FILMMAKER MAGAZINE | Fall 1998: PRODUCTION UPDATE

PRODUCTION UPDATE

Amidst a flurry of interest in Hollywood maestro-turned-pariah Orson Welles (three Welles-related films are due for release or re-release next year), George Hickenlooper’s Big Brass Ring, adapted from an unproduced script by the legendary auteur, has entered production. Starring antihero William Hurt and Nigel Hawthorne in a role Welles meant to play himself, Big Brass Ring is the story of a gifted politician, Blake Pellarin (Hurt), whose ascent to power is threatened by the revelation of damaging childhood secrets. Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George) plays Pellarin’s id-driven and treacherous surrogate father, Irene Jacob is a meddling reporter, and Miranda Richardson costars as his suffering wife.

Best known for the Apocalypse Now documentary Hearts of Darkness, Hickenlooper has several indie features to his credit including the Mary Stuart Masterson-starrer Dog Town and The Low Life. He also directed Billy Bob Thornton in Some Folks Call It A Slingblade, the half-hour ’94 short for which Thornton created the character he later made the subject of his own first feature. Hickenlooper spent eight years chasing the Brass Ring rights before securing them from Oja Kodar, Welles’ companion and script collaborator; he and producer Donald Zuckerman, who previously teamed on Low Life, locked down the project’s $5.5 million budget from Avi Lerner’s Millenium Films. The film began shooting in L.A. on July 6 at the city’s long-shuttered Ambassador Hotel – the one where Robert Kennedy was shot – and split a six-week shoot between L.A. and St. Louis. Rights are held by Lerner.

Cast: William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Miranda Richardson, Irene Jacob, Ewan Stewart, Gregg Henry, Jefferson Mays, Ron Livingston. Crew: Executive Producers, Avi Lerner, John Thompson, Boaz Davidson; Producers, Andrew Pfeffer, Donald Zuckerman; Screenwriters, George Hickenlooper and F.X. Feeney (adaptation of an original screenplay by Orson Welles with Oja Kodar); Director, Hickenlooper; Director of Photography, Kramer Morgenthau; Producti on Designer, Jerry Fleming; Costumes, Alexandra Welker. Contact: Donald Zuckerman, Brass Ring Productions, Inc., 169 Pier Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405 Tel, (310) 452-4410, Fax (310) 452-9133.