Whilst doing press for Louis Letterier’s “Clash Of The Titans,” British actor Luke Evans has revealed his own casting and that of two others in rival swords-and-sandals pic, Tarsem’s “Dawn Of War” also known as “War Of Gods.”
“We have the very beautiful Isabel Lucas who is playing Athena, my daughter,” unveiled Evans, who will play Zeus in the film. “She is stunning. And John Hurt plays me as an old man. I mean, does it get any better than that? That’s uber-cool! In addition, we have Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto.”
Evans further discusses the film’s differences to Letterier’s latest effort explaining that “‘Dawn of War’ really plays on the human side of the battle, whereas there are so many monsters in ‘Clash of the Titans.’ This film really is very strongly based on Earth, I would say, and it is about the human battle. The gods have a very strong presence in ‘Dawn of War,’ and it’s a much bigger action film; this is way more action. We’ve been training for nearly two months for these huge battle scenes, huge fights. Whereas the gods in ‘Clash of the Titans’ do very little but stay in Mount Olympus, in ‘God of War’ they are hands-on — especially Zeus. I’ve had training in every weapon you could imagine a god using.”
Funny Evans should mistakenly call it “God Of War,” after all, the film’s title has been subject to much conjecture with some sources calling by its original name, “War Of Gods,” others by its supposed retitling in “Dawn Of War.” It remains to be seen what title the film will ultimately land on.
Evans also adds that Corey Sevier will play his son, Apollo, with both taking a more physical turn than Leterrier’s portrayal of the gods. The actor explains that Zeus “gets some gory weapons and gets to do some superhuman things — godlike things — with them. As only Zeus, king of the gods, could do.”
“What’s great about Tarsem is you only have to spend 10 minutes in his company to know the man is a visionary and a genius,” Evans continues. “If you know his work, you know how beautiful and visually stunning it can be. Tarsem sets an amazing scene and allows the actors to feel completely immersed in the world — we’ve walked on to the sets and they’re superb. The details of these sets are spectacular, and you know Tarsem has had a hand in every decision. We can’t wait to start.”
After the roasting Leterrier’s ‘Titans’ has been getting, it’s probably a good sign that Evans is describing Tarsem’s vision as something very different, though the helmer faces an uphill battle covering the same mythological material. Tarsem’s past works haven’t exactly appealed to wide audiences either but this, his self described 3D “Caravaggio meets ‘Fight Club'” sounds like it’ll deliver visually if nothing else.
Lensing on “Dawn Of War” begins this month in Montreal and has a 11/11/11 release date.
