(Left) Nicolas Cage stars in ‘The Surfer’. Photo: Saturn Films. (Center) Alice Eve in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Photo: Paramount Pictures. (Right) Sir Ben Kingsley in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, which will launch on 28th August 2025 exclusively on Netflix. Photo: Netflix.
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Nicolas Cage, Ben Kingsley and Alice Eve are in the cast of ‘Fortitude’.
It’s an espionage action-adventure set during World War II.
Simon West is directing.
The cameras for the movie are already rolling, but World War II-set espionage action-adventure ‘Fortitude’ just announced, via Deadline, the sort of sprawling ensemble you’d have trouble listing in one breath.
Written by Simon Afram, the movie is based on the true story of British Intelligence operatives using unprecedented strategic operations to fool Nazi leadership and help change the course of World War II.
With historical consultation from Joshua Levine (‘Dunkirk’), the film follows the brilliance of British Army officers Dudley Clarke and Thomas Argyll “Tar” Robertson, who deployed an elaborate web of deception campaigns including fictitious armies, fake military equipment and a network of double agents to mislead Nazi Intelligence. Among them was Yugoslavian playboy Dusko Popov, a real-life double agent who is said to have inspired Ian Fleming’s James Bond character.
Who else is in ‘Fortitude’?
Sir Ben Kingsley in ‘The Killer’s Game’. Photo: Lionsgate.
“We are excited to bring together such a remarkable ensemble. Their chemistry and depth, paired with West’s direction, elevate this story into something truly gripping and unforgettable.”
The cameras started cranking earlier this month in London.
When will ‘Fortitude’ be in theaters?
Since this is more of an indie project, it’ll likely be putting its rights up for sale at film markets. And given that cast, we don’t imagine it’ll have too much trouble finding a home, but until then, a release date is lurking some way in the distance.
Airing its finale on Paramount+ June 16th is the 10-part miniseries about the making of ‘The Godfather’ entitled ‘The Offer.’ The series chronicles producer Albert S. Ruddy’s journey to turn author Mario Puzo’s famous novel into a movie.
Actor Giovanni Ribisi began his career at a very young age appearing in such successful 90’s sitcoms as ‘My Two Dads’ and ‘The Wonder Years,’ before making the jump to the big screen with Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, ‘That Thing You Do!”
But the actor is probably best known for playing Parker Selfridge in James Cameron’s ‘Avatar,’ and will reprise his role later this year in the long-awaited sequel, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Giovanni Ribisi about playing Joe Colombo in ‘The Offer.’
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You can read our full interview with Giovanni Ribisi below or click on the video player above to watch out interviews with Ribisi and Dan Fogler about ‘The Offer.’
Moviefone: To begin with, were you aware of all the legendary behind-the-scenes stories of the making of ‘The Godfather’ before you started making this miniseries?
Giovanni Ribisi: There were so many things that were so intriguing about the story and the making of, but I’d also categorized ’The Godfather’ as it came out of the 70’s as sort of the wild and crazy days of filmmaking. So, for that reason, it wasn’t all together shocking, but just still amazing to me. What Al Ruddy did to achieve what he did.
MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing Joe Colombo and the differences between the character depicted in the series and the real-life mob boss?
GR: For any biopic or even documentary for that matter, there’s always an interpretive factor and a lens that you’re looking through to create the whole story. I think for me, I had read a book that was written by Don Capria, and actually Joe Colombo’s son, Anthony Colombo, which was better than some sort of sensationalized mobster biography. It was something that was from having grown up with this man, looking up to him as a father and it really humanized him for me.
But there was also definitely for the story, a comedic aspect to the nature of everything. Also, just how ridiculous it got, especially by today’s standards of again, what protagonist Al Ruddy was going through and the hurdles he had to overcome in order to achieve what he did. So, for me, I think at a certain point in reading the scripts, I just decided to have fun with it. I wanted to look at it from, I wouldn’t say comedic, but just try to find the humor just to balance the severity, I guess.
MF: In your opinion, why did Joe Colombo hate Mario Puzo’s novel ‘The Godfather’ so much, and how did producer Albert S. Ruddy convince him to let them make the movie?
GR: That’s a great question. This is just my theory, because I don’t know for sure. But what it seemed like Joe Colombo was doing, and I think the common ground that he found with Al Ruddy was that he was trying to bring in and usher in the new guard of what his life was. I think that the book, and the way things were depicted, and Frank Sinatra‘s take on it were just not conducive to him trying to reidentify, restructure his life and the business that he was in.
