Thu, 16 Dec 2004

The Legend Of Zorro To Shoot - Second Unit In New Zealand

Culver City, CA. December 13, 2004. - Production on Columbia Pictures' The Legend of Zorro will move to New Zealand in January for three weeks of second unit photography, it was announced today by producer Lloyd Phillips and director Martin Campbell, both of whom are Kiwi natives.

The sequences will be shot at Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop and overseen by four-time Oscar® winning special effects expert Richard Taylor (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Master and Commander, Heavenly Creatures and the upcoming King Kong).

"We are thrilled and excited to be working with Jackson's company and a master like Richard Taylor for this very special sequence," said Phillips.

"In just a few short years, New Zealand has jumped into the forefront both as a filmmaking destination and I couldn't be more proud," added Campbell.

The Legend of Zorro focuses on the continuing romantic adventures of the swashbuckling masked hero who champions the rights of the exploited by avenging the wrongs committed against them. Multi-Golden Globe Award-nominee Antonio Banderas (Shrek 2) and Academy Award®-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Ocean's 12) are reunited with director Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Vertical Limit) in another action-packed picaresque escapade set in the California territory in the critical days preceding statehood. Rufus Sewell (A Knight's Tale) and Nick Chinlund (Chronicles Of Riddick) also star. The screenplay is by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman from a story by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossi.

The Legend of Zorro is set several years after the conclusion of the previous adventure. Alejandro (Banderas) and Elena (Zeta-Jones) are married and have a ten-year-old son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). Though Alejandro continues to don the mask of Zorro to protect the poor and oppressed residents of the California territory from the greed of the overlords, he has not told his son about his dynamic alter-ego. But that all changes since plans for California to become the 31st state are being undermined by a nefarious plot by several prominent land-barons and businessmen. Zorro's valiant attempt to foil their plans runs headlong into a personal crisis that threatens the safety of his family.

Also returning to The Legend of Zorro are executive producer Steven Spielberg, producers Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Lloyd Phillips, director of photography Phil Meheux, BSC, production designer Cecilia Montiel and costume designer Graciela Mazon. Joining them are executive producers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum (The Sixth Sense, Seabiscuit), editor Stuart Baird (Maverick), stunt coordinator Gary Powell (Oliver Stone's Alexander), special effects supervisor Bruce Steinheimer (Martin Scorsese's The Aviator) and visual effects supervisor Kent Houston (the upcoming The Brothers Grimm).

The Legend of Zorro was filmed entirely in Mexico in and around San Luis Potosi, a city centered on a high desert plateau about 300 miles northwest of Mexico City. One of the most prominent locations is the Gogorrón Hacienda, about 25 miles outside of San Luis Potosi. Columbia Pictures will release The Legend of Zorro in 2005.

ENDS

Gordon Campbell: On John Key’s Agenda For The Nation

There seemed to be three main components to John Key’s speech :

a) tax cuts largely paid for by a hike in GST
b) mining in national parks and on conservation land, while building more roads.
c) giving firms easier access to the r&d from Crown Research Institutes, so that business can continue to get the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the research that keeps them competitive.

After all, corporate welfare is always such a blessed thing – its only social welfare that corrodes enterprise and ambition. More>>