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THE SKULLS |
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Universal Pictures in
association with Original Film/Newmarket
Capital Group.
Prod: Neal H Moritz, John Pogue; Exec prod: William Tyrer, Chris J Ball, Bruce Mellon; Co-prod: Fred Caruso; Dir: Rob Cohen; Scr: John Pogue; Ph: Shane Hurlbut; Prod des: Bob Ziembicki; Cost des: Marie-Sylvie Deveau; Ed: Peter Amundson; Mus: Randy Edelman.
With Joshua Jackson (Luke McNamara), Paul Walker (Caleb Mandrake), Hill Harper (Will Beckford), Leslie Bibb (Chloe), Craig T Nelson (Litten Mandrake), William Petersen (Ames Levritt), Christopher McDonald (Lombard), Steve Harris (Detective Sparrow).
International
distribution:
Universal Pictures/UIP.
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“Pogue’s script was an exciting read,” he says. “I knew this Ivy League world at first hand and thought I could weave these wonderful characters into an exciting, non-stop thriller that actually has something on its mind. My only question to Neal was, ‘When do we start?’”
That, for once, turned out to be an easy question to answer. Moritz had just put together a financial partnership with Newmarket Capital Group, and pre-production began almost immediately. First, though, Harper and Jackson had to put in a little training on the crew boats that give the secret society - and the film - their name, since both characters are keen and highly competitive college oarsmen.
“The rowing, the training, the commitment Josh made to the regatta meant that, when he did take the oar and the lead seat in the boat, we didn’t have to cut to a double,” says Cohen. “That’s Josh rowing that winning race! That’s Hill coxing. Actors’ dedication to their roles always adds an amazing dimension to their craft.”
One dimension it definitely added to The Skulls was a physical demonstration of the importance of teamwork and co-operation. “All my life,” adds Cohen, “I’ve been curious about brotherly relationships and friendships - that kind of male bond. You have Will and Luke, two blue-collar guys who have bonded in this Ivy League world. They are different kinds of guys, and yet they’re brothers.
| Above, Hill Harper as Luke’s journalist-student roommate, Will Beckford, (left) and Leslie Bibb as his girlfriend, Chloe. |
“Then Luke meets Caleb and you have another kind of friendship - a much more fragile kind. Luke is caught in the middle, between Caleb’s charisma and all he represents; and his relationship with Will - a relationship that has been tested, but limited by each young man’s personal agenda.”
Nor is the film’s romantic relationship - that between Luke and Chloe - governed by entirely different rules. “One of the great things about going to Harvard in the early seventies,” recalls Cohen, “was the co-ed dorms, where men and women got to know each other as people, friends, members of a small community, as opposed to potential dates. If love bloomed, it grew out of solid knowledge. I wanted that to be Luke and Chloe.”
But, he concludes, none of that was going to come across if the thriller aspect of The Skulls didn’t thrill. “This movie’s first obligation is to entertain, to excite,” he says. “If it can excite thought as well as the sense of a good ride, then it’s done a complete job. All of us set our sights on that goal. And I think we’ve succeeded.”
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