Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, The Way Back) is certainly someone who takes the time to choose which picture he’ll direct next, but it looks like he’s settled on The Keep.  The film is an adaptation of the 2006 bestselling Jennifer Egan novel by the same name.  The contemporary Gothic tale centers on two American cousins who share a troubling, yet formative, memory from their past and reunite to restore a medieval castle in central Europe as an alternative resort.  While there, the haunted castle serves as a catalyst for them to revisit their childhood traumas and long-held fears.

The Keep will shoot next spring in Europe with post set to be completed in Australia – or vice versa, depending on the final arrangement of the deal.  Weir will direct from his own screenplay and has described the picture as, “Basically, … a studio-shoot movie.”  Hit the jump for more.

The Way Back is filmmaking at its most basic. A lack of any real antagonist or narrator and the minimalistic use of score give this remarkable journey by a band of escapees during the Soviet regime in the ’40s an odd POV style that sometimes feels lost without a compass. With Peter Weir at the helm guiding Colin Ferrell, Saoirse Ronan, Jim Sturgess, and Ed Harris, you expect a powerful synergy to occur. While the core components are there, the inevitable question of the veracity of the escape is still in doubt and hinders the film from overcoming the clichéd miracles that occur during their perilous 4,000-mile trek to freedom. Despite this, the linear narrative that plays out has enough humor and heart to stagger through the awe-inspiring scenery, resulting in a tepid yet entertaining film about the drive for survival. Hit the jump to escape into my full review.

Opening this weekend is The Way Back and it’s the first film from director Peter Weir (Witness, Master And Commander, & Dead Poet’s Society) in seven years.  Starring Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Mark Strong, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan, the film is inspired by the true story of a group of “multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their epic life affirming journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries.”  The film is based on Slavomir Rawicz’s acclaimed book, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, as well as other real life accounts.  You can watch seven clips from the film here.

Anyway, I recently got to speak with most of the cast (here’s Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris) and for today’s interview I’ve got Peter Weir.  While I could have spoken to Weir for an hour, I only had four minutes with this great filmmaker.  During my limited time we discussed what was it about The Way Back that got him back in the director’s chair, how did he get his cast, what are his thoughts on deleted scenes, and will it be another seven years before he makes another film.  Hit the jump for the video:

Opening this weekend is The Way Back and it’s the first film from director Peter Weir (Witness, Master And Commander, & Dead Poet’s Society) in seven years.  Starring Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Mark Strong, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan, the film is inspired by the true story of a group of “multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their epic life affirming journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries.”  The film is based on Slavomir Rawicz’s acclaimed book, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, as well as other real life accounts.  You can watch seven clips from the film here.  Anyway, I recently got to speak with most of the cast and Peter Weir and I’ll be posting a new interview everyday this week.  Yesterday I posted Jim Sturgess, and today I’ve got Ed Harris.

During my time with Harris we talked about what being on CHiPs (yes, the Erik Estrada show from the ’70′s) did for his career, how did he get involved in The Way Back, how does Peter Weir get such great performances from all his actors, and is he thinking about directing another movie soon.  Hit the jump for the video:

While Peter Weir’s The Way Back has yet to screen for critics in Atlanta, I’ve heard nothing but positive things about the film.  The Way Back is Weir’s first film in seven years and boasts a strong cast that includes Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Mark Strong, Jim Sturgess, and Saoirse Ronan.  I can’t wait to get a look at the film and now we have seven clips from the flick, which opens next week.  Here’s the synopsis:

Inspired by Slavomir Rawicz’s acclaimed book, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom as well as other real life accounts, six time Oscar nominated director Peter Weir’s (Witness, Master And Commander, & Dead Poet’s Society) The Way Back is a remarkable adventure story chronicling the escape of a small group of multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their epic life affirming journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.

Director Peter Weir (The Truman Show) makes his much welcomed return to the big screen this year with The Way Back.  The film looks to be an Oscar contender and boasts an impressive cast of Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones).  Set in World War II, the film tells the true story of a group of soldiers who escape from a Siberian gulag and journey across the harsh Asian terrain in order to reach British India.  It looks pretty great, not to mention Weir’s remarkable track record (he’s directed Dead Poets Society, Witness, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, not to mention his four Academy Award nominations for Best Director). We previously reported that the film was picked up by Newmarket Films for distribution, and now the flick is getting an Oscar-qualifying limited release on December 29^th, with a wider release on January 21^st 2011. Check out the impressive new trailer after the jump.

