|
 
Press Information
Screen Gems Presents
A Storm King Production
John Carpenter’s
GHOSTS OF MARS
Starring:
Ice Cube
Natasha Henstridge
Jason Statham
Pam Grier
Clea Duvall
Joanna Cassidy
Preliminary Production
Notes
Not Approved / Not Final /
4/24/01
Directed by John Carpenter
Produced by Sandy King
Written by Larry Sulkis
& John Carpenter
Running Time:
Release Date: August 24,
2001
John
Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars has been rated R by the MPAA for the following
reasons:
For
further information contact:
Tracy
McArdle, Screen Gems
Ava Duvernay, DVA Public Relations
Tel. (310) 244-7658
Tel. (310) 550-6150
Fax (310) 244-0046
Fax. (310) 550-6152
New
York
Field
Erica
Cohen, BWR
Jason Geffen, Screen Gems
Tel. (212) 582-0700
Tel. (310) 244-7846
Fax (212) 582-0490
Fax (310) 244-0046
 
SYNOPSIS…
“It’s
not their planet anymore. It’s ours.”
Lt. Melanie Ballard, Martian Police Force
“Let’s
just kick some ass.”
James “Desolation” Williams
From
the famed director of “Starman,” “Halloween” and “Escape From New York,”
“John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars” is a harrowing tale of rescue and escape
from a colonized Mars 175 years into the future.
Mars,
2176 AD. Long inhabited by human
settlers, the Red Planet has become the dark and dangerous manifest destiny
of an over-populated Earth.
640,000 people now live and work at far-flung outposts all over Mars,
mining the planet for its abundant natural resources. But one of those mining operations
has uncovered a deadly mother lode: a long-dormant Martian civilization whose
warriors, now unleashed and apparently unstoppable, are systematically taking
over the bodies of human intruders, bent on ridding the planet of the
invaders from Earth.
Lt.
Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), a veteran of two years on the Mars
Police Force, is on transport assignment to Shining Canyon to bring James
“Desolation” Williams (Ice Cube), the planet’s most notorious criminal, to
justice. Williams has no plans
to make Ballard’s job easy and what begins as a battle of force and wits
between cop and criminal soon turns into something more fundamental: a battle
for human survival and escape from the doomed planet.
Joining
Lt. Ballard on the mission are Bashira (Clea Duvall), the timid rookie;
Jericho (Jason Statham), the fast talking young gun; Commander Helena
Braddock (Pam Grier), the tough-as-nails veteran and Descanso (Liam Waite),
the reliable soldier. When the
team encounters Professor Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy) and learns of her deadly
mistake – accidentally unleashing dormant evil Martian forces from an
archaeological dig site – all hell breaks loose. It’s civilization against civilization and Shining Canyon
becomes the O.K.Corral - 176 years into the future - as Ballard and Williams
join forces in mortal combat with the “Ghosts of Mars.”
Screen
Gems presents a Storm King production, “John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars,”
directed by John Carpenter from a script by Larry Sulkis & John Carpenter. The producer is Sandy King. The director of photography is Gary
B. Kibbe, A.S.C.; the production designer is Bill Elliott. Acclaimed special effects make-up
artist Greg Nicotero, visual effects supervisor Lance Wilhoite and special
effects coordinator Darrell Pritchett round out Carpenter’s technical
team. The film will is edited by
Paul Warschilka.
 
CAST…
(in
alphabetical order)
Local
Lady Cop………………...……………………Danielle Burgio
Rodale………………..………….…………………..Robert
Carradine
Shape-Male
Intern……………..…………...………….…Damon Caro
Whitlock…………………………………...………..….Joanna
Cassidy
Big
Daddy Mars………………………………..……...Richard Cetrone
Narrator……………………………………………..Charlotte
Cornwell
James
“Desolation” Williams….……………………………..Ice Cube
Uno……………………………….……………………....Duane
Davis
Akooshay…………………………………………..…Wanda
DeJesus
Bashira
Kincaid…………………………………………..Clea Duvall
Zimmerman……………………………………………Rick
Edelstein
Inquisitor……………………………..…………..….Rosemary
Forsyth
Tres………………………………...……………………Rodney
Grant
Helena
Braddock…………………………………………...Pam Grier
Melanie
Ballard………………………..…………..Natasha Henstridge
Young
Woman…………………………..…………….Marjean Holden
McSimms…………………………….….…………………Peter
Jason
Man
in Rover………………………………...…...……Michael Krawic
Yared………………………………………….……….……..Rex
Linn
Benchley…………………………………………….….Doug
McRath
Miner…………………………………………....…………Matt
Nolan
Big
Warrior…………………………………….………..Chad Randall
Jericho
Butler……………………………………..….….Jason Statham
Dos………………………………………………..……Lobo
Sebastian
Michael
Descanso…………………………….……..……..Liam Waite
Woman
Warrior…………………………….………..Eileen Weisinger
 
FILMMAKERS…
Director………………………………………….…….John
Carpenter
Writers…………………………..…..….
Larry Sulkis,John Carpenter
Producer……………………….…………………………..Sandy
King
Director
of Photography…………………………Gary B. Kibbe,A.S.C.
Production
Designer………………….……………..…William Elliott
Editor…………………………………….………..…Paul
Warschilka
Costume
Designer……………………………….…Robin Michel Bush
Special
Effects Make-Up…Robert Kurtzman,Greg Nicotero,Howard
Berger
Visual
Effects Suppervisor……………………………Lance Wilhoite
Music……………………………………………………...…..John
Carpenter
Casting……………………….……………..……….Reuben
Cannon, C.S.A.
