Despite his tender age, 17-year old Thomas Sangster has already appeared along side some of the biggest names in the business. He’s worked with Liam Neeson in Love, Actually, Emma Thompson in Nanny McPhee, David Tennant in critically acclaimed episodes of Doctor Who, and now he’s set to star opposite Sir Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth in The Last Legion. He plays Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of Rome, who must go in hiding when barbarians invade the empire.
What was interested you in The Last Legion in the first place?
Thomas Sangster: I think the fact I hadn’t done anything like that before, it was an epic, there were Romans involved! I did the Romans at school and I think they’re considered quite cool! And because of the action as well, that was really fun.
It was also really good to do because it was filmed in Tunisia and Slovakia, and it was amazing there. It was quite a culture shock actually because it went from 50 Celsius in Tunisia and we literally got in a plane and got of in Slovakia and it was freezing cold, it was very odd.
You did Tristan and Isolde as well; do you enjoy doing these big historical epic films?
TS: They are good fun, just because I haven’t done much of them before, it’s something different for me, and if any more come up I’ll definitely do them… I got to do a little bit of sword fighting as well which was good but I wanted to do more!
This was your third film with Colin Firth, do you like working with him?
TS: He’s a great guy actually… We’ve actually got a really good relationship, it’s a bit strange, and after each film we’re like “see you in the next one!”
You also share a lot of screen time with Sir Ben Kinsley — what’s he like, and does he make you call him sir?
TS: It was great to work with Sir Ben Kingsley, I mean, he is who he is, a great actor. He didn’t make me call him Sir Ben but I did anyway!
So what’s it like being at school and having to act as well?
TS: It can be a bit difficult just because even when you do school work on a film set you can’t give it your full attention because you’re in a completely different place, you know you’re off playing Caesar and then you need to come in and do maths work — its a bit crazy.
What have you got coming up in the future?
TS: At the end of the month I’m going to Italy to do a film version of Pinocchio which is great and it sounds quite fun although I haven’t read the script yet! And I’ve got a few other things on the horizon and some possibilities next year as well…
Teenagers flocked to the multiplexes for stimulation
this weekend as the raunchy new sex comedy
Superbad powered its way to number
one while the frame’s other new releases, the sci-fi thriller The Invasion and
the adventure tale The Last Legion, were met with yawns. The overall North
American box office continued its red hot pace significantly beating out
year-ago levels yet again on its way to possibly ending the summer season with a
new record.
Sony captured the top spot for the first time since early May with
Superbad
which powered ahead of expectations to bow to an estimated $31.2M. The R-rated
tale of three nerdy high school pals on a wild search to get booze to impress
their lady friends averaged a potent $10,583 from 2,948 locations. The opening
even beat out the $30.7M debut of June’s
Knocked Up from director
Judd Apatow
and actor Seth Rogen. Apatow produced Superbad which co-starred and was
co-written by Rogen. Critics were quite impressed with McLovin and friends and
gave the film high marks. (Click
here for
our interview with the stars of Superbad.)
Starpower from Nicole Kidman and
Daniel Craig meant nothing at the box office
for their new sci-fi thriller
The Invasion which bombed with an opening of just
$6M, according to estimates. Playing wide in 2,776 theaters, the PG-13 remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers averaged a measly $2,161 per site. The
Warner Bros. release earned mostly negative reviews.
Falling to ninth place was
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which took
in an estimated $3.5M, off just 35%, giving Warner Bros. $278.6M from North
America. Overseas, the fifth wizard tale collected an estimated $16.2M from 61
territories boosting the international cume to $594M and the global gross to a stunning $873M. Rounding out the top ten was
Adam Sandler and
Kevin James in
the Universal comedy
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry which made
an estimated $3.5M, down 41%, for a total of $110.4M thus far.
Opening with weak results outside of the top ten was the historical epic
The Last Legion starring
Ben Kingsley,
Colin Firth, and
Aishwarya Rai which launched
with an estimated $2.6M from 2,002 playdates for a dismal $1,297 average.
Author: Gitesh Pandya,
www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
Carrying some major buzz into the marketplace, Sony’s teen comedy Superbad hits the multiplexes this weekend aiming to bring in some big business from horny young adults looking for a spark to get rid of their end-of-summer blues. The R-rated entry comes from current comedy king Judd Apatow who directed Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin which collectively grossed a stunning $256M domestically. He takes on producing chores here but his involvement has wisely been promoted heavily in the film’s marketing campaign which really ignited earlier this summer with the release of the uncensored red-band trailer on the internet which basically put Superbad on the map.
The marketplace for teen sex comedies has had a void since the American Pie franchise switched into direct-to-DVD mode. Superbad has the goods to make itself into this generation’s must-see raunchfest with its story of three lovable nerdy high school kids on a mission to score booze for a party to impress some girls. The lethal mix of strong marketing, filmmaker starpower, and a high-quality product that actually delivers what the audience wants will lead to a potent opening weekend that should be enough to send it to the top of the charts. And with a reported $18M budget, this could very well be the summer’s least expensive number one hit. Crashing into over 2,800 theaters, Superbad might collect around $25M this weekend.
Fellow threequel The Bourne Ultimatum looks to witness a smaller decline in its third assignment. Universal might experience a 45% drop to around $18M for a robust 17-day cume of $162M.
LAST YEAR: Opening weaker than expected, but still at number one, was the Samuel L. Jackson actioner Snakes on a Plane which bowed to $15.2M. New Line found its way to a disappointing $34M. Talladega Nights dropped to second with $13.8M while World Trade Center held steady in third with $10.9M. The dance sensation Step Up fell to fourth with $10.2M while Universal’s teen comedy Accepted debuted in fifth place with $10M. A $36.3M final resulted. MGM’s comedy Material Girls stumbled into ninth with a mere $4.6M on its way to only $11.4M. But opening powerfully in limited release was the mystery The Illusionist with less than $1M from only 51 theaters for a potent $18,195 average. The Yari Film Group release expanded nationally and enjoyed good legs going on to gross $39.9M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
This week at the movies, we’ve got some McLovin
(Superbad,
starring Michael
Cera and Jonah
Hill), pod people (The
Invasion, starring
Nicole Kidman
and Daniel Craig),
and swordplay (The
Last Legion, starring
Ben Kingsley
and Colin Firth).
What do the critics have to say?
It’s been a very good year for
Judd Apatow.
After directing Knocked
Up, he’s the producer on another gross-out comedy with heart,
Superbad, and both are big hits with critics. Superbad tells the
story of two geeks (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill) on the cusp of graduation who
really, really want to change their luck with the ladies. The pundits say
Superbad is as raunchy and cheerfully vulgar as any comedy you’re likely to
see this summer, but it’s also remarkably wise and poignant regarding the
awkwardness of the high school years. At 92 percent, Superbad surpasses
Knocked Up‘s Tomatometer score, which means that it’s one of the best
reviewed films of the year. (Check out our interview with the Superbad
gang here.)
Recent Nicole Kidman Movies:
—————————————–
81% — I
Have Never Forgotten You (2007)
90% — God Grew
Tired of Us (2007)
30% — Fur: An Imaginary Portrait
of Diane Arbus (2006)
74% — Happy Feet
(2006)
25% — Bewitched (2005)