February 28, 2009 - Some of the first concrete details surrounding the upcoming movie Pandorum surfaced today at San Francisco's WonderCon, where three of the film's stars answered questions during a brief moderated panel. Actor Ben Foster (Bower), MMA fighter and up-and-coming actor Cung Le (Manh), and German actress Antje Traue (Nadia) were on-hand to discuss parts of the film's plot and their characters' roles therein. But not before an intense trailer introduced us to the Pandorum's surprising look and feel.
When I interviewed Le before the panel, he was quick to correct me when asked if he drew inspiration from other science fiction while filming Pandorum. He insisted it was more akin to a horror flick in a space setting, and from the look of the trailer shown, he was right on the money. Pandorum seems to be a fast-paced action-filled movie that happens to be set on a space ship, but perhaps not necessarily in the classical science fiction sense. Of course, that remains to be seen, though late in the panel, Foster describes Pandorum as "some kind of rare sci-fi-horror-thriller with a great cast."
Traue spoke first about her character. She described her as a "hot chick" named Nadia, who finds herself on board a spacecraft under suspicious circumstances. Speaking from the point-of-view of her character, Traue explains that she "has no memory of who I am, why I'm there, and what's the reason to be on the ship." In fact, this is common trait for two-thirds of the panel. Neither Nadia or Foster's character, Bower, know who they are or how they got on the ship, and worse yet, they have no idea why they're there.
Le, who is also starring in the upcoming Tekken film that's currently in post-production, then described his character, a man named Manh. The word manh means "strength" in Vietnamese, and the character is an agricultural specialist (a title Le admits to tripping over often when saying.) The difference between his character and Traue's or Foster's is the fact that he has already lived on the mystery ship at the center of Pandorum's plot for some time, and has a sense as to how to survive already. He admits that he doesn't appear in the trailer because his character is "hiding," so it doesn't appear he plays a role in the story from the outset. Thankfully, however, he does admit that "there's a little ass kicking in this movie." Finally, Foster describes his character, Bower. He prefaces his comments by jokingly stating "sadly, I'm not the hot girl," before continuing that he's "the guy that doesn't know anything" about his status on the ship, or who he is. It's quickly garnered on the ship that "they're not alone" and that "the threat escalates quite substantially," an ode, perhaps, to the film's deceptively horror-based roots.
Praise for director Christian Alvart was in great supply. Traue referred to him as a "genius." The filming of Pandorum was also physically challenging for the actors. As Foster stated, "it was an incredibly grueling shoot," and that there was training for the film, along with plenty of injuries. "It was certainly one of the most demanding filming experiences I've ever had," he went on, stating that Le was responsible for showing the actors a thing or two in terms of the shoot's physical nature. Le himself admitted that shooting Pandorum made his body feel identically to how it does after a brutal MMA fight.
Suspiciously absent were any details of Dennis Quaid's role in the film. Foster jokingly beat around the bush when asked about Quaid's character and the role he plays, perhaps suggesting that his character is a pivotal one. Also absent was a mention of the film's release date, although IMDB has it listed for a September launch.
Quelle