 
ABOUT THE STORY…
“Basic human nature will follow us to wherever we decide to live,”
says legendary sci-fi and horror director John Carpenter, an artist aptly
acknowledged as “the master of terror.”
“There will be cops and outlaws, demons and saints, good and bad. And in some instances, the line
between good and evil might be blurred.” That’s how Carpenter describes his thoughts on the
future colonization of other planets.
And it explains why Lt. Melanie Ballard of the Mars Police Force finds
herself bruised, beaten – and handcuffed to a chair in front of a Board of
Inquisition in the Martian city of Chryse. A series of bizarre events has been taking place on
Mars. Whole towns are being
destroyed, entire populations wiped out. The latest area to be devastated is the mining town of
Shining Canyon, and Lt. Ballard seems to be the only survivor of yet another
mysterious massacre. The board
is demanding answers. What a
story Lt. Ballard will tell…
* * * * *
“Since the mid-eighties I’ve wanted to do a story about Mars,” says
Carpenter, whose credits include tales of the apocalypse (“Escape From L.A.,”
“Escape from New York”), the terrifying (“Halloween,” “The Fog”) and the
supernatural (“Vampires,” “The Thing”). “For centuries the planet has symbolized so many
things to us – blood, war, love and passion. Additionally, I had a story about a cop and a crook
bonding together to fight the forces of evil.”
The forces of evil in this story, co-written by Carpenter and Larry
Sulkis, take the form of an ancient Martian civilization which is
accidentally unearthed during one of the planet’s many mining
operations. The cop in this case
is Lt. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), assigned to lead a prisoner
transport squad of the Mars Police Force, whose routine mission quickly becomes
a nightmare of survival.
And the crook is one James “Desolation” Williams (Ice Cube), born on
Mars and the most wanted man on the planet.
“It’s a couple of hundred years into the future,” says Natasha Henstridge,
who plays Lt. Melanie Ballard.
“We’ve inhabited Mars because Earth has become over-populated. I’m a
Lieutenant in the Police Force, but Mars is not really where I want to be -
I’m just trying to make the best of my stay until I can get transferred back
to Earth.”
The rest of the squad is made up Commander Braddock (Pam Grier), the
leader of the mission; Jericho (Jason Statham,) the tough talking young gun;
and Bashira (Clea Duvall), the rookie.
“Jericho is one of the more experienced males on the Mars Police
Force,” says Statham of his character.
“He’s a specialist with locks and mechanical objects and highly
trained in the art of fighting.”
But in John Carpenter’s look at Mars in the future, the society is
clearly matriarchal and it’s the women, like Commander Braddock and Lt.
Ballard, who hold superior positions.
“Basically, Jericho is a breeder male,” continues Statham. “He finds a challenge in Melanie and
tries to get as much out of her as he can. Even during the most trying circumstances,” he adds with a
wink, “Jericho has ulterior motives.”
The one female on the squad clearly not in a position of command is
Bashira. “I’m a rookie cop on
her first assignment,” says Clea Duvall of her character. “I start out timid and naïve, but as
the night goes by I quickly becomes a veteran,” she adds with a laugh.
The object of their mission? James “Desolation” Williams. Ice Cube, no stranger to tough roles,
describes his character:
“Williams was born on Mars.
He’s never been to Earth, knows nothing about it. All he’s ever known is Mars and
trying to survive in a tough place.
And in trying to stay alive, he’s had to do whatever he could. Sometimes that involved breaking
whatever law there is up there and somehow I’ve become the most notorious
criminal on the planet.”
When the squad gets to Shining Canyon, instead of a bustling mining
operation, they find deserted buildings and, as they explore even further,
mutilated corpses and signs of mass destruction. In the jail, they find their prisoner – behind bars. “You got this group of cops coming to
take me to trial,” says Ice Cube, “but when they get to Shining Canyon, the
town is totally dead, no one’s there.
The cops are trying to figure out what happened and, even though I’m
locked up in a cell, they try to blame everything on me.”
It’s not until the ghosts of that dormant civilization make themselves
known that the cops and Williams realize what they’re up against. And it’s not until they discover one
more person, Professor Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy), cowering in the corner of
another jail cell, that they fully understand what’s happened at Shining
Canyon.
“This civilization had been dormant for who knows how many years,”
says Joanna Cassidy who plays the scientist/archeologist Whitlock. “I inadvertently release these ghosts
who have been systematically murdering the Earth colonists and taking over
their bodies.”
“When Professor Whitlock finally breaks the news to us about what
she’s done,” says Ice Cube, “we realize what we’re in for and know we’ve all
got to band together or we’re history.”
“I find myself caught up in a situation that I don’t understand,” says
Natasha Henstridge of her character.
“There’s a lot of confusion and frustration, but when Commander
Braddock is killed, I end up taking over command and keeping us together. The
bottom line is we cops end up joining forces with the bad guys and try to
save the day.”
What follows is a fight to the death, civilization against
civilization – one night on Mars that will decide nothing less than the
future of the human race.
* * * * *
“John’s
movies are always rooted in humanity,” says producer Sandy King, “with themes
of emotional as well as literal survival. He likes to take the unlikely person and make him the
hero. He takes the criminal and
makes him the saint, takes the cop and corrupts him, and takes the outside
logic that we want to go by and challenges it.”
But
as human and personal as “Ghosts of Mars” proves to be, it is, above all, a
John Carpenter movie, with perhaps even more of the action, terror and horror
that have been the hallmarks of his body of work.
