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H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS RELEASE DATE PUSHED BACK

Official Pendragon Pictures Press Release - March 25, 2005

The Principals of Pendragon Pictures announce the push back of the theatrical release date of H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS from March 30th, 2005 to late April with the exact date yet to be announced. "The push back is due entirely to production," states director Timothy Hines. "I've worked for seven year on this film and as the release deadline approached I was faced with a very simple choice, rush the picture or push the release date back and do the movie right." Hines is unapologetic about the push back. "This was absolutely the right thing to do. My picture, H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is an epic with thousands of special effects. It would have been absurd to cut scenes or rush effects when the movie was so close to completion. The thousands of fan letters that pour in every week reflect that this decision is correct and in the end it was the only way to go. Nobody remembers that some episodes of STAR WARS have been up to a year late, that Francis Ford Coppola, Kubrick and many other directors have routinely missed deadliness to get their picture right. H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is all we hoped it would be and more." A few private test screenings have brought overwhelmingly positive responses.

Test audiences have reacted with strong emotions ranging from tears to triumphant. "I'm not surprised at the powerful reaction to the movie from our test groups," says Hines. "We did the book. Wells was a powerful writer. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is a tragic story. It's a horror story. I didn't play the battles between the human artillery and the giant three-legged fighting machines triumphantly. This is humanity losing its planet to an invading force. Well, for a time anyway. That people have shown they are moved by the movie says we got it right."

The exact April theatrical release date of H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS will be announced shortly, though the DVD release is locked. The picture is presold for DVD into 60,000 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada and will hit the shelves June 15th, 2005. Worldwide DVD presales are in progress.

Two books on the making of Pendragon's H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS will hit the bookstores on June 1st. The books are published by Retrovision in association with Ed Gross, the east coast editor of CFQ (Cinefantastique) Magazine. THE MAKING OF H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Book One: The Lost Film A comprehensive behind the scenes look at the War of the Worlds film that wasn't, taking the project from its point of conception, through the design stage, negotiations with studios and talent, conversations with Dreamworks and Paramount and, finally, the impact of September 11th on the production. Book one culminates with the decision to mothball the project and the reasons behind it. From there, the entire original script is offered, which is accompanied by storyboards and production illustrations. THE MAKING OF H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Book Two: All’s Well That Ends Wells Book two begins with a recap of the events of Book One, primarily the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and the filmmakers’ sense of responsibility that they could not go forward with the movie that they had envisioned, feeling that it mirrored reality too closely. Tracked, is the hit the film took in terms of budget, dropping from $42 million to $8 million and eventually up again to $20+ million. Creatively, the decision to harken back to the H.G. Wells novel is explored, and that this is the first version to truly tap into the source material. The new screenplay is included accompanied by numerous production designs and finished sequences. Also included are interviews with cast members and behind the scenes special effects personnel to tell the entire story of the making of the film. To pre-order the THE MAKING OF H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS books contact Retrovision at http://www.retrovisionmag.com.

On another note, director Timothy Hines addresses some of the many rumours floating around concerning the competition between his and Spielberg's respective productions, amongst which are that Hines is financed by George Lucas in retaliation for Spielberg cutting into Lucas' STAR WARS business or that Paramount and Dreamworks have publicity attack teams that use the acronym DDP (Discredit Discourage Pendragon). "Most of these rumours are laughable," smiles Hines, "I would love it if George Lucas threw some support in our direction. If Lucas and Spielberg actually do have tension about Spielberg cutting into STAR WARS business, I know nothing about that. Concerning our film, it really exists, it will be distributed and all who wish to see it in the end will have their opportunity to do so."

Copyright © 2005 Pendragon Pictures. All Rights Reserved. For more on Pendragon's production of H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS visit www.pendragonpictures.com.

Pendragon Pictures Press Release

22nd September 2004

Pendragon Pictures proudly announces the completion of principal photography of H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Set in Wells' intended turn-of-the-century English locale, the movie is the world's first authentic adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic 1898 novel. The live-action production, lensed in tight security under the cover title THE GREAT BOER WAR, took two and a half months to complete on location in England and the Pacific Northwest. The picture wrapped almost three years to the date when Pendragon's original updated version of WAR OF THE WORLDS was shut down due to the events of September 11th.

