This Thursday, Fathom Events will be presenting something truly groundbreaking. On the heels of successful live TV musicals such as “The Sound of Music”, “Grease” and “Hairspray”, Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson is kicking things up a notch. He has written and will be directing and starring in the first-ever LIVE movie.
“Lost in London LIVE” will be filmed LIVE in London (Friday morning 2am Greenwich Mean Time) and livestreamed to American movie theaters on Thursday at 9pm on the East Coast, 6pm on the West Coast. Harrelson said in the teaser trailer unveiled a few months ago, “No one has ever shot a movie and live broadcast it into cinemas at the same time. No one’s ever been that stupid – until now.”
The screenplay, Harrelson’s first, is based on a night 15 years ago when he was arrested in London. [It’s] “about one of the worst nights of my life that I thought would make good comedy.” Pals Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson are co-starring in the film.
As for shooting it live, many of his celebrity friends, including Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg, Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lawrence, have told him (in this Vanity Fair video) the idea of a live movie is “terrible” and absolutely insane, but Harrelson doesn’t care one bit.
In an EPK Interview, he said, “I thought I could shoot this thing in real time, and then it’s kind of like merging theater and film. And then I thought, well if you don’t have a live audience, then it’s not really theater. And that was the eureka moment that I may regret for the rest of my life.”
Harrelson is aware of the technical challenges – both during pre-production and the on the actual night. “This is a single camera operation” and there are only “106 minutes on the [camera] card”.
This is one of the most intriguing filmmaking concepts every attempted. Either way (huge success or epic failure) it should be a whole lot of fun and, for me, it’s a must-see. “This is cinematic history”, said Harrelson. “It might end up great. It might end up a disaster. But I guarantee you it will be worth watching.”
“Lost in London LIVE” is in select theaters this Thursday, January 19th. For locations and tickets, visit FathomEvents.com.