“The
joke has always been that John is continually making Westerns,” laughs King.
“But this time he’s made a war movie.
Instead of making “Gunsmoke” on Mars, he’s made “The Longest Day” on
Mars.
Does John
Carpenter agree? “Ghosts
of Mars” is a science fiction/horror movie,” he says. “But,” he adds slyly,
“it’s also a Western, just don’t tell anybody.”
 
ABOUT THE
PRODUCTION…
“John Carpenter’s Ghost of Mars” began production in a gypsum mine on
the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 8. The mine is a small parcel of the
120,000 plus acres of the Zia Pueblo, sacred land that was settled by the Zia
Indians nearly 800 years ago. In
keeping with the sanctity of the land and in respect for Zia tradition, at
sunset on August 7, the day before start of principal photography and at John
Carpenter’s special request, a tribal elder and medicine man of the Zia Tribe
gave a prayer blessing at the Shining Canyon set. Conducted in the Zia language, the blessing prayed for the
success of the production, the safety of the cast and crew, and for mutual
respect between the production company and the Zia people. The entire cast and crew listened in
rapt silence to the prayer and then the English translation, given by a Zia
tribal representative.
That
rather unorthodox start of production was preceded by months of normal
pre-production activity: casting, rehearsal, location scouting for the five
week exterior shoot and securing stage space for the five weeks of interiors
needed to complete principle photography.
 
CASTING AND
REHEARSAL…
“’Ghosts
of Mars’ in an ensemble film,” says producer Sandy King. “The cast is put together piece by
piece and the process shifts depending on the last actor added to the
cast.” Both King and director
John Carpenter use a core group of character actors for most of their films
together, among them Peter Jason and Robert Carradine, giving them a solid
base upon which to build their main cast.
“You
need to create reality in a fantasy film and you do that from the ground up,”
states King. “Your extras have
to be believable and, more importantly, your day players have to be really
solid, so the audience will go along when your lead actors go off into their
unbelievable flights of fantasy,” she adds.
“My method of casting actors in my movies really hasn’t changed since
I began directing,” admits John Carpenter. “I try to find the best actors I
can fit into the written roles,” he continues, “then make them comfortable on
the set and create a working environment in which they feel safe to do their
work.”
 
CHICKS WHO KICK
ASS…
As for the lead actors, the script called for four strong female
characters; both Carpenter and King were extremely pleased with the group
assembled for the film. “We were
fortunate to have a number of smart women in our cast,” states King. “Pam Grier is an icon in chick action
films, the prototype for every woman who ever tried to pick up a gun and be
tough on film.”
Veteran actor Joanna Cassidy, along with Grier, provided years of
experience and immeasurable help to relative newcomers Natasha Henstridge and
Clea Duvall, who turned just 23 during production.
The men in the cast, Ice Cube and Jason Statham, came to the project
from two different worlds – Cube from his phenomenal success in music and
positive notices from his earlier films, and Statham, discovered by director
Guy Ritchie (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”) selling
jewelry out of a suitcase on a London street corner.
 
GETTING IN
‘MARS’ SHAPE…
In
addition to the requisite rehearsal period, the entire cast, with the
exception of Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge, went through two months of
intensive physical training and stunt work under the guidance of veteran
Carpenter mainstay, stunt coordinator Jeff Imada. “We did a lot of training, which I really wasn’t used to,”
remembers Clea Duvall. “It was hard work but Jeff was really terrific and
made us all experts.”
Joanna Cassidy took to the physicality of her role with ease. “I’ve
always kept myself in great shape,” she said, “and I looked forward to all
the action.” And Jason Statham
needed very little help from Imada in the physical fitness area. “I was a
champion high diver in England not so long ago,” says Statham. “That and my gymnastics experience
made things a bit easy for me.
The stunt coordination was the more difficult part.”
Ice Cube had been on tour with
his music act during most of the summer prior to start of production and
didn’t come on board until two weeks before shooting began. But he came
prepared. “I did a lot of weight
training during my tour,” he says, “seven days a week in the gym trying to
get my body right for this movie.
Not too much martial arts though. I’ve done so many fight scenes in my movies that I’m
pretty much a pro at it.”
Natasha Henstridge had probably the most difficult time of things. “I
came on board just a few days before shooting began and I had no time to
really prepare,” she states. “I
have a bit of natural ability when it comes to physical things. I did a bit of stunt training with
Jeff Imada and a little hand-to-hand work, but other than that, what you see
in the finished film is pretty much what I came to the table with. It was a lot of fun doing that stuff
and, besides, it’s not often that the women get to kick some ass.”
Stunt coordinator Imada is impressed with all his charges. “Natasha
was really exceptional,” he said.
“For as little time as we had to work together, she was phenomenal.
She ended up doing most of her own stunts and impressing some pretty jaded
veteran stunt people in the process.
And Jason was absolutely fantastic. His diving experience stood him
well and he picked up the choreography very quickly.” In fact, Statham’s character Jericho
is set upon by twelve warriors in the film’s most intricate stunt
sequence. “Jason handled that
scene as well as any actor I’ve ever worked with,” states Imada.
CREATING MARS IN
NEW MEXICO…
How do you turn a gypsum mine on the outskirts of Albuquerque, New
Mexico into the mining outpost of Shining Canyon on Mars? You start with an extremely short
pre-production schedule of just eight weeks. Then you add a cooperative state film commission and
native American population, and bring on a visionary production designer to
work with your visionary director.
