The Darkest Hour Halted In Moscow

Summit Entertainment and New Regency have been forced into the decision to close down production on their new alien invasion thriller The Darkest Hour. Director Chris Gorak had been filming in Moscow but wildfires have engulfed the city in smoke, making it filming to hazardous to continue for crew and cast.

The film, starring Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Milk )and Olivia Thirlby (Juno) centres on a group of American backpackers in Russia who become embroiled in a close encounter's face-off with otherworldly beings. The screenplay has been penned by Jon Spaihts, known most for science fiction romance Passengers, a script that was on the 2007 black list that has been picked up by Keanu Reeves in a producing and lead character capacity.

The camera's had been rolling at a custom built production facility catered by producer Timur Bekmambetov. However, however it appears that it has not been sufficient enough to continue the filming process with the city's problems getting the better of the production.

Summit Entertainment stated "On any production the health and safety of the actors and crew is of primary concern," to the Heat Vision Blog. "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 stabilise in the area".