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Darren Aronofsky's sci-fi epic "The Fountain" set to go

#1
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7/25/02 at 9:17am
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'Fountain' Flowing with Pitt, Blanchett


Warner Bros. Pictures has given its long-awaited greenlight to "Pi" director Darren Aronofsky's sci-fi epic "The Fountain," which will star Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn.

Budgeted north of $70 million, the picture will begin production in late October in Queensland and Sydney, Australia. Fox-based New Regency will co-finance the film.

While the script has been kept under wraps, it's safe to say that "The Fountain" is the sort of film that defies easy loglines. It's the journey of one man (Pitt) in the present as well as both 500 years in the past and into the future. Among the issues it tackles are love, death and immortality.

...

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IMDB also had this to say:

Brad Moans Down Under

Hollywood star Brad Pitt has upset residents of an Australian tourist resort - by refusing to shoot his new movie there. The movie star is moving Down Under for six months while he makes new film The Fountain, with Cate Blanchett and Johnny Depp, there. The film was due to be shot in studios on Queensland's Gold Coast - but according to British tabloid the Daily Mirror, Brad has been urging movie bosses to move the shoot to nearby Cairns, because he thinks the Gold Coast is "a shlocky tourist area". A source told the newspaper, "Brad, who was introduced to Cairns by Keanu Reeves said it had great food, great ambience and the locals leave you alone because they're used to big names." The Mexican star isn't the only big Hollywood name to disapprove of the West Coast resort. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.vowed never too return after shooting the Scooby-Doo movie on the Gold Coast.

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Johnny Depp too? Hard to believe he'd leave France for that long.

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#2
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7/25/02 at 10:54am
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ANYTHING made by Aronofsky is a must-see for me. Knowing that it has capable actors like Pitt, Blanchett and Burstyn makes it even more mouth-watering. Aronofsky seems to be alot like Oliver Stone in his ability to pull incredible performances out of the cast and I can't wait to see what he and Brad Pitt can accomplish.

Bruce


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#3
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7/25/02 at 2:25pm
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Quote:
The Mexican star isn't the only big Hollywood name to disapprove of the West Coast resort

I didn't realize Brad Pitt was Mexican

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- Frank Sinatra 

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#4
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7/25/02 at 3:17pm
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As I said in the REQUIEM FOR A DREAM thread, I am so excited Hollywood has actually greenlit this picture, trusting a respected indie director with 70+ million.



I cannot wait.
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#5
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7/25/02 at 9:23pm
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Neat!! I can't wait.

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#6
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7/25/02 at 9:38pm
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This sounds VERY interesting! Can't wait...
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#7
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7/27/02 at 11:41am
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I have to say, somehting about "Aronofsky," "Sci-Fi" and "Epic" in the same sentence makes me nervous. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I'm curious if this is an original story, or if it is based on something else. It makes me think of both Vonnegutt and Heinlein.


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#8
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7/27/02 at 1:46pm
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It's an original story he co-wrote with a buddy from college:

Quote:
I have a project which I set up at Warner Brothers last week which is an original science fiction film I've been writing for the last eleven months, which is awesome. I've been pitching it as a post-Matrix, metaphysical Sci-Fi movie, and it's very different to anything you've seen. This would make a great comic book, this thing I'm writing now. But it's very ambitious.


Quote:
I call it post-Matrix because Matrix reinvented sci-fi in the same way Star Wars did, or 2001. I'm in a new environment, I'm trying to figure out what type of film would play to an audience now, and I think we came up with something really cool. I've been writing it with the smartest guy I've ever met, he was one of my college roommates and he just graduated. He got his PhD. in neuroscience from NYU, and he was telling me how he doesn't want to do research anymore. So I said, "you wanna write?", and he's so brilliant he could do anything, so I brought him on and we've been collaborating.
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#9
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7/27/02 at 11:45pm
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what happened to Year One?
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#10
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7/28/02 at 12:12am
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Quote:
what happened to Year One?


The Wolfgang Petersen-helmed Superman/Batman movie happened.

DJ
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#11
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7/28/02 at 6:01am
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Quote:
The Wolfgang Petersen-helmed Superman/Batman movie happened.

I think WB also got spooked by Aronofsky's plans for Batman. I remember reading that his main ideas were going to be to move the setting to the 1970s and go for an R rating.
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#12
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7/28/02 at 12:07pm
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A scifi movie made by someone that has ambition always keeps my excitment up.

I hope Aronofsky knows what he's doing, he have never made a scifi movie before.