I think that you can make the argument that there’s movies before ’The Godfather’ and after ‘The Godfather,’ not just because of the nature of filmmaking. I mean, largely of course because of that, but also because the way they went about things. Mike Nichols was the maverick of Hollywood and he was trying to rescue this thing from corporate America and bring the creative nature of films, and the possibilities of that to the films that he was making.
I think that from just that notion of thinking outside of the box, Al Ruddy and all that, I think that’s where they connected. Al really changed Joe’s mind. I mean, he was adamantly against it. He was trying to deny the ideas of the mafia or La Cosa Nostra. Joe Colombo was trying to do that.
MF: What was it like working with actor Miles Teller on Colombo and Al Ruddy’s friendship?
GR: I just can’t say enough positive things about my experience with Miles and just what a class act he is. He reminds me of an old school movie star. He’s just got taste, and he’s really smart, and he challenges the material in all the best ways. So, it was easy to find for me personally, to find that connection and that bond with him and to have that hopefully translate through the characters.
MF: ‘The Offer’ reveals that Luca Brasi actor Lenny Montana was actually a member of Joe Colombo’s crew. Were you aware of that before making the series?
GR: Oh, I had no idea. Then when you look him up, it’s incredible because he was a 1950s wrestler, in the sort of the lower brow version. He was just such a character and that’s also part of, I think Coppola’s genius and Al Ruddy just looking at somebody like that, hiring them and making them perform the way they did. Because that’s one of the most, for me, one of the most memorable scenes of the movie and something that I flash on whenever anybody brings up ‘The Godfather.’
MF: In the series, Lenny Montana is played by ‘The Incredible Hulk’ actor Lou Ferrigno, which was perfect casting. What was your experience like working with Ferrigno?
GR: I mean, he was the guy that for everybody on set, when he came on set, we were all star-struck because he’s such a huge, almost pivotal masculine figure in our Freudian minds of the formative years. ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and watching that show, anybody who’s as old as I am now, remembers that.
MF: Finally, you worked with director Sofia Coppola on ‘The Virgin Suicides’ and ‘Lost in Translation.’ How do you think this series honor’s her father, her family, and their cinematic legacy?
GR: I really hope it honors their cinematic legacy. That was definitely minimally an intention from all of us and just by virtue of the fact that it is about what they did and what it takes to make a movie. Not just to go through that, because a lot of people go through experiences or extreme experiences like that and they don’t make ‘The Godfather.’
But this was something that is just, again, just such a seminal important piece of work for what we all do. I think movies would be completely different had ‘The Godfather’ not been made. Yeah, it’s definitely a tribute to them.
You can watch an exclusive scene from the finale of Paramount+’s ‘The Offer,’ featuring the premiere of ‘The Godfather,’ by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Fogler about playing Francis Ford Coppola in ‘The Offer.’
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You can read our full interview with Dan Fogler below or click on the video player above to watch out interviews with Fogler, and Giovanni Ribisi about ‘The Offer.’
Moviefone: To begin with, were you aware of all the legendary behind-the-scenes stories of the making of ‘The Godfather’ before you started making this miniseries?
Dan Fogler: Yes, we just had one recently on the series that was a legend that came out, which was the famous dinner scene. I remember talking about that in college when I went to acting school because it was such a great tool. Coppola talks about getting all the actors together for dinner, sharing central activities, drinking together, and partying together because that builds the relationships and it makes excellent chemistry.
So, there was this famous dinner that we recreated in the show, where they brought in the cast. It was the day before shooting and Coppola rented out this room in this restaurant and they brought Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino. Everyone was there, even Diane Keaton. Everyone started vying for Brando’s attention and everyone kind of sat where you’d think that they would sit as a family hierarchy.
Then all the things that happened in that scene played out, where there’s an insult and Caan gets upset, and it gets heated. Then Brando says, “Did this man hurt you?” to Talia Shire. Suddenly, it was in that moment that Coppola saw, “Oh my God, this is going to work. Everyone’s falling into place perfectly, the chemistry’s working and they’re already in character.” So, it was one of those magical theatrical moments. So yeah, those are legends. Coming up as a young actor, you hear about all these things and then suddenly you’re on set and you’re recreating them and it’s very surreal.
MF: What was your approach to playing Francis Ford Coppola?
DF: So, I’ve been kind of studying Coppola for a while. I saw ‘The Godfather’ when I was in high school as a young actor, and then used that as a mothership of the whole ensemble, just like reverse engineering. I was seeing everything from Coppola, including ‘The Godfather,’ then I went to ‘Apocalypse Now,’ and ‘Hearts of Darkness.’