You grade fifty-five acres of gypsum, creating a main street and space
for twelve full-size buildings, braving the 120 degree daytime temperatures. You erect the exterior sets, taking
great pains to build in to all of them the necessary lightning rods to
protect against the almost nightly electrical storms. Then you paint the whole thing with
100,000 gallons of bio-degradable red food coloring.
“The New Mexico film commission really lobbied for our production,”
says King. “They went so far as to do a photoshop treatment of the gypsum
mine, painting it red and so on, to try to sell it to me.” That, and the assurances of the Zia
Indians that production could take place on sacred land, convinced her that
it would work.
Director John Carpenter had a solid idea of what he wanted his Mars to
look like. “I did some research on Mars colonization and terra-forming,” he remembers.
“Then I asked myself what kind of world we’d be living in if, in fact, we did
colonize Mars. I felt that
initially life on Mars would be much like that in the American frontier.”
With that in mind, Carpenter realized that only the strongest,
industrial age structures and machines would survive. And it was that
realization that led to the distinct look of his Martian sets. Even though the film takes place two
hundred years into the future, the buildings and machines look decidedly
un-futuristic.
To help realize their vision, Carpenter and King brought production
designer Bill Elliott on board. “I was familiar with Bill’s work,” says
Carpenter. “He’s a brilliant
production designer but I noticed that he had never had the chance to do
science fiction. I met with him
and we both got excited about the possibilities. Not only did Bill design
incredible sets for me, but he solved logistical problems in realizing an
ambitious look for a modest budget.”
The building themselves are squat, sturdy looking units that seem to
grow right out of the Martian landscape. The design ideas came from the imagination of Carpenter
and Elliott to be sure, but were also grounded in the reality of the Red
Planet. “The notion behind our
sets was what material there would be to work with on Mars,” states
King. “It would still be
difficult to get there and even more difficult to bring materials to the
planet for building, etc.”
THE LOOK OF THE
SET…
It’s a given that the Mars environment would be hostile, with constant
meteor bombardments and high winds.
“Bill Elliott took clues from the pyramids, Mayan architecture and adobe
dwellings to build what we thought was likely to spring up as encampments and
then cities,” says King.
“Because the Mars John had in mind was a rough-edged Mars, I decided
against a high-tech look,” remembers production designer Elliott. “I thought it would be more
interesting to create sets that would have been built from materials readily
available on the planet. My key
thought was going back to the Machine Age.”
Elliott carried that design thought through to the creation of the
train that plays such an important role in the film, producing a powerful,
massive armored vehicle that would have been built to hold up to the
environment. As he puts it:
“Almost what the Germans would have done in World War II.”
Elliott purposely decided
against being influenced by books, movies or other media about Mars. “Other
than looking at a few Nasa photos, just to get the color right, what you see
comes out of my and John’s fertile imaginations. Hopefully it will be something the audience hasn’t seen
before and certainly didn’t expect.”
To fully realize his vision, Elliott worked closely with director of
photography Gary B. Kibbe and costume designer Robin Bush, both veterans of
John Carpenter films. “I definitely
needed the input of both Gary and Robin,” Elliott states flatly. “We were all
in sync as to how to make this a typical John Carpenter film, but we all
agreed we wanted to take it to the edge and show the audience a Mars they’d
never seen before.”
Director of photography Gary Kibbe had little trouble working in close
contact with Elliott. They were,
after all, both in New Mexico, overseeing the construction of the sets from
day one. Kibbe and director
Carpenter share a shorthand enabling them to sense what each other wants and
needs. Carpenter showers high
praise on his D.P. of choice. “I’ve worked with Gary almost exclusively since
1986,” states the director. “He brings my projects an enormous technical
knowledge, imagination and an uncompromising professionalism.”
But Kibbe and Elliott had never worked together and being in on
Elliott’s design process from such an early stage enabled Kibbe to develop
his lighting schemes and design his lighting packages well in advance of
principle photography. “When I
work on a picture being shot
mostly at night, with dark, dreary exteriors and interiors, I’m always
concerned about how much light I’m going to need to separate colors,” says
Kibbe. “Working with Bill at such an early stage gave me the opportunity to
get a head start on things. With
our tight schedule, I had to come up with things pretty much on the spot. But
basically, my experience has been that if it looks good, I’m going to
photograph it.”
WHAT THEY’RE
WEARING ON MARS…
Costume designer Robin Bush found things a bit more difficult. Bush,
who has done seven films with Carpenter and producer King, had the
disadvantage of being in Los Angeles during the entire New Mexico
pre-production process. “I’m so used to working with John, that part is
always easy,” says Bush. “But I always need the input of the production
designer and the director of photography as I come up with ideas for the
costumes, especially in choosing material and color. Being 1000 miles away from the set, I
had to rely on sketches and photographs from Bill and Gary.”
And make no mistake, Bush’s task for “Ghosts of Mars” was a daunting
one. While keeping tabs on
Elliott’s set designs and color schemes and Kibbe’s lighting concept, she had
to design costumes for the Mars Police Force, the miners on Mars and the ghostly
warriors. Each had their own set
of challenges.
“I wanted the police uniforms to be slick,” she recalls. “Rather than
use black, which would have presented too many lighting problems, I went with
a pearlescent blue leather. It
really showed up at night and contrasted beautifully with the Martian
red. As for the miners, research
told me that over time they haven’t changed much. Shining Canyon is kind of a western outpost town with a
distinct western feel, and I designed with that in mind, using browns and
earth tones and rust.”
