Outlander shows that we have the means ... to handle big-budget movies

By Kate Watson - The Weekly News
Metro is bracing for an invasion of a most unusual kind. Vikings and aliens will be sharing the big screen sometime in the coming weeks when Outlander - the big-budget Hollywood production filmed here in the fall of 2006 - hits movie theatres.
Mark Slone, senior vice president of Alliance Films, the Canadian distributor of Outlander, says the film is due to be released in the U.S. on Jan. 23, and depending on audience reception, will make its way to Halifax theatres.
"But Outlander is also slated to go to DVD," adds Slone. "So the people in Halifax will get to see it, regardless."
Outlander features Jim Caviezel, star of The Passion of the Christ, as Kainan, a traveller from another planet who crashes near a Viking village around 709 A.D. While Kainan is humanoid in appearance, he accidentally brings with him a monstrous and deadly creature - created for the film with CGI effects - known as a
Moorwen.
The plot promises plenty of thrills and chills with a dash of romance provided by English actress Sophia Myles as Freya, daughter of the Viking leader Rothgar, who's played by award-winning actor John Hurt.
Local actress Amy Kerr spent more than three months on the set of Outlander as Myles' stand and body-double.
She also played the part of the bored kitchen wench and got her first opportunity to work as a stunt person as a village woman who gets sliced in half during a battle scene.
"I personally can't wait to see the film," says Kerr. "The special effects are going to be out of this world! The story line is incredible and the actors are simply amazing to watch."
Kerr says while the film means a lot to her personally, its success will also be important for the movie industry in our city.
"Outlander shows that we have the means here in our smaller city to handle big-budget movies. We have already started making a mark for ourselves because we're versatile enough to transform our downtown and surrounding areas into suburbs of bigger cities such as Boston and New York. But that's typically for smaller movies of the week. With a movie this big becoming so successful, it should definitely secure us a place in the industry."
Dartmouth's Bailey Maughan plays Eric, a ragged orphan who develops a friendship with the alien, Kainan. While he describes acting in a film this big as "serious work," the 12-year-old actor can't say enough about how wonderful the experience was.
"I was blown away that I was going to be part of a big Hollywood movie that was filming right here in Nova Scotia and in Newfoundland. And if that wasn't exciting enough, my character is a Viking who wears real bear and goat skins and a wig and carries a sword," says Maughan.
He also has a very special memory of the experience - filming was stopped at 12:01 a.m. on the day of his 10th birthday. Jim Caviezel hoisted him onto his shoulders while the cast and crew sang happy birthday.
"It was pretty cool," he says.
Maughan says that seeing this movie may just be what audiences in Nova Scotia need right now.
"I think anyone will enjoy this movie. It's got everything ...Vikings, aliens, a love triangle, a couple of funny moments, awesome special effects and a great cast. It's the perfect recipe for a fun movie, and who doesn't like a fun movie to escape to in the middle of winter, right?"
k-watson@ns.sympatico.ca
For more information on Outlander and its release date check out: http://outlander.solsector.net/index.htm