CinemaCon: 'Point Break' Cast Celebrate New Footage and Talk about Filming on Location and their love for the Original Film
To celebrate the release of the first "Point Break" footage, Warner Bros. held an exclusive press conference during CinemaCon where actors Teresa Palmer and Luke Bracey joined director Ericson Core to speak about the film.
During the press conference the actors and director said that the original "Point Break" was important to their lives and was a film that they all loved.
Core said, "Well the original is amazing, we all love it. Kathryn Bigelow did an amazing job with it and for me it was my own relationship with the outdoors and I love the outdoors. I thought there was a little about the psyche of what it is to be an extreme athlete that we could bring to the story."
Bracey also spoke about his admiration for the original and said it was a turning point in his life. He said, "It's a movie that seemed to be on every single weekend at home when I grew up in the '90s. Being a surfer, it was just so iconic. It was one of my favorite movies and I could quote it from start to finish. To me, 'Point Break' was a pretty seminal film in my life." He added that, if he still loved the character, he would do sequels.
He added that the film is not a direct remake and that it will be bigger than the original 1991 film starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves.
"The original 'Point Break' was about a group of guys robbing banks for an endless summer and we wanted to expand it beyond that and work with extreme athletes and also talk about their relationship to nature. And the places in which they commune with nature and challenge themselves within and how they wanted to protect it. They are trying to protect things more than anything."
He also said that the character of Johnny Utah will have a bigger part than the original. "In the original it was great but we wanted to expand it beyond that. We go from him as a child and talk about where he belongs in the world, which I think is a very universal tale beyond extreme athletes and a dramatic story for all of us to explore."
One of the most fascinating things that impressed audiences present was the scope of the film and the fact that green screen was not used for the major stunts that were required. "The amazing thing about this film is we went to the actual places. It would have been a lot easier to do it on a green screen stage and do one simple location. But we opted to go to the real places because the locations are part of the characters. We shot in ten countries and went to some of the most epic and beautiful places," Core said.
Among the locations in the film are Australia, Berlin, Germany, Tahiti, French Polynesia and Angel Falls, Canaima National Park, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela.
Core said that the extreme sports athletes, who served as stuntmen in the film, found some of the locations. "They picked the locations. Jebb (Corliss) told us about one location which he had flown and made it well known."
"We ended up in Angel Falls because Chris Sharma (rock climber) told me to go there. So the athletes were really the ones who led us to the most incredible places on earth and cast the film along with me," he added.
Bracey added that going to the actual locations really helped his character. He said, "I grew up loving extreme sports. For me, it was an absolute thrill, especially going to these places was something else because you can do some rock climbing training. I did hours upon hours. And then you get to Angel Falls and it's 3,000 feet off that ledge and they go 'you ready to off that ledge' and I said 'Yup.' And it really informs where you are."
Palmer also said that doing actually stunts was amazing, especially since she was the sole female in the film. "It was very liberating in so many ways and I am blessed that I got to have that opportunity and that experience. I love that Ericson wanted everything to be grounded in reality. And I think Luke and I and Edgar and the rest of the cast, we knew we were portraying these characters who knew how to do these things. It was incredible."
The event was held at the Omnia Lounge at the Cesars Palace in La Vegas. "Point Break' opens in theaters on Dec. 25.