What We Know About Richard Armitage’s Next Film
It has no title and currently goes by “Untitled Steve Quale Tornado Thriller (2013)” on IMDB. It was originally and very tentatively called Category Six, but since there is another film that goes by that title, they’ll have to label it something else. Officially what we have for the plot so far is this: “A group of high school students document the events and aftermath of a devastating tornado”
Which probably means shaky-cam scenes and maybe hindsight interviews with the characters in a documentary style. We’ll know more on that later in the year once post-production is underway.
It’s being directed by, of course, Steve Quale who doesn’t really have too much under his belt. He was a Second Unit Director for both Titanic and Avatar and he was main director for Final Destination 5. Personally, I think this is something of a test by Warner Brothers/New Line to see if Mr. Quale can be a reliable director for them.
The writer was first listed and just being John Swetnam, a newcomer to the scriptwriting scene. Then they brought in Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for the screenplay Slumdog Millionaire. I have a feeling this might have been a studio move to bring in the bigger name in order to try and give the film more credence. Not to mention Mr. Beaufoy has more experience and might just be able to teach Mr. Swetnam a few things.
Todd Garner is the producer. He’s come out with a steady stable of films since 2001 as both a producer and executive producer. He’s known for the movies Anger Management, Knight and Day, The Fog, Jack and Jill, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and his latest Here Comes The Boom. Aside from The Fog, this film is a slight departure from Mr. Garner’s usual productions.
They’re currently filming in Michigan around Oakland University. This picture above was due to a very lucky fan who got to meet him there. You can read her blog about it here.
As you can see Richard has shaved the beard for the part, something that has been both cheered and lamented within the Armitage Army ranks. It’s also been noted that he’s going with his natural brown hair color, something we don’t see too often in his films. He’s playing the part of a high school teacher (supposedly widowed) with two sons. He will be using an American accent and, no, his character is not named John this time around.
Playing his younger son is 19-year-old Nathan Kress who’s mostly known for his character Freddie Benson in Nickelodeon’s iCarly.
Playing his older son is 23-year-old Jeremy Sumpter. Most of you might remember him as Peter Pan in the 2003 film.
He’s … uh…. he’s grown up ….
*coughs* Wow. This “kid” is also now 6’2” so he’ll be just as tall as papa Richard.
The female lead in the film (and potentially a love interest for Richard’s character?) is Sarah Wayne Callies who now stars in AMC’s The Walking Dead. Supposedly her character is a tornado chaser and will help Richard’s character locate one of his sons. As to if she really is a love interest is speculation. Details have been sketchy on the plot and I have a feeling the script is changing as they’re filming.
I’ll be keeping my eye on Hollywood Insider and the like and let you guys know if anything new comes up.