Director Timothy Hines reflects, "We never stopped really. After an initial two-week hiatus, we saw the light in adapting a dead-on accurate version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS from the original source material, thanks to the influence and advice of people such as Charles Keller, the director of the H.G. Wells Society and tens of thousands of fans who wrote us." A script was immediately begun as the production company shot out a sci-fi movie about robot slaves called CHROME, in order to protect their resources. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS has been a labor of love for the principals at Pendragon. "We haven't rushed anything," beams producer Susan Goforth. "Every period detail has been painstakingly and carefully researched over the last three years as we developed the project," Co-producer John Gallo adds, "Timothy wanted everything to be right, as the fans' expectations are enormous. Like Peter Jackson with LORD OF THE RINGS, Timothy is a deep fan of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. He's been planning to make the movie for decades.

The research was grueling and information was sometimes extremely difficult to obtain, such as finding the right class of ship the Thunderchild would have been. But it was worth it. In the end, Tim's vision proved to be right. The movie is detail perfect." The cast is filled out with world-class actors, such as Jack Clay, founder of the first Professional Actor's Training Program at Southern Methodist University, upon which virtually all other collegiate programs are based. Jack Clay was the acting teacher of many phenomenal talents, such as Academy award-winning actress Kathy Bates and Val Kilmer's opponent in TOMBSTONE, Powers Boothe. "We didn't have a jillion dollars," states an amused Hines, "But our budget is not embarrassing as we're in eight figures. We certainly could afford movie stars. But I felt dubious about casting huge movie stars like, when, for our first version, we negotiated with Michael Caine, Charlize Theron and Eric Stoltz. The Hollywood agents' methods of negotiation are frustrating and enigmatic to me. Like when Michael Caine's agent claimed at one point to have never spoken with me. When I showed her a pile of faxes and emails between us, she had an assistant call me back and confirm, 'Yes, we are talking.' Instead, we turned to the world's greatest undiscovered talent.

For the main protagonist we auditioned twelve hundred and, ironically, found him in our own back yard in the form of Anthony Piana, who portrays the sociopathic Colonel Zet in CHROME. I believe Anthony is the next Al Pacino. His level of commitment and talent is like no actor I've ever seen." Other cast members include James Lathrop as the Artilleryman and John Kaufmann as the Curate. In response to fans' concerns about the polish and punch of the special effects, Hines is quick to comment, "We have the best and brightest talent in the FX department. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is such a known entity that we didn't have to seek them out. They came to us with enthusiasm and a deep desire to be involved. Budget and fees has not been a concern to these people. They are fans, like myself, and are creating this picture with love and integrity.

Our effects will be state-of-the-art. We are utilizing both CGI and miniatures as well as many full-scale mechanical effects that were already shot out on set. Besides, the fans can go to our website and check out our movie trailer for CHROME if they have fears." Concerning the announced Spielberg/Cruise production, Timothy Hines is philosophical, "We communicated with the principals at Paramount before 9/11. They acknowledged in writing through their attorneys that we can make our picture. At that time an Executive producer on Dreamworks' THE TIME MACHINE invited us to his home in Las Vegas, where he informed us that Tom Cruise had aspirations to make the picture. They essentially all told us to go away. Since then, many friends and allies of Tom Cruise have communicated to us the same sentiment. Now that they have announced that they are doing a modern version, I think there's room for both our productions to exist. What they are doing sounds interesting. From what I understand, they are changing the story dramatically, whereas we have point-by-point recreated the book for the screen. Our production of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is set at the turn-of-the-century. We're almost a back story to their version, sort of like a prequel."

As to the planned Jeff Wayne animated version of WAR OF THE WORLDS, the Pendragon principals were repeatedly approached by Wayne's representatives to work out some form of collaboration, but nothing came of the communications. "I think the Wayne production should be a lot of fun," says Hines. "There's room for us all. Wells was a mega-talent and an incredible visionary. I'm sure the staying power of his Martian invasion story helped bring NASA more hits to their website than any in history when they landed their robot on Mars. Wells would likely have been amused by all the interest in his work. I'm proud to be the first to accurately bring H.G. Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS to the screen." Pendragon Pictures expects a spring 2005 release for H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, however the exact date will be announced by Pendragon's distributor at MIPCOM this October.