Dam Busters remake update
Tue May 05, 2009 1:50 am
Takeoff looms for Jackson's dam film
Chocks away for Dambusters
By TANYA KATTERNS - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 05 May 2009
SETTING THE SCENE: Peter Jackson has unveiled the first glimpses of his remake of the World War II
epic Dambusters, with a mock-up of a Lancaster bomber at Masterton's Hood Aerodrome.
— TANYA KATTERNS/The Dominion Post.
Movie director Peter Jackson has unveiled the first glimpses of his multimillion-dollar Dambusters movie.
Jackson, the King Kong of New Zealand's film industry, visited Hood Aerodrome in Masterton yesterday to oversee a mockup of a World War II airfield, complete with a full-scale replica of a Lancaster bomber.
It took a large crew a week to put together the replica, which is one of 10 designed by Weta Workshop and built in China out of fibreglass and steel.
Sandbags, guns, tanks and hired extras in war uniform all helped to set the scene.
Although the Jackson-produced NZ$52-million movie about 617 Squadron's famous dam assault was announced to the world in 2006, little has been said until now about its progress other than confirmation that British writer and comedian Stephen Fry would write the script. The film is being directed by Kiwi first-time director Christian Rivers.
It has also emerged that Fry was asked to come up with alternative names for squadron leader Guy Gibson's dog, Nigger, but that executive producer Sir David Frost rejected them all.
"Guy sometimes used to call his dog 'Nigsy', so I think that's what we will call it," Sir David told the Daily Mail newspaper. "Stephen has been coming up with other names, but this is the one I want."
Matthew Dravitzki, a spokesman for Jackson, confirmed the movie was still in development stages, with work focusing on building the Lancasters and writing scripts.
Just when shooting will start is still under wraps and the movie is yet to be cast.
"Right now we are having fun working on a number of different projects and have the luxury to make things at our own speed. We are yet to choose the location for the film's shooting, and that is going to come down to wherever is most suitable for our needs."
Yesterday's mockup was also a chance to test new camera technology. "We are not shooting any scenes that are project-specific; this is about just keeping up with technology and trying new things."
Preparation for Dambusters is part of a hectic schedule for Jackson. Big-budget science fiction movie District 9, which he has produced, comes out in October, and The Lovely Bones, which he directed, is due for release on Boxing Day.
The first of three planned Tintin movies is in post-production and The Hobbit is to be shot next year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/ne ... r-dam-film
Chocks away for Dambusters
By TANYA KATTERNS - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 05 May 2009
SETTING THE SCENE: Peter Jackson has unveiled the first glimpses of his remake of the World War II
epic Dambusters, with a mock-up of a Lancaster bomber at Masterton's Hood Aerodrome.
— TANYA KATTERNS/The Dominion Post.
Movie director Peter Jackson has unveiled the first glimpses of his multimillion-dollar Dambusters movie.
Jackson, the King Kong of New Zealand's film industry, visited Hood Aerodrome in Masterton yesterday to oversee a mockup of a World War II airfield, complete with a full-scale replica of a Lancaster bomber.
It took a large crew a week to put together the replica, which is one of 10 designed by Weta Workshop and built in China out of fibreglass and steel.
Sandbags, guns, tanks and hired extras in war uniform all helped to set the scene.
Although the Jackson-produced NZ$52-million movie about 617 Squadron's famous dam assault was announced to the world in 2006, little has been said until now about its progress other than confirmation that British writer and comedian Stephen Fry would write the script. The film is being directed by Kiwi first-time director Christian Rivers.
It has also emerged that Fry was asked to come up with alternative names for squadron leader Guy Gibson's dog, Nigger, but that executive producer Sir David Frost rejected them all.
"Guy sometimes used to call his dog 'Nigsy', so I think that's what we will call it," Sir David told the Daily Mail newspaper. "Stephen has been coming up with other names, but this is the one I want."
Matthew Dravitzki, a spokesman for Jackson, confirmed the movie was still in development stages, with work focusing on building the Lancasters and writing scripts.
Just when shooting will start is still under wraps and the movie is yet to be cast.
"Right now we are having fun working on a number of different projects and have the luxury to make things at our own speed. We are yet to choose the location for the film's shooting, and that is going to come down to wherever is most suitable for our needs."
Yesterday's mockup was also a chance to test new camera technology. "We are not shooting any scenes that are project-specific; this is about just keeping up with technology and trying new things."
Preparation for Dambusters is part of a hectic schedule for Jackson. Big-budget science fiction movie District 9, which he has produced, comes out in October, and The Lovely Bones, which he directed, is due for release on Boxing Day.
The first of three planned Tintin movies is in post-production and The Hobbit is to be shot next year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/ne ... r-dam-film
Tue May 05, 2009 5:32 am
Wow....replica looks dam good 
Hopefully all will make it to museums for display afterwards.
Minus the ones they may destroy for movie purposes.
Hopefully all will make it to museums for display afterwards.
Minus the ones they may destroy for movie purposes.