The
warriors presented an interesting challenge for Bush. They inhabit the bodies of the miners
they’ve murdered and consequently wear the same clothes. But just as the warriors changed
their physical appearance with body piercings and face painting, Bush changed
their clothing as well, sometimes subtly, sometimes not. “For the warriors,” she says, “in
addition to tears and holes in the clothes, I changed the general look of the
costumes by accentuating the shoulders. We saw red instead of rust and gave
them all spookier, more accentuated colors.”
“Desolation Williams was the easiest to costume,” declares Bush. “Red camouflage pants to blend in
with the landscape and a black leather jacket he probably stole from someone.”
All the costumes had to
be made from scratch in six weeks.
In addition to the main cast, Bush had to costume 150 extras and 35 stunt
men. All the costumes had to be
made new and then aged and distressed to look old. The task was made easier because of her relationship with
director Carpenter. “My inspiration comes from my own wacky head,” admits
Bush, “but I always have a real good idea of what John wants. His scripts are
so succinct.”
THE SPECIAL
EFFECTS TEAM…
The final aspect in creating the look of “Ghosts of Mars” fell to
special effects make-up wizard Greg Nicotero. Nicotero and his make-up effects crew spent hours each
night transforming stunt actors and New Mexican extras into the fearsome
Martian warriors. He also worked
closely with costume designer Robin Bush in creating the warrior costumes.
Nicotero’s
special challenge, though, was reserved for the character of Big Daddy Mars,
the warrior leader. Thanks to
Nicotero’s imagination and skill, Big Daddy, as played by actor Richard
Cetrone, promises to become one of John Carpenter’s most memorable characters.
After
five weeks of shooting in New Mexico, the company moved back to Los Angeles
for an additional five weeks of interior filming. Once principle photography began in New Mexico, production
designer Bill Elliott shifted his base of operations to Los Angeles,
specifically Eagle Rock. There,
in a five story building that was once one of Southern California Edison’s
main power generating plants, Elliott worked his design magic once again.
During the five weeks of shooting in New Mexico, Elliott and his crew would
build the interiors of the Shining Canyon buildings.
Sets included
the interior of the jail, where the battle between the cops/criminals and the
Martian warriors would begin; the recreation facility, where the Mars Police
Force squad would eventually discover the hanging bodies of twenty-five
mutilated and be-headed corpses (courtesy of Greg Nicotero and crew); the
Inquisition room, where Melanie is questioned about the goings-on at Shining
Canyon; and a hospital clinic.
The interior sets carry on the theme of “machine age” design, again belying
the futuristic time element of the film. The tight quarters of these sets
presented immense difficulty for all department heads. Battles between as
many as twenty warriors and our heroes, and the attendant gunfire and
explosions, were filmed using as many as three cameras, creating interesting
challenges for camera positions, lighting and, above all, safety.
Principle photography was completed in late October. Months of post production visual
effects work followed under the supervision of visual effects supervisor
Lance Wilhoite.
As
he does for all his films, John Carpenter is composing and performing the
musical score for “Ghosts of Mars.”
WORKING WITH THE
MASTER…
“John’s like the captain of a ship,” says Natasha Henstridge. “Calm, cool, collected but always
totally in control. I’ve never
worked with a director quite like him,”
she adds. That statement could have been made by any member of the
cast or crew on “Ghost of Mars.”
The praise for the director’s working style and way with cast and crew
is universal.
“No one really does his or her best work under stress,” says
Carpenter. “The process of
shooting a movie, meeting a production schedule, is arduous at best. I suppose I just want to have the
best time possible during shooting.”
Whatever the reasons, the director’s philosophy seems to work. Spending time on a Carpenter set is
to be a part of a mutual admiration society. Ask Ice Cube.
“John and I talked a lot about Desolation, and he took a lot of my
ideas,” says Cube. “He
appreciated the fact that I came to the table with ideas about character,
interaction. He was with it!
Hell, the man gets his name above the titles of his movies and to have him
welcome my suggestions and changes was more than I could ask for.”
One of the common
denominators among the cast was a genuine love of Carpenter’s previous
films. Without exception, every
one of the cast admitted to being a huge fan of the genre in general and
Carpenter’s films in particular.
And all echoed the sentiment that it was an honor to be working with
him. “He knows exactly what he
wants, but he’s comfortable enough to give his actors the freedom to move
within the script,” says Joanna Cassidy. “He let me be creative and let me bring my heart and soul
to the role of Whitlock.”
Jason Statham was so anxious to get Carpenter’s attention that when he
found out the director was going to be in Turin, Statham made the trip to
Italy and arranged to meet him.
“I’d never met him before,” says Statham. “We had a couple of beers and hit it off. I’d been a big
fan of his and when I found out I was going to be in his film, I went home
smiling. He’s a genius at what
he does; there’s no one better in this genre.”
Perhaps the one member of the cast most appreciative of Carpenter’s
easy going, actor-friendly style was Clea Duvall. The young actress really responded to Carpenter’s
direction. “He’s one of my
favorite directors I’ve worked with,” states Duvall. “He doesn’t make things
any more complicated than they need to be.”
Ice Cube admits to more than just an interest in Carpenter’s way with
actors. Cube is steering his career more and more in the direction of
filmmaking, and he welcomed the opportunity to soak up everything he could
from the man he considers the master.
“I’m learning a lot from him, always looking over his shoulder, asking
questions,” says Cube. “He’s been doing this as long as I’ve been alive and
still he always takes the time to give me the benefit of his knowledge.”