Just seeing Coppola, the ringmaster at the center of that circus and the kind of person that it takes. The fortitude that it takes to create something like that, the passion, and the energy. So, I was very familiar with him. I understood as a young actor, he was 30 when he did ‘The Godfather.’ There was a real “Orson Welles syndrome” going on with him, where he’s the smartest guy in the room, but he still is got to prove himself.
He won an Academy Award for writing ‘Patton,’ which is just military poetry, but he still had to prove himself as a director. They don’t make a lot of people like that anymore. These real artists, he’s like a real visionary. What I understood about seeing him at the center of that, that he has to put himself in the middle of chaos in order to create his best work. He has to be in the middle of a pressure cooker in order to create, to be at his best.
I understood as a young actor, really trying to prove yourself, being put in a situation where you’re pigeonholed and who would ever cast me is Coppola? I would think John Belushi first, and I would think all of these different people first. I knew I would have to prove myself in order to be the room to audition for Coppola.
But there was something that happened after the audition where I saw myself and I kind of saw what they were hoping to see, like the potential there, which is that I look like him. I look like I could be related to him if I put the glasses on. I got a beard, I put my hair to side, and I really do look like him. So, there was a confidence there where I thought, I got a shot here. So, Coppola has been in my life a long time.
Matthew Goode as Robert Evans in ‘The Offer,’ streaming on Paramount+, 2022. Photo: Miller Mobley/Paramount+
MF: At this year’s Oscar ceremony, Coppola for the first time ever publicly recognized Robert Evans contributions to ‘The Godfather.’ Can you talk about their relationship in the series and what it was like for you to work with Matthew Goode?
DF: If Matthew is not nominated (for an Emmy), then there’s something wrong with the world. I had a front row seat. There’s something that happened to me playing Coppola, which was, I’m playing a director. I had such a love of the ensemble of all their performances. I was just sitting there impressed. I just couldn’t help but root them on and be a coach for them. Anytime someone was like, “I feel nervous or whatever.” I was like, no. You are amazing. I was there for them for the support. Especially Matthew, because he’s a Brit. What he’s doing is he’s just sinking into that, disappearing into that, and becoming Bob Evans. I think that he’s amazing.
On the show, I’m playing a great admiration for the Evans because he’s giving us a chance here. He’s just a huge coach for everybody, but in a real life, that contention really spiraled out of control. There’re so many egos and there’s telegrams that I found, between Evans and Coppola when they were starting to do ‘The Godfather Part II.’ They’re just scathing, and a lot of feelings were hurt.
Here’s the thing. Coppola had this vision and he saw only one person as the Don, and he wanted Brando. He thought that was a long shot. Then when he got Brando, it was just like, “Okay, well then I want Pacino, that’s my only choice.” So, he became like, “It’s my vision, let me see my vision to the end. There’s something here.”
He butts heads with Evans at every point on the road. So, I guess they did butt heads a bit about that. That’s in the show, and those scenes are a lot of fun, but I think my favorite stuff to play is when they’re working together, getting along, and Evans walks in and is just like a knight in shining armor. He just saves the day. There’re a couple moments like that. Those are my favorite moments, the celebratory moments where we’re all winning, and the musketeers are working together.
MF: Finally, have you ever had a chance to meet Francis Ford Coppola?
DF: No, but I’ve met people in his family. I worked with Robert Schwartzman. I did ‘The Argument,’ with him. He’s his nephew. I’ve met and spoken to, in my research, people that want to be off the record, who are very close to him. I got to speak to James Caan, which is as close to him but not in the family as you can get. I hope one day to talk to him and I hope that he sees it. That would be the ultimate badge of honor to get his stamp of approval.
You can watch an exclusive scene from the finale of Paramount+’s ‘The Offer,’ featuring the premiere of ‘The Godfather,’ by clicking on the video player above.
The result is a really fun retelling of how ‘The Godfather’ was made, even if most of the facts have been replaced with legend, and serves an entertaining send-up of Hollywood filmmaking with an absolutely brilliant performance by Matthew Goode as the iconic Robert Evans.
The series begins by introducing us to Albert S. Ruddy (Teller), a computer programmer-turned TV writer who wants to produce feature films. He soon meets the head of Paramount studios, Robert Evans (Goode), who desperately needs a hit, and assigns Ruddy to produce Mario Puzo’s (Patrick Gallo) best-selling novel, “The Godfather.”
Evan’s righthand-man, Peter Bart (Josh Zukerman) recommends writer Francis Ford Coppola (Fogler) to direct the film and co-write with Puzo. But production of the movie is put in jeopardy when mob boss Joe Colombo (Ribisi) decides to stop the production because he feels the book is negative towards Italian-Americans. Along with his assistant Bettye McCartt (Juno Temple), Ruddy begins a friendship with Colombo that allows the movie to get made.
