12/03/2008

British director Duncan Jones (formerly known as Zowie Bowie – singer/actor David Bowie’s son) has wrapped principal photography on his debut feature Moon at Shepperton Studios.

The film stars Sam Rockwell, whose performance in Choke was acclaimed at Sundance. Describing his role in Moon, Rockwell said, “It’s just me and a robot. That’s it, man. You ever seen a movie called Silent Running with Bruce Dern? It’s sort of like that. It’s a little bit like Castaway, too, except my character is on the moon and he meets his clone. That’s a little different, too.”

Moon follows in a long tradition of man alone in space films that began with Bryon Haskin’s Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964). Director Jones is no stranger to the genre, having made a sci-fi short – Whistle - in 2000.

Liberty Films, represented by producers Stuart Fenegan and Nicky Moss, financed development and raised some equity before Limelight joined the project as majority financier. Trudie Styler’s Xingu Films will co-produce. Independent will handle international sales.

Fenegan said, “Duncan’s talent was clear to me immediately, and we have been working together since we first met four years ago. Moon is a high concept film that has a very compelling human story at its heart. This project was a great opportunity to harness Duncan’s strength in the use of visual effects, without the film relying wholly on them – the story and performance are always the focus.”

Abigail Walsh of Independent said, “Duncan Jones is a very exciting director who brings with him a wealth of experience from his award winning commercials background. His hip visual style coupled with the sci-fi and thriller story will appeal to mainstream audiences everywhere.”