The praise for Carpenter is not limited to his cast. Production designer Bill Elliott
says, “I’ve been a fan of his for quite a while and jumped at the chance to
do this film. He’s a man with a
real point of view but he lets you be creative at the same time. He’s very supportive. He trusts his designer.”
But director of photography Gary Kibbe gives Carpenter perhaps the
greatest compliment. “No matter
what I’m doing or where I am,” states Kibbe, “all John has to do is call and
I’ll make myself available.”
* * * * *
“Earth’s resources are finite. If the human race lasts that long, and
wants to survive, it will have to venture out to other worlds,” says John
Carpenter. “Mars seems to be the
most likely planet in our solar system to terra-form and colonize.”
Is he trying to send the audience a message with this film? “Messages are what we leave on
answering machines. Movies don’t
have messages, they have themes.
Primarily, I just want the audience to watch “Ghosts of Mars” and come
away having had a good time.”
ABOUT THE CAST…
ICE CUBE (James “Desolation” Williams) is rapidly becoming one of the
entertainment industry’s top icons, proving himself a dynamic force in both
film and music. Cube most
recently reprised his writing and starring role in “Next Friday,” the sequel
to the cult hit “Friday.” He also starred in the critically-acclaimed “Three
Kings,” opposite George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Cube
formed his own production company, Cubevision, in 1999 and signed a first
look deal with New Line Cinema. He has recently signed with HBO to create a new
series showcasing the inner workings of today’s urban recording subculture.
He will soon
star in “Stray Dawgz,” directed by music video director Gregory Dark, and
then segue into “Pimp,” the autobiography of Iceberg Slim, to be directed by
Bill Duke and produced by the Firm and Quincy Jones Entertainment.
Cube made his feature film debut in John Singleton’s Academy AwardÒ
nominated “Boyz ‘n the Hood,” and garnered a Chicago Film Critics Award for
“Most Promising New Actor.”
Other film credits include “Anaconda,” “Trespass,” “ The Glass
Shield,” “Higher Learning” and “Dangerous Ground.”
NATASHA HENSTRIDGE (Lt. Melanie Ballard) made her feature film debut
as the beautiful alien Sil in MGM’s hit science fiction thriller, “Species,”
for which she won an MTV Movie Award.
She later went on to star in that film’s sequel, “Species II.”
Other starring roles include “Maximum Risk;” New Line’s “Dog Park,” in
which she starred opposite Janeane Garofalo, Luke Wilson and Harland Williams;
HBO’s “Caracara” and the NBC mini-series “Jason and the Argonauts.”
She most recently starred in Miramax’s “Bounce,” with Ben Affleck and
Gwyneth Paltrow. She also played
opposite Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry in “The Whole Nine Yards,” and
appeared in “It Had to Be You.”
Upcoming starring roles include “Second Skin,” opposite Peter Fonda;
“Kevin of the North,” with Skeet Ulrich and “A Better Way to Die.”
Henstridge
was born in Springdale, Newfoundland and raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta,
Canada. She resides in Los Angeles.
JASON STATHAM (Jericho) first came to the attention of movie-goers and
critics as the co-lead in Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,”
for Gramercy Pictures.
He next appeared in New Line’s “Ghetto Superstar,” directed by Robert
Adetuyi, and most recently starred in Screen Gems’ “Snatch,” for director Guy
Ritchie.
PAM
GRIER (Helena) has starred in nearly 30 feature films, over 20 productions
for television and numerous stage productions during her illustrious career.
Since making her feature film debut in American International
Pictures’ “Coffy,” Grier has appeared in such films as “Foxy Brown,” “Greased
Lightning,” “Fort Apache: the Bronx,” “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” “Above
the Law,” “Escape From L.A.” (directed by John Carpenter) and “Mars
Attacks!” She earned a Golden
Globe nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy for her starring role in Quentin
Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown.”
Television appearances include recurring roles in series such as
“Miami Vice,” “Crime Story” and “Linc’s Place,” and featured roles in, among
others, “In Living Color” and “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” Movies for television include
“Frank’s Place - The Movie,” “Family Blessings” and “Holly Wagner, Star.”
On stage, Grier has appeared in “Frankie and Johnnie at the Claire De
Lune” and “Telltale Hearts.”
Other honors include the National Black Theatre Festival Award and the
African American Film Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
CLEA DUVALL (Bashira) first gained recognition in the independent
feature “How to Make the Cruelest Month” in 1998. Later that same year she starred in “The Faculty,”
garnering nominations for Breakout Performance from both the Blockbuster
Awards and the Teen Choice Awards.
She recently completed the title role in “See Jane Run,” and was last
seen in “Girl, Interrupted,” opposite Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. Other feature film appearances
include “The Astronaut’s Wife,” “Wildflowers,” “She’s All That” and “But I’m
a Cheerleader.”
Television credits include appearances on “Popular,” “Buffy the
Vampire Slayer,” “ER” and “Dangerous Minds.”
JOANNA CASSIDY (Whitlock) has a long list of credits in feature films,
television and theatre. Film
appearances include, among others, “Stay Hungry,” “Blade Runner,” “Under
Fire” for which she won the New York Critics Best Actress Award, “Who Framed
Roger Rabbit,” “The Package,” “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Chain
Reaction,” “Dangerous Beauty” and “Moonglow.”
For television, Cassidy has appeared in numerous movies of the week
including “Hollywood Wives,” “The Tommyknockers,” “Barbarians at the Gate,”
“The Hunger” and “Tribe.” Series
guest starring stints include “L.A. Law,” “Northern Exposure” and “Diagnosis:
Murder.”