Tue May 05, 2009 6:14 am
Amazing replica. I'd almost forgot about this movie it's been in development so long.
Tue May 05, 2009 7:00 am
Will it be at.....Oh never mind!
It is looking good! Production has been awfully quiet, it is good to see it moving ahead.
It is looking good! Production has been awfully quiet, it is good to see it moving ahead.
Tue May 05, 2009 7:50 am
"Nigsy". The PC crowd strikes again.
Mudge the PC...yeah...right
Tue May 05, 2009 7:55 am
This is great news.., So Peter Jackson huh.., ? I would have never guessed. Hopefully he will do the Doolittle Raiders next!!!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Tue May 05, 2009 8:09 am
I hope they realize there isn't any mountains in the background at "Scampton".
Tue May 05, 2009 8:56 am
Mudge wrote::lol:
Mudge the PC...yeah...right
Mudge, you gotta be kidding me. The word is unacceptable now, and was then.
Would you allow the word c*nt to be used in a movie that would be widely seen by millions, among them impressionable young children? How about c*cks*ck*r? I sure wouldn't, least in a PG movie.
Foul language raises the movie's ratings. It's not a PC ism. It's simply avoiding foul language in order to allow the movie to be viewed by a wider audience. Which I applaud.
you thought you'd lost me, dintcha?
Tue May 05, 2009 8:58 am
b29flteng wrote:I hope they realize there isn't any mountains in the background at "Scampton".
And I guess this will ruin the flick for you, right?
Tue May 05, 2009 9:12 am
[quote="muddyboots"][quote="Mudge"] "Nigsy". The PC crowd strikes again.
Mudge, you gotta be kidding me. The word is unacceptable now, and was then.
I hope Mudge the Magnificent lets me answer this. You are completely wrong there, my (young?) friend. The N word was not used in a perjorative way , only a descriptive way until comparitively recent times. When I was young I had a cast-iron N word moneybox. It was the name of a particular shade of brown in knitting wool and it appeared on the tins of brown shoe polish. The word has become an insulting term and as such I no longer use it but let's not get carried away. In the UK (which has also seen large scale post war immigration) a no-no word is Paki. You could cause a riot if you used it, yet it only an abreviation of 'Pakistani'. As the name of the country means (in their language of Urdu) 'Land of the Pure' they are objecting to being called pure! The world is quite surreal enough without needing the PC crowds input.
Mudge, you gotta be kidding me. The word is unacceptable now, and was then.
I hope Mudge the Magnificent lets me answer this. You are completely wrong there, my (young?) friend. The N word was not used in a perjorative way , only a descriptive way until comparitively recent times. When I was young I had a cast-iron N word moneybox. It was the name of a particular shade of brown in knitting wool and it appeared on the tins of brown shoe polish. The word has become an insulting term and as such I no longer use it but let's not get carried away. In the UK (which has also seen large scale post war immigration) a no-no word is Paki. You could cause a riot if you used it, yet it only an abreviation of 'Pakistani'. As the name of the country means (in their language of Urdu) 'Land of the Pure' they are objecting to being called pure! The world is quite surreal enough without needing the PC crowds input.
Tue May 05, 2009 9:30 am
Here we go again....
I´m just waiting for the imminent arrival of the "CGI is crap" crowd and my day will be complete.
I´m certain it´ll be a fine film regardless.
I´m just waiting for the imminent arrival of the "CGI is crap" crowd and my day will be complete.
I´m certain it´ll be a fine film regardless.
Tue May 05, 2009 9:39 am
Glyn wrote:muddyboots wrote:Mudge wrote: "Nigsy". The PC crowd strikes again.
Mudge, you gotta be kidding me. The word is unacceptable now, and was then.
I hope Mudge the Magnificent lets me answer this. You are completely wrong there, my (young?) friend. The N word was not used in a perjorative way , only a descriptive way until comparitively recent times. When I was young I had a cast-iron N word moneybox. It was the name of a particular shade of brown in knitting wool and it appeared on the tins of brown shoe polish. The word has become an insulting term and as such I no longer use it but let's not get carried away. In the UK (which has also seen large scale post war immigration) a no-no word is Paki. You could cause a riot if you used it, yet it only an abreviation of 'Pakistani'. As the name of the country means (in their language of Urdu) 'Land of the Pure' they are objecting to being called pure! The world is quite surreal enough without needing the PC crowds input.
Glyn...Thank you for understanding my post and clarifying it for the PC crowd.
Mudge the misunderstood
Tue May 05, 2009 9:40 am
Mudge - I´ve been wanting to say this for ages - but I really admire your yellow goatee!
Tue May 05, 2009 9:57 am
James D wrote:Mudge - I´ve been wanting to say this for ages - but I really admire your yellow goatee!
Sorry James...that's a bit too obtuse even for me.
Mudge the dense
Tue May 05, 2009 10:00 am
Wait...I think I just got it...my avatar, right?
Mudge the s-l-o-w
Mudge the s-l-o-w
Last edited by Mudge on Tue May 05, 2009 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.