It seems that vampire love stories have a contender for ‘most over-saturated theme’ in film and television right now, as a glut of new swords and sandals-themed films are ready to be unleashed on the world in 2010.
The two main films spearheading (pun completely intended) this Roman invasion are based on the legend of the Roman Ninth Legion, who marched into Scotland from Hadrian’s Wall with over 4,000 men and disappeared. Historians dispute the fate of the legion; some believe they were disbanded, while others believe they were massacred in Germania years later.
Eagle Of The Ninth is the bigger of the two, starring Donald Sutherland and Channing Tatum and is directed by Scot Kevin MacDonald, helmer of The Last King Of Scotland and State Of Play. Ninth is a Gladiator-esque tale of a young Roman officer’s search to discover the truth about the disappearance of his father’s legion in the north of Britain.
Eagle Of The Ninth
The other is The Descent director Neil Marshall’s Centurion, which was shot in Loch Lomond and concerns (again) the Legion’s attempts to wipe out the Picts.
Michael Fassbender in Centurion
Both films promise a boost for the Scottish film scene as both were filmed in different areas around Scotland and both feature Scottish crews. Both films star known Hollywood stars and are aiming to make money at the box office.
Eagle Of The Ninth director Kevin MacDonald had just came off the huge State Of Play, starring Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck when he moved on to Eagle. It marked a definite change for the young Scot, who made his trade in documentaries before heading into the murky waters of feature films.
“It was very different from anything I’ve done before,” Macdonald mused, “but then it’s nice to try to do a different subject and a different kind of film every time you do something. It’s a book I actually read as a kid and it captured my imagination.”
On the other hand is Marshall, best known for his awesome one-two punch of British horror classics with Dog Soldiers and The Descent. After the underwhelming apocalyptic thriller Doomsday, which became his first film to not receive overwhelming praise from critics, Marshall will be keen to get back on track with Centurion.
Here is the trailer:
This summer looks to be an exciting one, and I’m looking forward to seeing how these films measure up against each other. One one hand, Kevin MacDonald is one of the best directors in Hollywood at the moment and he has the star wattage in his $15m epic. But Marshall has perhaps an even better and decidedly underrated bunch of actors, including The Wire’s Dominic West and one of the most exciting actors of his generation, the mercurial Micheal Fassbender.
Let battle commence!
Tags: Centurion, Coming Soon, Eagle Of The Ninth