LIAM WAITE (Michael Descanso) has appeared in feature films such as
“Second Skin,” “Whitebread,” “ Simpatico,” “The Day October Died” and “April V.”
His television credits include the movies of the week “Father Begano”
and “Good Sport,” and he has appeared on stage in productions of “Death of a
Salesman,” “Equus,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “King Lear,” “Fool For Love” and “Zoo
Story.”
WANDA
De JESUS (Akooshay) has appeared in feature films such as “Flawless,” “Once
in the Life,” “Executive Power,” “Glass Shield,” “Downtown,” “RoboCop 2” and
“Demolition Day.”
Her extensive television credits include guest starring roles in “Pensacola,”
“Brooklyn South,” “Nash Bridges,” “NYPD Blue,” “Touched by an Angel,”
“Profiler” and “Diagnosis Murder.” She appeared as a series regular in “Live
Shot,” “Mariah” and “Santa Barbara,” and had recurring roles in “Lifestories”
and the NBC soap “Another World.”
She appeared on Broadway with Robert DeNiro in “Cuba and His Teddy
Bear” and has acted in several theatre productions at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper
Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre and New York’s Village Performing Theatre as
well as the New York Shakespeare Festival.
DUANE DAVIS (Uno) has an extensive list of feature, television and
stage credits. His nearly 20 feature film appearances include “The Great
White Hype,” “Steal Big, Steal Little,” “Little Big League,” ‘Under Siege,”
“Universal Soldier,” “Necessary Roughness” and “Beetlejuice.”
For television, Davis has been featured in series such as “Team
Knightrider,” “Moloney,” “L.A. Law” and “Dallas,” and in several
movies-of-the-week including “The Rocky Marciano Story,” “The Mike Tyson
Story” and “Final Shot: the Hank Gathers Story.”
LOBO SEBASTIAN (Dos) has had supporting roles in such films as “Next
Friday,” “187,” “Road Dawgs,” “Major League III,” “Dancing at the Blue
Iguana” and “Black and White” for HBO.
Television credits includes guest starring roles in “Walker Texas
Ranger,” “L.A. Doctors,” “Pacific Blue” and “Nightman.”
RODNEY A. GRANT (Tres) last appeared in “Wild Wild West” opposite Will
Smith. Other feature film
credits include “White Wolves III,” “The Killing Ground,” “The Substitute,”
Geronimo: An American Legend” and “Dances With Wolves.”
He has had roles in nearly a dozen movies of the week for television
including “The Jack Bull,” “Staircase,” “Vanishing Point,” “Genghis Khan,”
“Lakota Moon” and “The Trial of
Standing Bear.” He also
starred as Chingachgook in the syndicated series “Hawkeye.”
ROBERT CARRADINE (Rodale) is a veteran of over 30 motion pictures, beginning
in 1971 as a co-star in the John Wayne film, “The Cowboys.” Since then he has appeared in films
such as “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” “Escape From L.A.” directed by John
Carpenter, “Body Bags,” “The Player,” “Somebody Has to Shoot the Pictures,”
“Revenge of the Nerds,” “Revenge of the Nerds II,” “The Long Riders,” “The
Big Red One,” “Coming Home,” “Aloha Bobby and Rose” and “Mean Streets.”
Television credits include “NYPD Blue,” “The Practice,” “ER,” “Kung
Fu” and “Bonanza.” He has also appeared
in movies of the week such as “The Incident,” “I Saw What You Did” and “The
Survival of Dana,” as well as mini-series including “The Tommyknockers,”
“Monte Carlo” and “The Sun Also Rises.”
PETER JASON (McSimms) is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable
character actors, having appeared in over 30 feature films and a score of
television series and movies of the week.
His feature film credits include “Dante’s Peak,” “Escape From L.A.,”
“The Village of the Damned,” “In the Mouth of Madness,” “Marked for Death,”
“Aracnophobia,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Red Heat,” “Prince of Darkness,”
“Heartbreak Ridge,” “Brewster’s Millions” and “Some Kind of Hero,” among many
others.
Jason has a recurring role on the Don Johnson series, “Nash Bridges,”
and was a series regular on “Mike Hammer, P.I.” Other television credits include appearances on “Coach,”
“Roseanne,” “The Jackie Thomas Show,” “A Different World,” “Quantum Leap,” “Knot’s
Landing,” “The Billionaire Boys Club” and “Golden Girls.”
ABOUT THE
FILMMAKERS…
JOHN CARPENTER (director/writer/music,) as a young child, was
fascinated by movies, especially Westerns, and began a life-long relationship
with cinema.
In 1970, as a film student at USC, he won an Academy AwardÒ for his
short film “The Resurrection of Bronco Billy,” and went on to direct a series
of low-budget, highly commercial and critically-acclaimed films. Among them were “Dark Star,” “Assault
on Precinct 13,” and the classic “Halloween,” which earned over $75 million
dollars from a budget of $300,000 and continues to be revered by and scare
audiences of all ages around the world.
He followed the success of “Halloween” with such genre hits as “The
Fog,” “They Live,” “Prince of Darkness” and “Christine.” He has also garnered acclaim as an
action director from such hits as “Escape From New York,” “Escape From L.A..”
“The Thing” and “Big Trouble in Little China.”
Other credits include “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” “In the Mouth of
Madness,” “Village of the Damned” and “Starman,” which earned star Jeff
Bridges an Oscar nomination.
