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".

Lost Director Set For Jack Ryan:

With Chris Pine all set to go as the new incarnation of Jack Ryan it appears that Jack Bender; known best for his stint behind the camera of the hit television series Lost is being lined up to helm.

Big screen experience is at a minimum to date; he has directed Childs Play 3 and Lone Justice 2. But when you take a look at his successes on the small screen you can see where the studio is going with this choice. His achievements on Lost, Soprano’s and Alias confirm that Bender has enough experience in drama and action set plays for a Jack Ryan movie, though nothing is set in stone yet.

The film at this stage of the game is titled Moscow and will centre on the days before Jack Ryan became the CIA action man that marauds through Tom Clancy’s series of novels. So it sounds rather a bit like Pine’s Star Trek characterization.

The script completed by Adam Cozad will shot in February.