The Lost City of Z Information

The Lost City of Z is an upcoming American action adventure biographical film, written and directed by James Gray, based on the 2009 book of the same name by David Grann. It describes real events, about British explorer Percy Fawcett who made several attempts to find an ancient lost city in the Amazon and finally disappeared in 1925 along with his son in the search for the city. It stars Charlie Hunnam as Fawcett along with Robert Pattinson as his fellow explorer Henry Costin and Sienna Miller as his wife Nina Fawcett.

The film had its world premiere as closing night film on October 15, 2016, at the New York Film Festival. The film is scheduled to be released on April 21, 2017, by Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street.

Plot

Explorers search for a British Colonel who disappeared trying to find a legendary City of Z, in the region of Barra do Garas, Mato Grosso, the Pantanal of Brazil, during in 1925.

Cast

• Charlie Hunnam as Colonel Percy Fawcett, a military man-turned-explorer, searching for a lost city deep in the Amazon.
• Robert Pattinson as Corporal Henry Costin
• Sienna Miller as Nina Fawcett
• Tom Holland as Jack Fawcett
  • Bobby Smalldridge as 7-year-old Jack Fawcett
  • Tom Mulheron as young Jack Fawcett
• Angus Macfadyen as James Murray
• Edward Ashley as Corporal Arthur Manley
• John Sackville as Simon Beauclerk
• Adam Bellamy as Cecil Gosling
• Daniel Huttlestone as Brian Fawcett

Production

Development

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Originally James Gray was hired by Paramount Pictures and Plan B Entertainment to write and direct the film based on David Grann's 2009 book in February 2009 but the film remained in development stage for six years. In a 2015 interview with Indiewire, Gray admitted that he had developed the script for a while before moving towards production. He explained that "(it's) very complicated production and the story is amazing, but it's a complicated story. And you want to get it right. It's a very, very scary proposition to go into the jungle and all that. But at the same time it's terrific. It's why you make movies."

Casting

The project went through numerous casting changes for the lead role. Initially Brad Pitt was to star as Colonel Percy Fawcett, additionally providing production duties through his Plan B Entertainment. In November 2010, Pitt withdrew from the lead role due to scheduling conflicts, but remained attached as the producer to the film. On September 4, 2013, Benedict Cumberbatch came on board to portray Fawcett, along with Robert Pattinson, who also joined the cast as fellow explorer Henry Costin.

In February 2015, Cumberbatch also dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts, and was replaced by Charlie Hunnam, while Sienna Miller also joined the cast as Nina Fawcett.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 19, 2015 in Belfast, Northern Ireland and continued for five weeks through late September 2015. After that, filming moved to Santa Marta, Colombia, South America and continued through September and October 2015. On August 28, 2015 filming took place at Greyabbey Village and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Hunnam and Miller filmed scenes at Ballintoy County Antrim on August 31, 2015. Filming took place at Craigavon House, East Belfast on September 2, 2015. Hunnam, Pattinson, Miller and Macfadyen shot scenes at Methodist College Belfast on September 3, 2015. On September 7, 2015, scenes were filmed at Belfast City Hall and on the grounds of Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Scenes also shot at Bangor Castle Leisure Centre on September 13, 2015.

Release

The film will close down the 54th New York Film Festival on October 15, 2016. Prior to, StudioCanal acquired international distribution rights to the film. Amazon Studios acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. Bleecker Street is partnering with Amazon on the film's theatrical release. The film is scheduled to be released on April 21, 2017.

Reception

The Lost City of Z has received critical acclaim from film critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a rare piece of contemporary classical cinema". Dan Callahan in his review for The Wrap said that "The Lost City of Z feels like a clear artistic advance for Gray, who proves himself here as one of our finest and most distinctive living filmmakers." While, Owen Gleiberman, writing for Variety called the film "a finely crafted, elegantly shot, sharply sincere movie that is more absorbing than powerful."