For
television, Carpenter has directed the biopic “Elvis” and “Someone’s Watching
Me.” He directed and hosted the Showtime horror anthology “John Carpenter
Presents Body Bags.”
Carpenter has written the screenplays for “The Eyes of Laura Mars,”
“Halloween II,” “The Philadelphia Experiment” and the TV Western “El Diablo,”
for which he won the CableAce Award for Best Screenplay.
LARRY SULKIS (writer) spent the first years of his life in Prairie
Village, Kansas before earning his degree at a Beloit College in
Wisconsin. Sulkis lived in
London, traveling extensively from there before moving to California to
pursue his film career.
He
joined the staff of “What’s Up America,” a documentary series for SHOWTIME,
that explored bizarre American subcultures, as the writer and one of the
field producers. He directed an
hour-length ABC documentary, "Dropout," that chronicled the
problems of high school dropouts.
Additionally, he was a producer and writer for the Nickelodeon series,
"Out of Control." Some of Sulkis' more unique projects have been
"Worldsong," the award winning 70mm main attraction for the United
States' Pavilion at the 1992 EXPO in Seville, Spain; General Motors' "Teamwork Technology," utilizing the
world's largest video wall, the multi-screened "Animators on
Animation" for the Disney Animation Studio Tour; writing To Be An
Astronaut for NASA's Houston Space Center Tour, "The Journey
Within" an IMAX film he wrote for Intel, and as associate producer for
"Indah," an IMAX film produced in Indonesia. He is a short story writer and
novelist who can explain the subtle differences between hundreds of northwest
Missouri Barbecue techniques.
But
Sulkis' most recent work has been in feature film writing. John Carpenter's "Ghosts of
Mars," is Sulkis' sixth feature screenplay sale and his eighth project
collaboration with John Carpenter.
SANDY
KING (producer) first entered film production in the field of animation but
garnered the extensive tools necessary for success as a producer through one
of the least acknowledged but most effective avenues of filmmaking: script
supervision. Being witness to
the thought processes of directors, cinematographers and actors has provided
her with an encyclopedic knowledge of the process.
John Cassavettes gave her the first script assignment on his cult
classic “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and she went on to “study” under
such acclaimed directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Walter Hill, Michael Mann
and John Hughes. Impressed by her extensive training in the arts, many of
these directors expanded her role into the areas of associate producer and
second unit director.
In 1984, she went to work for John Carpenter on “Starman” and then
later on “Big Trouble In Little China.”
He then arranged for her to produce his films “They Live,” “In the
Mouth of Madness,” “Village of the Damned” and most recently,
“Vampires.” She also produced
the Showtime anthology series “John Carpenter Presents Body Bags.”
A native of
Los Angeles, King earned degrees from UCLA in theatre arts and English. While
attending school, she earned her living by painting platform shoes for such
megastars as David Bowie and Elton John.
GARY B. KIBBE, A.S.C. (director of photography) has served as
cinematographer on four previous films for director John Carpenter: “ Prince
of Darkness,” “They Live,” “Village of the Damned” and, most recently,
“Vampires.” Other feature film
credits include “Love Struck,” “Robo Cop II,” “Double Dragon” and “The Day
October Died.”
For television, his credits include “John Carpenter Presents Body
Bags,” and the series “Kissed by an Angel,” “Badlands” and “Dr. Quinn
Medicine Woman.”
WILLIAM ELLIOTT (production designer) has created the sets for nearly
20 feature films including “Hot Shots,” “Honeymoon in Vegas,” “Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Doctor Doolittle” and “The Nutty
Professor II: The Klumps.”
His credits as art director include two Oscar nominations, for
“Rainman” and “The Untouchables.”
He also served as art director on such films as “Regarding Henry,”
“Back to the Future II,” “Throw Momma From the Train,” “About Last Night” and
“Silverado.”
PAUL
WARSCHILKA (editor) has worked
on a number of films both as a sound editor and as a film editor. For sound editing Paul’s credits
include “True Crime,” “13th Warrior,”
“The
Milagro Beanfield War,” “Midnight in the Garden of Evil,” “Speed 2,” “Eraser”
and “Waterworld.”
Paul’s
film credits include several of John Carpenter’s films: “The Village of the
Damned,” “In the Mouth of Madness,” and the Showtime movie “John Carpenter
Presents Body Bags.” Other film
credits are “Child’s Play 2,” “Child’s Play 3,” “Glimmerman” and the just
released Christina Applegate film “Just Visiting.”
ROBIN MICHEL BUSH (costume designer) has designed the wardrobe for
many of John Carpenter’s films, including “Starman,” “They Live,” “In the
Mouth of Madness,” “Village of the Damned,” “Escape From L.A.”, for which she
earned a Saturn Award nomination for Costume Design, and, most recently,
“Vampires.”
For television, Bush has designed costumes for such productions as
“Seven Days,” earning a Costume Designers Guild nomination, “Silverstone,”
“Harry and the Hendersons” and “The New Lassie Show.”
GREG NICOTERO (special effects make-up,) through his 12 year old company, KNB EFX Group. Inc., has
extensive experience in creating make-up effects, creatures and animatronics
for both film and television.
Feature film credits include, among many others, “The Green Mile,” “The Adventures of
Rocky & Bullwinkle,” “Spawn,” “Boogie Nights,” “Pulp Fiction,” “End of
Days” and “Mars Attacks!”
For
television, he’s worked on such shows as “Dune,” “Chicago Hope,” “Xena:
Warrior Princess,” “Hercules: the Legendary Journeys” and “The X-Files.”
|