One article.  Two posters.  Three miles of blue sky.  Four pounds of preemptive critical acclaim.

John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole came out of the Toronto Film Festival with some buzz, particularly for Nicole Kidman’s performance opposite co-star Aaron Eckhart as the married couple returns “their everyday existence in the wake of a shocking, sudden loss.”  Dianne Wiest, Sandra Oh, and Miles Teller also star.

The Way Back is the latest from Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), hence the anticipation from film buffs everywhere.  Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Mark Strong, and Saoirse Ronan star in the true story of a group of prisoners who walked over a thousand miles to escape a Siberian labor camp.

Hit the jump to check out new posters for both films.

The first trailer for Peter Weir’s (The Truman Show) World War II film The Way Back is now available online.  Featuring a stellar cast which includes Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Mark Strong, and Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones), the film is an adaptation of Slavomir Rawicz’s memoir The Long Walk: The True Story of a Walk to Freedom.  Like the memoir, the film tells the story of a group of prisoners who escape a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk and endure a grueling journey to British India.  I’m definitely intrigued by the footage here as it showcases some epic locations and beautiful cinematography.  Moreover, and less critically speaking, I’ll see virtually anything that comes courtesy of Peter Weir and Ed Harris.

To check out the trailer, hit the jump.  The film was recently acquired by Newmarket Films and is anticipating a January 21st, 2011 release to be preceded by a limited release on December 29th.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Peter Weir’s The Way Back will premiere at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival, Newmarket Films has acquired the WWII feature, with plans of a January 21st release.  According to Risky Business, The Way Back will screen at the Galaxy Theater Friday night (9/3) following a well-deserved tribute to Weir.

The Way Back is led by Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Mark Strong, and Saoirse Ronan.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the memoir upon which the film is based.

The line-up for the 2010 Telluride Film Festival has been announced and there are some exciting inclusions.  If I were attending Telluride, the two films at the top of my must-see list would be Errol Morris’ new documentary Tabloid which is about former-Miss Wyoming/convicted rapist/dog-cloning advocate Joyce McKinney, and Peter Weir’s war film The Way Back, which is the director’s first film since 2003′s Master and Commander.

The line-up also includes other films that are making the festival rounds including Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, the financial-collapse documentary Inside Job, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist, Mike Leigh’s Another Year, and Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe.  Hit the jump to check out the full line-up.  The Telluride Film Festival runs from September 3 – 6th.

About a week ago, I got to speak to an actor whose work I really admire: Mark Strong (IMDb resume).  While many of you might not know his name, if you ever saw Body of Lies, he played a character named Hani Salaam and he was the best performance in the film.  Since then, Strong has booked a ton of very high profile gigs in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies.  Clearly people noticed his work and as a fan, I’m excited to see him in more movies.

Anyway, the reason I got to speak with him is he plays the villainous Lord Blackwood in director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.  During out conversation we discussed the promotional process for Sherlock Holmes and what he’s had to do, working for Guy Ritchie again, what he did to prepare for the role, and so much more.

And for fans of Peter Weir, since Strong is in Weir’s latest film The Way Back, he talked about making that film and why he wanted to be in it.  He also talked about John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard and Kevin McDonald’s Eagle of the Ninth.

Trust me, it’s a fantastic interview that’s well worth your time.  Hit the jump to read it.

It’s been six years since Peter Weir’s last film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and that length of time combined with a filmmaker of Weir’s talent makes for tremendous anticipation.  It looks like that anticipation will finally pay off as the first images of Weir’s new film, The Way Back, have landed online.  Here’s the brief synopsis of the film:

When they escape a Siberian labor camp in 1940, seven courageous multi-national prisoners discover the true meaning of friendship as their epic journey takes them across thousands of miles of hostile terrain en-route to India and their freedom.

The film stars Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan, and should be on your must-see list of 2010, although we don’t know the film’s exact release date yet.  Hit the jump to check out the new images.