Douglas and Zeta-Jones Make Film in India
23rd May 2008
Over two decades after the original, Michael Douglas is making a sequel to his 1984 film Romancing the Stone, along with his Welsh actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. The couple will be relocating their whole family to Mumbai, Kolkata and Jaisalmer in order to film the sequel, which is called Racing The Monsoon.
The £30 million film will be an action adventure flick about a diamond heist on board an Indian train. The movie, which will also feature Bourne Identity star Matt Damon, is important, as it will be the first fully-fledged Hollywood-Bollywood co-production.
Zeta-Jones claimed that she was excited about going to India, she said: “I'm looking forward to going to India. Michael and I are developing a script that will be set in India. We will take our kids and all of us will come there, set up camp in India and shoot a film.”
Douglas also said that he was excited about going to India, claiming Indian culture was “fascinating.” He said: “India is making a large impact in the US, be it culture, design, fashion or films which are splashed everywhere in the world. I have been closely following and studying Indian culture and I’m fascinated by it.”
The film will be financed by Douglas' own production company, Further Films, as well as Indian production house Percept Picture Company (PPC). As Shailendra Singh, who is joint MD of Percept Pictures, explains: “Michael being a friend, had approached us to partner him and we agreed. Percept will raise the cost for the Indian part of the production.”
Singh said that making this film in India could have a positive impact on the Indian film industry as a whole. She said: “With more films like Racing the Monsoon coming to India, imagine the kind of exposure, interaction and employment that will be generated for Indian technicians and artists."
Racing the Monsoon will be the first time that Mr Douglas and Ms Zeta-Jones have been seen on screen together since they co-starred in the critically acclaimed Traffic in 2000. It is thought that Steve Carr, who made Daddy Day Care and Doctor Doolittle 2, will direct the film.
Source:
Daily Telegraph
Times of India