January 25.
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