I could be a disaster or better than A.I (which I love)

I wish him luck.

Andreas Ingo

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#13
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7/28/02 at 6:07pm
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well crap. i was rather looking foward to year one.

weak.
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#14
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7/28/02 at 6:33pm
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While I am sure he is capable of pulling a large scale production off ... I am afraid he is going to make a "dark" movie ... if going by his past efforts.

I hope he lightens up a little bit or this movie might be the last one he makes on a large budget.

The whole plot reminds me of 12 Monkeys ... and Pitts involvement too.

Still looking forward to this.
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#15
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7/28/02 at 8:28pm
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Aurel Savin wrote:

Quote:
The whole plot reminds me of 12 Monkeys ... and Pitts involvement too.



Sorry, did I miss something? What is this movie supposed to be about? I don't need to read the screenplay, I just need a general outline.
"Delenda est . . . . "
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#16
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8/30/02 at 4:43pm
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Oh man, this seems to be in trouble. Word is that Brad Pitt walked off the film.

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=13144

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#17
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8/30/02 at 5:25pm
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Wow. It really sounds like this movie could be over before it really got off the ground. Too bad. Seemed interesting.
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#18
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1/1/05 at 12:48am
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Saw this photo over at the IMDb boards, thought it would be of interest to Aronofsky/Requiem fans

*tear drops from corner of eye*

It looks like it's actually filming. Sure hopes it gets released soon, it seems very few exciting young American auteurs currently have creative inspiration/funding for new projects (Fincher, PT Anderson). At least Payne and Wes Anderson got something out this year

later Pooh...

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#19
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1/1/05 at 7:30am
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It's the journey of one man (Pitt) in the present as well as both 500 years in the past and into the future. Among the issues it tackles are love, death and immortality.


And the occasional decapitating of a head, maybe?
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#20
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2/7/05 at 12:34am
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Rachel Weisz has been doing some plugs for CONSTANTINE, in the process, letting out some information on THE FOUNTAIN...

Also, shooting hasn't yet completed, but in an article in the Montreal Gazette from Feb 5, we get some more interesting updates. An excerpt:
Quote:
...Jackman, co-stars Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and the rest of the crew have been holed up in the spacious, state-of-the-art studios at Mel's Cite du Cinema in the Technoparc for almost the entire shoot. They did one scene in a snowy field in Oka and another at the Museum of Fine Arts, which stood in for a natural-history museum in Philadelphia. But virtually everything else has been filmed in studio, mostly at Mel's and a bit at a studio in Lachine.

In an interview at Mel's Thursday, Jackman was not complaining about the lack of shooting outside on the chilly streets of Montreal.

"Being an Australian and coming to the Montreal winter, it's terrific to be shooting inside," Jackman said. "There was one scene in Oka and it was so cold." He couldn't take refuge inside because he had to avoid leaving footprints in the snow that would show up in the shot. "I was digging through the snow and I was just so cold."

Jackman has been chosen by People magazine on several occasions as one of the sexiest men in the world, but the 6-foot-2 Tony Award-winning actor looked more like a homeless person Thursday. He had long, straggly hair, a bushy, unkempt beard and moustache, and was wearing a tracksuit that looked like it had seen better days.

He had been shooting a scene in which...

Warning Spoiler! Click to show

he plays a 16th-century conquistador who nearly drops dead when he discovers the mythical Tree of Life. The tree itself stretches nearly to the ceiling of the gargantuan studio and is surrounded by a shallow pond.

It is a key scene in The Fountain, a strange, ambitious film that spans several centuries and sets out to ask some big questions about life, death and love. Director Aronofsky penned the script, telling the story of a modern-day scientist, the aforementioned conquistador 400 years in the past, and a 26th-century astronaut flying through space in a vessel that looks more like a gigantic tree than the Starship Enterprise. Jackman plays all three characters.

There has been much speculation about just how far-out The Fountain's script is, but Aronofsky - whose previous films include the critically acclaimed Pi and Requiem for a Dream - said it's really a simple story.

"It's about a man searching for the fountain of youth who discovers his own mortality," Aronofsky said. "It's about a man who's in love with a woman who's dying and he's doing everything in his power to save her. By trying to save her, he learns to deal with his own death. It's a simple love story, but it's just told in a psychedelic science-fiction fashion."

One of Aronofsky's inspirations was David Bowie's song Space Oddity. He is in talks with Bowie about having the rock icon write and perform a new song for the film about the further misadventures of Space Oddity's protagonist, Major Tom.
Reminding me more and more of 2001ASO.. Can't wait!

later Pooh...

