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Preview by: Jack Foley
NOW that Brad Pitt’s Achilles has successfully made his
mark at the world-wide box office, in Troy,
thoughts begin to turn to another epic, which is set to hit our
screens by the end of the year.
Alexander marks Warner Bros next big sword and sandals affair,
starring Colin Farrell as the legendary Macedonian King Alexander,
who conquered 90 per cent of the known world, before he was 26.
Directed by Oliver Stone, the film will focus on the eight-year
period during which Alexander and his troops faced 22,000 miles
of battles and sieges. Needless to say, it promises to be a bloody,
no-holds barred affair.
The film will also explore Alexander’s friendship with battle
companion, Hephaistion, played by Jared Leto (which is rumoured
to include an on-screen gay kiss), while Angelina Jolie appears
as his mum, Olympia.
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The cast is rounded out by the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Rosario
Dawson, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Val Kilmer.
Alexander is credited with being possibly the greatest military
leader in history, so it is little wonder to find that the film
looks set to challenge Troy in budgetary terms.
Production began on September 22, 2003, in Morocco, on a budget
of $150-200 million, before filming moved to sets, in London,
in November, and then Thailand (for the elephant-related sequences),
before wrapping in early January, 2004.
Since then, a website has gone live and a new trailer has been
released, to capitalise on the current lust for historical epics,
fuelled by the success of Troy.
The trailer, in question, features far more of the film than
has previously been seen and seems to suggest that Farrell will
be employing an Irish accent.
Aside from reservations about accents, however, most online trailer
critics seem to think the film looks suitably spectacular and
are holding out high hopes, particularly given Stone’s track
record for making consistently good, if not challenging, movies.
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