Most of humanity has been wiped out by a devastating infection. A scientist and teacher journey through a nightmare world, battling to survive.
Meanwhile, a strange young girl in a locked cell asks questions about the world outside – and zombies stalk Birmingham’s overgrown city streets.
To make matters worse, Hollywood A-lister Glenn Close has just TWISTED HER ANKLE.
Movie star Glenn, six times an Oscar nominee, was a real-life casualty among the carnage on Tuesday as the cameras rolled in Birmingham.
The 68-year-old American actress apparently went over on her ankle during dress rehearsal, and was later limping on the set.
Wearing army boots and fatigues, and with her arm in a sling (that one’s strictly make-believe) Glenn had some close encounters.
Film-makers are shooting zombie sci-fi thriller She Who Brings Gifts in Brum, with a view to it hitting cinema screens next year.
And there has been a buzz of excitement as Glenn and co-star, Bond girl Gemma Arterton, film scenes on transformed city centre streets.
It’s lights, camera, action and smoke machine in Church Street as the drama unfolds, the tension mounts – and zombies take tea breaks.
It’s no laughing matter being a zombie. You lie there for hours on end, looking distinctly grey about the gills, playing undead.
And the weather can’t make its mind up. Some of the zombies have thermals under their decomposing dress while others shiver.
Between takes they discuss the weather, and have a laugh, just like the Brummie commuters who crowd round at lunchtime.
There’s lots of waiting around until the cameras roll again, and they sway like there’s no tomorrow.
Which is what the movie’s all about, really.
Glenn and Gemma are the focus of attention, however, whether they’re walking down the street with gun-toting guards or peeping round corners. There’s even fevered anticipation among film fans as they grab a spot of lunch. Salmon is on the menu after the world ends, apparently.
Make-up is retouched from time to time – even the survivor of a global catastrophe has to look her best, after all.
One-time Fatal Attraction bunny boiler Glenn exudes a feeling of class, as befits one of the world’s most respected actresses.
And Gemma, who met a sticky end in 007 movie Quantum Of Solace – she was coated in oil and left to suffocate – looks glamorous, her hair shiny despite the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, a small army of support staff beavers busily around the set.
The PR team behind the film are impressed by the Birmingham Mail’s live online blog from the scene, and post a press release.
“She Who Brings Gifts is a post-apocalyptic zombie thriller adapted by acclaimed novelist M.R. Carey from his best-selling novel ‘The Girl With All Gifts’,” it reads.
“The highly anticipated feature from Colm McCarthy, produced by Camille Gatin and Angus Lamont is shooting in the West Midlands.”
(They’ve been filming up in a deserted hospital, on the wilds of Cannock Chase and scenes are to be shot in Oxford, too).
Ben Roberts, director of the BFI Film Fund, adds: “We’re thrilled that Gifts is out of the box.
“Completely original, Mike Carey has adapted his own book brilliantly and found an inspired collaborator in Colm, who we’ve admired for some time.
“Camille and Angus have pieced it together with real ambition, and a first-rate cast and crew.”
Meanwhile, Richard Holmes, senior film executive at Creative England, says: “We are truly excited about She Who Brings Gifts – it is a pure genre film with added heart and brain.
“It has a fantastic West Midlands presence with a hugely respected international cast and a spectacular use of locations. We’re very proud to support it!”
~birminghammail.co.uk
I DID see this!! And I told Sej about it and we started talking and there was magic in the air and young lust and then, then....I'm no prude, but nawww.
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