Meanwhile, Evans battles Paramount owners Charles Bluhdorn (Burn Gorman) and Barry Lapidus (Colin Hanks) to get the movie made and keep his job. As the film goes into production, Ruddy must deal with Colombo and the mob, fighting Bluhdorn and Evans to get actors Al Pacino (Anthony Ippolito) and Marlon Brando (Justin Chambers) cast, and fulfilling Coppola’s vision to make the greatest movie of all-time!
The pilot episode is directed by Dexter Fletcher, who is also a producer on the series and has a flair for telling “based on a true story” movies like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which he unofficially directed, and ‘Rocketman.’ But the biggest problem with the series, much like HBO’s ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,’ is that it offers legend as fact and mixes the two together, ultimately leaving the audience lost as to what is real and what is a dramatization.
Also blending myth and facts, actor Gianni Russo, who played Carlo in ‘The Godfather,’ has been very vocal over the years about his version of the making of the film, which again, may or may not have been true, and saw him taking on the role of mediator between the studio and the mafia.
The series contradicts that story, having Ruddy as the mediator, and also depicts Russo as physically abusive and a sexual predator on the set. Again, that may or may not be true, but if it is, the series does finally explain why actor James Caan really beat Russo up in their famous fight scene.
Another aspect of the series that may or may not ultimately work, is the way they orchestrated moments from ‘The Godfather’ to happen behind the scenes, as if to say that those “real life” moments inspired the film. This works once in a while, but the series doubles down and does it constantly. For example, on the set of the movie in the Don’s office, Ruddy sits behind the desk answering questions from the crew as if he was the Don. While fun at times, this technique eventually runs out of steam.
The sub-plot between Ruddy and the mob is at times more entertaining than the story of making the movie, but I have to call into question if any of that actually happened. According to the mini-series, Ruddy and Colombo become very close, and Ruddy is even in attendance when Colombo was assassinated, which may or may not be true.
The series also implies that Lenny Montana (wonderfully played by Lou Ferrigno), the actor who portrayed Luca Brasi, actually worked for Colombo and may have been implicated in the murder of “Crazy” Joe Gallo. With so many true stories told in the series, it becomes confusing when the show takes “creative license.”
Miles Teller gives a strong performance as Albert S. Ruddy and is really the audience’s eyes throughout the series. Juno Temple is also quite strong as his assistant Bettye and transcends her limited role. Some of the supporting roles of famous actors are a bit hard to swallow, including Anthony Ippolito’s caricature-type performance as Al Pacino. But, Justin Chambers perfectly captures both Marlon Brando’s oddness and genius.
Giovanni Ribisi is surprisingly great as Joe Colombo and brings a lot of humanity to an otherwise unredeemable character. Burn Gorman also gives a spot-on performance as Gulf + Western owner Charles Bluhdorn, which is both funny and at times menacing.
Matthew Goode as Robert Evans in ‘The Offer,’ streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Miller Mobley/Paramount+.
But for me, its Matthew Goode’s performance as legendary producer Robert Evans that really makes this series worth watching. For those that don’t know, Evans is one of the most iconic Hollywood producers of all-time, overseeing not just ‘The Godfather,’ but also hits like ‘Love Story,’ and ‘Chinatown.’ Evans had a very specific way of talking and moving, and Goode nails each aspect of his personality perfectly.
While a supporting character, Evans is as much the star of ‘The Offer’ as Ruddy, and the series tracks his rise, fall, and rise again at Paramount and hints at his drug addiction and failed marriage to Ali MacGraw.
In the end, fans of classic Hollywood filmmaking and specifically ‘The Godfather’ will enjoy this series, whether some of the facts are in question or not. But I do think that anyone with a passing knowledge of ‘The Godfather’ and the legendary stories from behind the scenes will have a more enjoyable viewing than those that do not know the movie’s history.
‘The Offer’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
‘The Offer’ premieres April 28th on Paramount+
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You can watch an exclusive scene from the finale of Paramount+’s ‘The Offer,’ featuring the premiere of ‘The Godfather,’ by clicking on the video player above.
Turning 50 years old in 2022, ‘The Godfather’ is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest movies ever made. But making it in the first place was far from an easy task.
That’s the true story that will unfold in new limited series ‘The Offer’, which launches on Paramount+ this April. It’s inspired by, and partly based on, the book from producer Albert S. Ruddy (who is an executive producer on the series). It chronicles his struggle to get the 1972 movie off the ground and keep it in production in the face of clashing creatives, difficult actors, and unhappy mobsters.