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#21
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2/7/05 at 6:19am
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I believe there is a comic book/graphic novel adaptation of the fountain coming out in april. don't know the details on it but for those interesting in just what exactly the story is, that might be a way to find out before the movie is released.
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#22
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2/7/05 at 8:44am
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Quote:
One of Aronofsky's inspirations was David Bowie's song Space Oddity. He is in talks with Bowie about having the rock icon write and perform a new song for the film about the further misadventures of Space Oddity's protagonist, Major Tom.

What about Ashes to Ashes?

"Ashes to ash
and funk to funky
we know Major Tom's a junkie
strung out on Heaven's high
hitting an all-time low"

From Scary Monsters. I have the video on CDV -- strangeness and more strangeness.


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#23
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2/7/05 at 1:23pm
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The graphic novel is Aronofsky approved, he wrote it I belevie. It is offered for preorder from DC Vertigo line of comics for delivery in May. I figured the project was dead when i saw this offered in previews, and with Aronofsky rumored for Watchman. Glad to see the film is being made, it seems to be Darrens obssesion for the past few years, and should be an interesting film when it comes out.
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#24
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2/7/05 at 1:37pm
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Man I love Warners, a great Green Light, and Darren will get it done especially with the talent he has to work with. Nice and I can't wait.

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#25
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2/7/05 at 1:45pm
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Adventures in time as a man searches for a way to save the woman he loves from dying...sounds a bit like Time Machine to me.

In any case I look forward to anything from Aronofsky at this point. And Bowie plays well with film, like for Se7en or Life Aquatic, so that would probably work well.


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#26
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2/8/05 at 10:02am
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I think it would be a good flic even if it had unknown actors in it. Aronofski is a great director and has a knack for being able to really bring out and convey the emotional state of the characters. Looking forward to it.

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#27
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3/3/05 at 5:59am
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According to imdb, it's already in postproduction.

Quote:
And Bowie plays well with film, like for Se7en or Life Aquatic

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#28
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7/15/05 at 8:17pm
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Saw the first ten minutes of the film as well as the trailer at Comic Con today:

Looks absolutely fantastic. Very little of the story was revealed but the movie is non-linear with respect to its three time periods, seamlessly moving between them.

Its beautifully shot, as you would expect from Aronofsky. I think he said he did it for only $35 million but it looks like he certainly got a lot of bang for his buck since I had assumed it cost $75 or so from the footage shown.

Jackman and Weisz look to be doing great work here. Jackman was shown in a taped presentation for the show and Aronofsky and Weiz were there in person and did a Q&A. Everyone involved seemed *very* enthusiastic and Aranofsky is a great public speaker.

I am little worried about how the studio will handle it. Aronofsky made a few comments indicating that Warners really didn't know how to handle the film.



The graphic novel is Aronofsky approved, he wrote it I belevie. It is offered for preorder from DC Vertigo line of comics for delivery in May. I figured the project was dead when i saw this offered in previews, and with Aronofsky rumored for Watchman. Glad to see the film is being made, it seems to be Darrens obssesion for the past few years, and should be an interesting film when it comes out.


This was discussed quite a bit. Its due in November. Evidently it was started back in 2002 when the film initially fell apart- Aronofsky thought at the time the only way the story would ever get out to an audience was to put out a graphic novel. So the graphic novel is the artist's interpretation of the script prior any of the casting, production design, or photograpy being done. Consequently it's designed to stand alone as its own work and not be considered an "adaptation" of the film. Aronofsky was quite enthused about it.
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#29
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7/15/05 at 9:19pm
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I've been eagerly looking forward to the next film from Aronofsky for some time, but the The Fountain sounds like an insanely ambitious project for him to tackle, I hope he can pull it off. I thought this film would never see the light of day, and the fact that it's finally in post production is great.
By the way Kevin, did they show off any effect shots in the trailer? I remember Ain't It Cool did a set report from the movie, and Aronofsky was talking about some new, non-CGI technique for creating the films trippy effects? It sounded like some 60's psychedelic throwback from the sounds of it.
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#30
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7/15/05 at 9:23pm
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By the way Kevin, did they show off any effect shots in the trailer?


There were a few shots in the trailer and a more extended effects scene near the end of the first part of the movie that was shown. They looked like conventional, well done CGI to me. I'm not sure what technique Aronofsky was referring to (it wasn't mentioned during the panel) but it could certainly be something unique to come later in the film.
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