The 2008 flick Journey to the Center of the Earth, a remake of James Mason‘s 1959 romp and a classic retelling of the 1864 Jules Verne novel, is getting a follow-up. The 3D blockbuster was quite a hit making $240 million worldwide and starred Brendan Fraser as Professor Trevor Anderson alongside Josh Hutcherson as his nephew Sean. However when the call came in to make a sequel, it seems the director was still working on the Yogi bear movie and from all reports Brendan did not want to make it unless the original director Eric Brevig was attached.
So in good form the New Line / Walden Media execs intent on having it ready for 2011, decided to move ahead without them and retooled the script to include a stepfather character – Dwayne Johnson and a romantic interest for Sean – High School Musical sweetheart Vanessa Hudgens. Also appearing is Luis Guzmán as Hudgens father and Michael Caine as Sean’s grandfather.
The new film is being directed by Brad Peyton who made Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and is being shot by Star Wars prequels D.O.P David Tattersal with original producers Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Charlotte Huggins returning.
The sequel has Sean receiving a coded distress signal from his grandfather whose stuck on the mysterious island and so he sets off to find him. His new Step dad has little choice but to join him and along the way they recruit a father and daughter helicopter tour guide and things soon go awry when they make it to the mysterious island. The clock is ticking as seismic waves are about to force the island under the sea and they’ll have to find Sean’s grandfather along with the island’s secrets and escape before the impending disaster.
Currently shooting in Hawaii, production will go on hiatus over the holidays then filming will resume in January 2011 with production moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, with principal photography scheduled to wrap February 2011.
Check out the first video on set from the Aussie morning show Sunrise, that chats with the film’s stars Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Hutcherson about their on set mishaps plus working with FX.
via: Slashfilm Celebrity Mania Coming Soon
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is scheduled for release September 23rd 2011.
No comments yet.