Paramount Pictures chose Ruddy to helm a project that the studio had little confidence could even succeed, especially since many considered the era of gangster movies to be long gone. Based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo, ‘The Godfather’ was originally conceived as a low-budget project, and Francis Ford Coppola only became involved after other filmmakers refused to direct it.
While ‘The Godfather’ is known for launching the prolific career of Hollywood legends including Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, ‘The Offer’ will focus on lesser-known facts of the movie’s production. Ruddy dealt with an unwilling director and a screenwriter desperate for money at the start of the production, and the series shows how he negotiated with the studio to increase the budget and help craft the classic it became.
How classic? ‘The Godfather’ was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning three, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Marlon Brando‘s performance as Vito Corleone (though he famously refused to accept it, instead using the event to protest the country’s treatment of Native Americans).
Dan Fogler is Coppola, while Burn Gorman plays industrialist Charles Bludhorn, who ran Paramount’s parent company at time, Gulf & Western. Colin Hanks is on as Barry Lapidus, a Gulf & Western executive with a lot of power over Paramount, while Patrick Gallo is ‘Godfather’ author Mario Puzo. Justin Chambers, meanwhile, plays Brando.
‘The Offer’ was created and written by ‘The Player’ and ‘Escape at Dannemora’s Michael Tolkin alongside executive producer Nikki Toscano, who also serves as showrunner. ‘Rocketman’ director Dexter Fletcher handled the first block of episodes.
“What sealed it for me was when Al said, ‘Every day of making ‘The Godfather’ was the worst day in my life,’ and that told me we had a show” Tolkin told Entertainment Weekly last month. “For every character in the film, getting it made or stopping it from being made was at the core of their actions, and it was a matter of life and death to them.”
The 10-episode limited series will drop its first three episodes Thursday, April 28th exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service. Subsequent episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays.
Paramount+ original series ‘The Offer.’ Photo Cr: Sarah Coulter/Paramount+ (C) 2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.
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(L to R) Ralph Fiennes and Djimon Hounsou in ‘The King’s Man’
Opening in theaters on December 22nd is director Matthew Vaughn’s ‘The King’s Man,’ which is a prequel to his 2014 movie ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ and its sequel, ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle.’ The film tells the story of Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) and how he created the Kingsman during World War I to defeat a collection of history’s worst tyrants, including Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans). In addition to Fiennes and Ifans, the film also stars Harris Dickinson (‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’), Gemma Arterton (‘Quantum of Solace’), Djimon Hounsou (‘Captain Marvel’), Matthew Goode (‘Watchmen’), Daniel Brühl (‘Captain America: Civil War’), Charles Dance (‘Game of Thrones’), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’), and Stanley Tucci (‘The Hunger Games’). The result is an interesting premise that fails to recapture the energy and charm of the first movie, but still features some fun action sequences and strong performances from Fiennes and Ifans.
The movie starts pre-World War I and introduces us to Orlando Oxford (Fiennes), a former soldier now working with the Red Cross along with his wife and young son, Conrad (Dickinson). But when tragedy strikes the Oxford family, Orlando swears never to let Conrad near war again. Years later, King George, Kaiser Wilheim and Tsar Nicholas, the leaders of England, Germany and Russia, respectively, are on the brink of World War I, which is being engineered by a mysterious figure who leads a group of evildoers that includes Grigori Rasputin (Ifans), Erik Jan Hanussen (Daniel Bruhl) and Mata Hari (Valerie Pachner). King George eventually asks Oxford to assassinate Rasputin, which he agrees to do, and reluctantly brings Conrad to help. They are joined by Oxford’s staff, Polly (Gemma Arterton) and Shola (Djimon Hounsou), who are not the ordinary servants they seem to be and are actually well-trained fighters who can gather intel from a network of other servants around the world.
After the war begins, Conrad desperately wants to join the army and fight for England, but his father refuses, hoping he will keep fighting in the shadows by his side where Oxford can protect him. Eventually, Conrad defies his father’s wishes and joins the army, and is eventually sent to the frontlines. Meanwhile, Oxford, Polly and Shola work to crack Germany’s code and discover who is the sinister mastermind orchestrating the war. After Conrad risks his life to recover the intelligence needed to crack the code, Oxford and his team have new motivation to track down the mysterious villain and put a stop to the war, which in turn creates the Kingsman.
