Summit Entertainment and Timur Bekmambetov’s alien invasion thriller THE DARKEST HOUR has been shut down indefinitely due to rampaging fires in Russia that have blanketed the sky with fog. The halting of the production was taken as a precaution, as the Russian capital has issued public safety warnings and encouraged residents to stay indoors. (And yes, that’s an actual image above, courtesy of Guardian.co.uk.)
The film, which stars Olivia Thrilby, Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella and Rachel Taylor, will resume shooting once the authorities have deemed it safe.
“On any production the health and safety of the actors and crew is of primary concern. The potential health issues and spread of fire has forced the production to be put on hold for two weeks in order to allow things to stabilize in the area. We do not foresee this temporary stoppage of filming effecting the film’s wrap date as we always build contingencies into a production schedule to account for unforeseen situations,” a spokesman for Summit said.
Directed by Chris Gorak and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, THE DARKEST HOUR focuses on a group of youngsters dealing with an alien invasion in Moscow.
Of course, there’s a larger, more important story here, as the fires have claimed at least 52 lives thus far, and over 2,000 homes have been destroyed. Let’s just hope this thing gets under control before any more tragedy ensues…
Rachael Taylor