“I’m living in a silent film…”
@Unklerupert has been in touch with hot news and an update regarding Duncan Jones and MUTE…take it away, fellah…
Duncan Jones announced via Twitter today that his new film, MUTE, will premiere Worldwide on NETFLIX on Friday 23rd February 2018.
In a thread of tweets building up to the much anticipated announcement Duncan gave us the back story to the development…
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“So some of you may be aware that I have previously called MUTE my “Don Quixote.” I did this, as much like Terry Gillian’s fabled film of that name, it seemed everything was against MUTE ever being made.
Back then the film was a very different beast. It was set in London, contemporary and the cast would have been Cary Grant, Boris Karloff & Bela Lugosi. OK. Maybe not that cast…
It was going to be my first film. I sent it to Sam Rockwell who loved it! …but he wanted to play Leo, the part that would later go to Alex Skarsgård. I wouldn’t budge but was so enamoured with Sam, I decided to write something just for him. That was MOON.
Years past, MUTE kept being pushed to the back burner. Life filled up with SOURCE CODE, my amazing wife’s successful battle with cancer, WARCRAFT, dad’s cancer, baby, the wonderful woman who raised me, Marion’s sad loss to brain cancer. We’d do a graphic novel with Glenn Fabry.
But sadly that book never fully came to fruition.
But one day…
NETFLIX came to town!
NETFLIX, these crazy new kids on the block, had this totally crazy philosophy on film making straight out of the 70s. Don’t make 4 quad “please everyone” homogenous blobs! Make films filmmakers are passionate about & let the audience find them!
So here we are.
MUTE, Starring Alex Skarsgård, Justin Theroux & Paul Rudd.
Out on NETFLIX February 23.
Got there in the end!”
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Filmed on location in Berlin between Sept 28th 2016 – 17th Dec 2016 at the World famous Babelsberg Film Studio, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin (Where Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was filmed in 1925) Duncan Jones’ latest film MUTE is described as a Sci-fi Casablanca that Duncan has previously also described as a love letter to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Here’s the full blurb…
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Berlin. Forty years from today. A roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West in a science-fiction Casablanca.
Leo Beiler (Alexander Skarsgård), a mute bartender has one reason and one reason only for living here, and she’s disappeared. But when Leo’s search takes him deeper into the city’s underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons (led by Paul Rudd) seem to be the only recurring clue, and Leo can’t tell if they can help, or who he should fear most.”
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MUTE is a spiritual sequel to Duncan’s multiple award winning debut feature MOON being set in the same ‘Mooniverse’. Fans of MOON will be pleased to discover that MUTE sees the welcome return of Sam Rockwell so we *may* discover Sam Bell’s fate following on from the end of MOON… Further MOON related good news is the return of Clint Mansell on soundtrack duties, cinematography from Gary Shaw and Duncan’s long-time producer and partner at Liberty Films, Stuart Fenegan who commented back when MUTE was announced “can’t do sci-fi without Sam and Clint!”
As part of that original announcement in November 2015 Duncan said:
“I’ve been working towards making MUTE for 12 years now. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that we’re finally going to shoot this utterly unique film. The fact that I get to make it with Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd makes it all the more exciting! MUTE is a film that will last. It is unlike any other science fiction being made today.”
Commenting further once MUTE had been picked up by NETFLIX Duncan said:
“Mute is an encapsulation of everything I am fascinated by; noir, science fiction, and unique people in trouble because of who and what they are. I’m delighted to be able to return to Berlin for the shoot, a place I lived for a period of time growing up, and I’m excited to be working with NETFLIX on a film that is so close to my heart.”
So unlike anything is it, that Duncan has been referring to MUTE as Marmite, or Marmute even 😉 Which basically means you’re going to love it or hate it. MUTE then promises to be pure undiluted Jones.
Duncan recently tweeted:
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“Dad quote, and, in a nutshell, why I’m making MUTE”
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
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Commenting on working with NETFLIX at the end of 2017 Duncan said
“This year I was particularly thankful to NETFLIX for letting me make a movie as a work of artistic therapy for the last few incredibly difficult years.”
MUTE premieres Worldwide on NETFLIX on Friday 23rd February 2018
Keep up to date with all things MUTE by following Duncan on Twitter and the official MUTE Twitter account.
Full MUTE cast and crew available on IMDb.
FOOTNOTE: While you will understand the MarMute visual gag in our montage, you may be wondering what’s going on with Duncan’s hat and beard… maybe keep your eyes peeled when watching MUTE to find out what’s what!
#MUTEmovie #DuncanJones