I really enjoyed ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ and ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ and was really excited about the prospect of seeing an origin story about the Kingsman, but the film falls flat and doesn’t have the same fun and charm as the first two movies. The characters are strong, and the action scenes are good, but there’s not much else to pull it together. The second act of the film basically becomes ‘1917’ or the “No Man’s Land” scene from ‘Wonder Woman’ and ceases to be a ‘Kingsman’ movie for about 20 minutes. It’s an odd turn in the film and doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the movie. Without giving anything away, there is a specific choice made that affects a pivotal character before the beginning of the third act. While I understand it was done to motivate other characters, I disagree with taking the film in that direction and wish they had done something different with that character’s storyline. The film also blurs the lines between fiction and history, and the plot becomes confusing at times when you are unsure what is factual and what is made up.
There are also some pretty big-name actors including Stanley Tucci and Aaron Taylor-Johnson who make appearances but have very small parts, possibly signaling larger roles in future sequels, but it’s unfortunate that we have to wait for an additional film in order to see Oxford’s new team together. What does work in ‘The King’s Man’ are the characters and the performances from the impressive cast. Daniel Brühl is well cast as Erik Jan Hanussen but does not have enough to do in the role and is too similar to characters the actor’s played before in ‘Inglorious Basterds’ and the MCU projects. But it’s really Rhys Ifans as an unrecognizable Grigori Rasputin that steals every scene he is in. Ifans plays Rasputin as a Goth madmen, part psychopath and part con-man. Ifans is clearly having fun in the role and chews up the scenery in every scene he’s in. Matthew Goode is solid as Herbert Kitchener’s righthand man, but the character’s not-so-surprising turn in the third act could be seen from a mile away.
I’m a big fan of Gemma Arterton and am very happy to see her back on the big screen. As Polly, she gives a sweet and strong performance, but doesn’t have enough screen time, something that would perhaps be rectified in a possible sequel. Djimon Hounson is also quite entertaining in the thankless role of Shola, another interesting character that does not get enough screen time and is relegated to having a larger role in a sequel that may or may not ever get made. Harris Dickinson is really good as Conrad Oxford, and as an audience member you really relate to his struggles, which is why the character’s twist at the end of the second act is so unwelcome. Dickinson has great chemistry with Fiennes, and the two actors make a fun onscreen father and son pair.
But if the film works on any level, it is because of the commanding performance of Ralph Fiennes as Orlando Oxford. In many ways, ‘The Kingsman’ franchise is a spoof of James Bond movies, and in that way, it’s great to see ‘No Time To Die’s M in the “James Bond” role. Fiennes has the perfect attitude and personality for the character and shines as the first Kingsman. Unfortunately, Fiennes’ strong performance is at times undermined by the film’s confusing screenplay and unclear tone. In the end, director Matthew Vaughn has delivered an interesting concept of a prequel, with strong characters and terrific performances, that is lost under the weight of its own ambition and omits the fun and charm demonstrated in the rest of the series.
As friends and family gather on Christmas Eve tensions rise – but not for the usual reasons. It’s slowly revealed that the end of society as we know it is nigh. As a poisonous cloud descends upon the United Kingdom, petty differences are worked through, grievances are aired, and despite it all, love remains all around them.
Griffin sat down with Moviefone ahead of the gala presentation of ‘Silent Night’ at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Moviefone: How did you first decide to combine a holiday film with an apocalypse film?
Camille Griffin: First of all, I’m the annoying person at a dinner party who wants to talk about real things, and I get on people’s nerves, because I’m not talking about nonsense. And I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t have the tolerance or the energy to always have big, dramatic conversations. And I don’t mind having a polite argument or something and then like having a drink. I like having difficult conversations. But I know that a lot of people don’t. So that, for me, is why I tried to make a comedy because I wanted to talk about important things, but make it entertaining, and not lecture or be a bore. I thought if I have a load of great actors playing great characters and great dialogue and funny moments, then I can maybe get some important points across. I just wanted to ask questions with the film. I’m not trying to give the answers obviously, you can obviously have a clue and insight into my political values. I sound very middle class, I was brought up middle class.
I used to get very sentimental at Christmas. You miss the people you haven’t spoken to, your friends that you’ve fallen out with, or your family. That dodgy brother or sister who annoys you. There’s a sentimentality about Christmas, and relationships and friendship. And I think as I’ve got maybe weller, emotionally and psychologically older, I’ve become less sentimental. But there’s something so profoundly powerful about the sentimentality of Christmas, and how we want to be with your loved ones and friends and family.
MF: Was the Michael Bublé song ‘Christmas Sweater’ written for the film? It’s used very uniquely three or four different times.
Griffin: Matthew Vaughn, who was my original producer, and still producer, but then he brought on Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. Matthew is a great entrepreneur. Other than being a filmmaker and producer, he has his hands in many creative pockets. He was tinkering on his piano and came up with this Christmas song. He took it to Gary Barlow, from Take That. He’s an amazing songwriter. They’ve written songs before, and they came up with this. Our composer Lorne Balfe, he only admitted to me last minute that he also worked on the song.
