WonderCon launched its Immortals panel with quite a few members of the ensemble cast taking the San Francisco stage; Luke Evans (Zeus), Isabel Lucas (Athena) and, eliciting the most noise from the crowd, soon-to-be-Superman Henry Cavill (Theseus) joined director Tarsem Singh and producer Mark Canton.
The panel opened with a teaser trailer, featuring narration by the film’s antagonist, Mickey Rourke (King Hyperion), speaking poetically about a mounting battle. What was primarily striking was the imagery, very much a hyper-stylized merging of Tarsem’s The Fall with something like Zack Snyder’s 300 (not surprisingly from the same producers).
Words don’t quite do the teaser justice (the just released posters give a rough idea of the design, but they lack the overall colorfulness of what was screened), but there were a number of decidedly striking shots, including an elaborate Sistine Chapel-style image of period warriors engaged in war, seemingly floating across the frame. Another had Zeus’ weapon of choice, a flaming whip, moving through the air in slow-motion.
The character of Hyperion featured an elaborate helmet, sort of like a metal wolf complete with jagged ears and long, tusk-like teeth running along the edge of Rourke’s bearded face.
We also saw quite a bit of Cavill in action, breaking free a bow from a mass of rock and firing glowing arrows in rapid succession, the camera traveling with their journey to multiple bullseye shots amongst an army of attacking soldiers.
Tarsem spoke frankly (and quite humorously) about the film, fully embracing and defending some of the negative criticism he felt could accrue for a project such as Immortals. He explained that (just as is the case with his next film, Snow White) the reason the plot may, on the surface, be similar to other films that have hit in recent time is because he’s fascinated with trends in popular culture and enjoys adding his own “D.N.A.” to genres that have caught the public’s eye.
Tarsem went on to joke that he’d like to gladly direct Canton’s Piranha 3DD and the producer immediately said that they could sign the deal right now.
As for picking his cast, Tarsem wanted a balance that would be both youthful and mature, explaining that, since the Gods could be any age they wanted, they would probably appear in their mid-20’s. Though they do have “powers” so to speak, they’re somewhat limited in how most people might view them, focusing primarily on, as the title hints, immortality. To that end, a god can drop from an enormous height and survive, but they can’t jump or fly back up the same distance.
ComingSoon.net spoke exclusively with the cast members of the film and we’ll have the interviews up soon, so check back for more details on Immortals, hitting theaters on November 11th, 2011.
