Thunderbirds
Short description
Thunderbirds is a 2004 family adventure based on the 1960s television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It follows the Tracy family, who operate International Rescue, a secret organisation equipped with advanced vehicles known as Thunderbirds and stationed on a hidden island. When the criminal mastermind known as The Hood invades their base and sets a trap to seize the rescue craft, the family is caught off guard. The youngest son, Alan, along with his friends, must act to stop him.
Jonathan Frakes directed the film, the fourth in his run of features following Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Clockstoppers. Brady Corbet plays Alan, with Bill Paxton as his father Jeff, Anthony Edwards as the engineer Brains, Ben Kingsley as The Hood, Sophia Myles as Lady Penelope and Vanessa Hudgens as Tintin. It was produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Mark Huffam from a screenplay by Michael McCullers and William Osborne.
Made for a budget of 57 million US dollars, the film returned 28 million worldwide, a shortfall against its cost. On IMDb, the film critics' rating stands at 4.2 out of 10 from 105 reviews, while on TMDB audience voters give it 5.1 out of 10 from 327 votes, a modest gap between the two.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's director, Jonathan Frakes, appeared in a cameo role as a police officer, and his wife, Genie Francis, played the role of a television announcer.
- The end credits stated that the film was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lowen, a member of the special effects team on "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002).
- The film was a complete failure at the box office, but its title song, “Thunderbirds are go” by the then-popular band Busted, became a major hit, reaching the top of the British music charts.
- To attract attention to the upcoming film, British distributor UIP installed a half-scale model of the “Stormbringer 3” on Trafalgar Square in London as a promotional stunt.
- Filming began in March 2003 (Seychelles Islands and the famous Pinewood Studios in London).
- The film is based on the British television series of the same name.
- The Tracy brothers are named after American astronauts, the schoolboy Fermat after the French mathematician Fermat, and the girl Tintin after one of the characters in the French comics.
- The director and producer of the original 1960s series, Jerry Adams, was invited as a creative consultant, but was left out when the film studio decided that the crew was already sufficiently staffed. He was then offered £750,000 to attend the premiere, but the 75-year-old creator of the legendary series refused, believing he had no right to accept money he hadn't earned. He later watched the finished film, declaring it the worst thing he had ever seen in his life.
- In the original television series, Lady Penelope's car was a futuristic Rolls-Royce, but this time the car company refused to participate in the project and was replaced by Ford Europe.
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Steven Lowen, a 28-year-old worker who died in an accident after falling from scaffolding on the film set.
- This project has a long history, with the first information appearing as early as 1996. In 1998, reports surfaced that Peter Hewitt would direct the film, and Kristin Scott Thomas was considered for the role of Lady Penelope Tracy. The four Tracy brothers were to be played by the Baldwin brothers – Alec Baldwin, William Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, and Daniel Baldwin. The project was headed by Polygram Filmed Entertainment, which soon ceased to exist, and the film was shelved. Working Title Films only resumed work on the film in 2002.
- The names of the two main accomplices of the villain Hood in the film are taken from parts of a door or window – the vertical bar "Mullion" and the horizontal bar (crossbar) "Transom".
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