Matthew said we need to shoot a beginning where they’re all on their way. I said, so they can play your Christmas song? And he said yes. So then the song had to then be brought into the film and became part of the storytelling. But it didn’t originate from me, and it didn’t originate from my film, but I did take the song. And I love that you notice that it has an unusual usage. He asked who do you want to sing it? I said, it’s got to be Michael Bublé, Michael Bublé is Mr. Christmas, you know? And then he was like, I’ve got Michael Bublé!. I said we have to integrate throughout the film.
MF: How did you cast this large ensemble? Did you have any of them in mind when you were writing?
Griffin: I thought I was going to make the film for no money. Because I have been writing screenplays for an awful long time. So I came back from ‘Jojo Rabbit’ because my son was in ‘Jojo Rabbit’. And I saw Taika [Waititi] using comedy. And I thought, God he’s very clever to use this comedy idea. I’m going to use comedy, I’m going to write comedy. I’m going to write a really dark comedy, because all my stories were kind of melancholic and challenging. And I thought, okay, I can use comedy that’s going to make it so much better. Or when I make my movie, that’s a very rich person I know for money. And I went to Matthew Vaughn for advice. And he said, I’ll make your film. I’d written it for my friends who are actors, because I used to be a camera assistant for many years. I’ve worked in the industry for a long time, and I’ve accumulated friendships with some actors. I wrote it for people who are my age. One of the first things Matthew said was, Oh, we got to cast much younger, we’re old Camille. It really hit me, hearing him say we’re old, actually really hit me because I’ve never had a problem with age. I have to be honest, I didn’t write the film for that cast, because I wrote the film for a much older cast.
But as soon as he had that conversation, I was like, okay, well, wouldn’t it be amazing to have Keira Knightley play Nell? Wouldn’t that’d be fun, like, this whole kind of Working Title beginning and the idea of perfection and Christmas happiness. And I was like, we’ve got to get Keira. She’s Miss Perfection and sweet. Audiences think of her as like the perfect British jewel. We had a causal conversation right at the beginning of our development process, then months later he said Keira Knightley had read the script and wanted to talk to me. So it all starts with Keira, and she loved it. We had an amazing conversation on the phone, then we met in person and I fell in love with her. And then people wanted to work with Keira, but we were very careful with who we cast because everyone in the film is a version of who I’d written it for originally, if that makes sense.
They’re exceptional. There isn’t one person that I’m not so grateful to because they were really up for playing. They were up for being extreme. They were all up for trying things that weren’t comfortable. I was so lucky. I had to cut a few times because I couldn’t stop laughing. I couldn’t believe they had this endless pit of delivering brilliant performances.
MF: Keira’s boys in the film are played by your sons. How did you decide to cast them?
Griffin: So the three boys are mine and Davida McKenzie is a friend of ours. She’s Thomasin McKenzie‘s little sister. The boys had become close to her on ‘Jojo Rabbit’. It wasn’t that I just wanted to cast my kids, I obviously wrote the part from Roman and Roman and I had been on a long journey together with him wanting to act way before ‘Jojo’, and thank God for ‘Jojo’ it changed his life. But I knew that the kids were going to be part of a big gang of actors, and that the characters were going to be subjected to a certain amount of trauma. We did meet some kids because Davida lives in New Zealand, she’s bloody miles away. I kept saying, I want Davida, but she’s in New Zealand, we can’t afford to bring her over. We did audition other actresses, but they just didn’t have what she had. The kid needs to feel safe, because she’s bullied through the whole film, and if she’s got her friends, Roman, Gilby and Hardy, they’re all friends, she’ll feel safe.
Also, I don’t want to kill other people’s kids, I’d rather pretend kill my kids. They’re going to be fine because they know it’s a conversation, it’s a metaphor. But I didn’t want to do the same to someone else’s child, who then didn’t feel safe. My kids and I had these, we have quite an extreme family, we’re quite volatile and passionate and loving. So I just thought it’d be safer for them as children if they were my children and our friend.
MF: What do you hope people feel after they’ve walked away from this film?
Griffin: I don’t want to hurt anyone because I know the film is upsetting. I’ve cried a lot myself through the film, because I care about those characters. They’re also very dysfunctional characters, they’re very flawed characters, but I cared about them because they became real. I think we all believe that there should be a slight trigger warning in the film. I don’t want the audience to be angry or hurt, which is why it’s important that they’re not tricked. I’m very grateful there’s a slight warning that, you know, it’s a dark comedy, and there’s death in it.
