oct 2, 2015 - LONDON FIELDS
had an all star cast
including Cara Delevingne,
so how did it become
a disaster movie?
Description:
The film adaptation of Martin Amis’s novel London Fields had all the ingredients of a hit for the capital. Hype began to build two years ago when Cara Delevingne, Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and Billy Bob Thornton were spotted filming in Brixton Market and Crystal Palace. Delevingne dropped hints about her latest project and was seen in a dreadlocks wig, piquing interest about her role.
Rolling Stone magazine billed it as “a must-see movie” and author Martin Amis even agreed to a cameo, playing a darts promoter. The budget was $8 million, which is modest for Hollywood, but that gave it indie edge.
However, the film’s planned September 18 release date came and went with no film. Londoners expressed bemusement on social media but the cast have maintained a dignified silence. All that can be seen of the film is a short clip of Amber Heard slinking down a cobbled street, uploaded to londonfieldsmovie.com last week.
Dominic Patten, legal editor of entertainment website Deadline, says: “The cast excited people but the drama of the film has become overshadowed by offscreen fiascos.” So what happened to London Fields?
Critics sensed that something was amiss at the Toronto Film Festival (TFF) last month when the film was pulled from the schedule, a day before its premiere. Patten was there. He says: “What is interesting about London Fields is that its collapse happened in a very public forum. There was a small screening at 8.30am on September 15 for people in the industry and three more were planned. The day before the second screening, TFF announced it was dropping the film. Doing that is a pretty big pain for them. There was no replacement scheduled and it will have lost them some money in refunding people for that first screening.”
It happened because a few hours after that industry screening London Fields’ director filed a lawsuit against its producers, suing them for $1 million. Director Matthew Cullen alleges that the producers made “fraudulent efforts” to revise the movie without his knowledge, adding offensive imagery about the September 11 terrorist attacks, and that they owe him money.
Christopher Hanley and Jorden Gertner, who deny the claims, responded on Twitter and with a statement saying they were “greatly disappointed” and “feel that in this particular case there has been an ill-considered decision made against our rights”.
London Fields is a challenging undertaking, even for experienced film-makers. Written in 1989 and set in 1999 as the world hurtles to a millennial demise, it is narrated by Samson Young, a terminally ill American writer in London (played by Billy Bob Thornton). He meets clairvoyant femme fatale Nicola Six (Amber Heard), who is arranging her own murder to avoid turning 35 because that is undesirably old. David Cronenberg attempted an adaptation in 2001 but had to admit defeat.
This version was the creation of a group of small American studios. Co-producer Hanley’s previous work includes dark teen flick Spring Breakers, and he took a punt on having a first-time director. Cullen is a Grammy award-winning music video director who has worked with Katy Perry, Adele and The Black Eyed Peas but London Fields was his first feature film. He cites Guillermo del Toro, the Pacific Rim director, as his mentor.
It seems that it didn’t take long for the cracks to show on set. A member of the crew, who has also asked to remain anonymous, says that “it was a terrible job from the beginning, with long days, money problems and clashes between the director and producers”. Another added: “We realised quickly that there were some issues but thought it was a case of working with a first-time director — usually they get through it.”
According to a source who was on set, Cullen appeared out of his depth. He was “clearly inexperienced”. “He didn’t have the ability to tell the actors and crew exactly what he wanted and at the same time production were cutting corners.”
Meanwhile, Hanley has “a producer’s reputation”, says Patten. “By that I mean there are issues but he has got stuff done and his name has been attached to some hits.”
David Guy Levy, a producer/director who worked on the film until falling out with Hanley, has said: “From what I’ve heard through other people on the film, basically Chris shut out everybody but himself and his wife. Chris is someone who isn’t known for respecting the director’s vision much.”
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