February 2: Russell Mulcahy travels to MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
Director Russell (RAZORBACK) Mulcahy has wrapped a new miniseries of Jules Verne’s THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Set to air July 4th weekend on the Hallmark Channel, the new version stars Kyle (TWIN PEAKS) MacLachlan, Gabrielle (BODY SNATCHERS) Anwar, Omar Gooding, Vinnie (SNATCH) Jones and Patrick Stewart as Captain Nemo. Previously filmed in 1929 (a silent version), 1961 (the Ray Harryhausen special-FX classic and 1981 (as Juan Piquer Simon’s MONSTER ISLAND, with Peter Cushing and Paul Naschy), MYSTERIOUS ISLAND concerns a group of castaways stranded on the titular locale who face down pirates, scavengers, Mother Nature and giant animals. The Harryhausen version featured an oversized crab, bees and a prehistoric Phorohacos (which many assumed to be a mammoth chicken). Since not all those critters were found in Verne’s original 1874 novel, the miniseries had to come up with different behemoths to trouble the survivors in order to avoid copyright conflicts with Columbia, which made the 1961 film. So MacLachlan and company will now reportedly battle a giant rat, spider, scorpion and possibly a big reptile or two (all being created via CGI).
"I’m in the editing phase of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND right now," Mulcahy tells Fango. "It was shot in the south of Thailand, and we just got out a week before the tsunami hit the beach we were filmimg on! It’s funny: In DUNE Kyle MacLachlan rode a giant worm; in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, at one point he’s on top of a giant scorpion trying to stab it while rolling around as it tries to sting him. Overall, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND was tough 61-day shoot—I sat in bat shit in caves for weeks—but an amazing location."
Horror and fantasy vet Mulcahy, who also helmed HIGHLANDER, THE SHADOW, TALE OF THE MUMMY and RESURRECTION, shot MYSTERIOUS ISLAND in Thailand. Hallmark’s Robert Halmi Jr. and Larry Levinson, who brought FRANKENSTEIN to the small screen last year, serve as executive producers. —Tony Timpone