I do want people to think, you know, how do we treat our younger generation? Do we allow them to ask questions? Do we listen to them? Do we allow them to challenge us? They’re going to have to inherit a damaged planet, they’re going to have to inherit a damaged society. I also think, fundamentally, do we give a shit about each other? Like, I care? Am I doing enough? I’m not doing that much, because I’ve got three kids to look after. And if I think I’d like to leave the world a better place, but I’m feeding and cooking and helping them. But because I think okay, well, I want to be a filmmaker, and I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a young child. So maybe if I can ask the questions in cinema, and we can walk away and go, well, Jesus, that was hard, that wasn’t easy to watch. It’ll make us think, are we doing enough? Are we recycling enough? Are we paying enough taxes? Is our government making the right decisions? Are we getting vaccinated? Do we care about our neighbor? You know, how do we care about racism? Are we going to change our political view? The characters say, we should have voted Green. It’s like, yeah, maybe we should all be voting Green. So I like to think that, you know, Trump’s gone now, thank God. But there’s a lot of recovery from the mistakes my government has done and the American Government’s, certainly. That’s what I’m trying to achieve with the film.
MF: Could you recommend another female filmmaker that inspired you who readers should seek out?
Griffin: I think the interesting thing is there’s a lot of women writers, there’s a lot of women, cinematographers, there’s a lot of women actors, and I think they’re all artists. Recently I’ve been recommending a film called ‘Polisse’, not because I’m saying it’s one of my absolute favorite films, but because it’s a film I saw at the Cannes Film Festival many years ago by a filmmaker called Maïwenn, who had been an actress. It was an extraordinarily powerful film about the French police system and children. And I remember just sobbing and sobbing and for weeks I was obsessed with her film and obsessed with her as a filmmaker. It’s not easy. I don’t have easy conversations. So if someone wants something fun to watch, they shouldn’t watch that. But it’s called ‘Polisse’ and it was breathtaking.
‘Silent Night’ premieres on September 16 as part of the Gala Presentation series at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, and Djimon Hounsou are here to give us a look at the origins of Kingsman, the world’s first independent intelligence agency.
This prequel to the ‘Kingsman’ series looks to be set around the time of WWI, although at this point, the official synopsis is predictably short on details:
As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in “The King’s Man.”
Matthew Vaughn, director of the first two ‘Kingsman’ films returns to direct this latest entry. Joining Fiennes, Arterton, and Hounsou is a pretty impressive cast, including Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Brühl, and Charles Dance.
‘The King’s Man’ will open in theaters on September 18, 2020.
Four Kids and It is a charming and whimsical story featuring a star-studded cast including Paula Patton (2 Guns, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) and Matthew Goode (TV’s “Downton Abbey” and “The Crown”), with Russell Brand (TV’s “Ballers,” Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and the voice of Academy Award® winner Michael Caine (1999, Best Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules; The Dark Knight franchise, The Prestige). Based on iconic children’s author Jaqueline Wilson’s Four Children and It, the story is a modern twist based on E. Nesbit’s 1902 classic Five Children and It, and also stars Teddie Malleson-Allen, Ashley Aufderheide, Billy Jenkins, and Ellie-Mae Siame. The film adaptation is directed by Andy De Emmony (TV’s “The Nest” and “Spitting Image”) and written by Simon Lewis.
On a seaside holiday, four kids from a blended family visit the beach, where they discover a floppy-eared creature that grants their wishes. But there’s a catch: the kids’ adventures in rock-climbing, pop stardom, and flying end promptly at sunset — leaving them in danger each time. Can they learn to control the magic before something dreadful happens?
Four Kids and It will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital platforms on June 30, 2020.
The world of “Kingsman” is getting populated with new faces.
The third movie in the franchise will be a prequel and instead of starring Taron Egerton, will focus on Harris Dickinson’s Conrad, a cocky yet charming young hero who fights in World War I. Joseph Fiennes is also set to star.
Now, Collider reports that the drama’s ensemble is growing. In talks to join the cast are Daniel Brühl (“Captain America: Civil War,” TNT’s “The Alienist”); Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones”); Matthew Goode (“Downton Abbey,” “The Crown”); and Rhys Ifans (“Harry Potter,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass”).
Ifans would reportedly play a dangerous and manipulative Russian mystic, while the other roles are unclear.
“Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn has big plans for the franchise universe. He’s working on a sequel to “Golden Circle” that would bring back Egerton as Eggy. He’s also developing a “Kingsman” television series and a “Statesman” movie about American spies.
The “Kingsman” prequel is slated for release November 9, 2019.
