Ric Robertson Taking Paid Summer Hiatus From Movie Academy … 
‘The Big C’ Finale Airs On Showtime Tonight 
Obama Scandals Bring MSNBC 7-Year Low While Fox News Rises 
Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ 
DreamWorks Eyes January For ‘Glimmer’ And Dylan … 
Warner Bros TV & ‘Smallville’ Co-Creators … 
How Many Times Does Seth MacFarlane Have To Say No To The … 
UPFRONTS 2013: TV Spinoffs’ Almost Perfect Year 
OSCARS: Animated Feature Rule Change 
Cannes: Relativity Sets ‘Hunger Games’ Liam … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: Billboard Awards Surge From 2012, … 
Cannes: Park Chan-wook’s ‘Sympathy For Mr. … 
Cannes: Stanley Weiser To Script ‘Three Graves … 
Yahoo CEO Foresees Big Opportunities To Sell Ads On Tumblr 
Disney, Lucasfilm Animation Prep ‘Star Wars … 
Cannes: Deadline Crashes Palais Forum With Costa Gavras, … 
Hammond On Cannes: Sun Comes Out As Parties, Deals And … 
Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X … 
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In … 
Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As … 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower … 
After the 2011 Cannes Film Festival saw an abundance of movie deals based on sizzle reels and teaser trailers, agencies are returning to the festival looking to make even more deals with partial and completed films. Here’s an exclusive look at Phantom, a thriller that stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. The film’s written and directed by Todd Robinson and it will make its debut in screenings in the market next week. RCR Media Group and Paradigm are selling it. Here’s the trailer:
Exclusive Cannes Market Trailer: ‘Phantom’
-
Marketplace
News/Opinion Poll
Loading ...Box Office Poll
Loading ...
Wow. There are just no words.
Ok, well here’s a few: talk about poor man’s straight-to-video HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
Poor Ed Harris. Maybe it’s time to stop signing on to everything that’s handed to you. Where’s his representation questioning the material??? He so far above this.
Dukuvenee (he’s not important enough to spell right) on the other hand, well, great work there Agent Mulder…
The trailer you saw before was WRONG! This is the REAL ONE!
funny, the trailer tells you nothing about the fact that the sub is russian and it’s haunted…
at least that’s the script they shot and that’s the movie that’s in the can. (in the cannes? haw haw)
also it was pre-sold with Andy Garcia in it… what happened there? I wonder what territories backed out when Garcia backed out.
-RnsW
I think you’re thinking of Bruce Willis with that comment about Harris signing on to everything handed to him?? Harris is known for being choosey with his roles – part of the reason he’s so well respected, (besides just being generally awesome). The world is far overdue for a kick ass submarine movie. This looks promising – hold your judgement!
Yep,National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Two Tickets To Paradise and Man on a Ledge are just a few of the classics Ed has chosen to be in in recent years. Pain and Gain looks like a winner, too~
You haven’t even seen the movie, troll.
Oh Gillian Anderson, You so jealous.
Why is it that Duchovny fangirls (read: bored middle-aged housewives) always have to bring Gillian Anderson into these things? Why can’t someone exhibit a dislike of Duchovny’s acting without them jumping to conclusions that a fan of hers is responsible? His style of acting doesn’t appeal to everyone, for chrissakes.
His style of acting doesn’t appeal to everyone. That much is true. But 9 times out of 10 that someone is a Gillian Anderson fan or a disgruntled Xfiles fan and that is a fact. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. You’re here aren’t you? Case closed and point proven.
So tell it to the great job Agent Mulder guy or the Gillian Anderson bulging award shelf guy. I’m sure they will agree with you that they are only being objective in their opinion.
Who bought Gillian Anderson’s name up in the first place? Let’s see…oh, that’s right: you did. My comment about the bulging awards shelf was in response to your completely unnecessary dig, but for some reason my reply didn’t appear directly underneath yours.
Since the days of The X-files, a lot of people, critics included, have lambasted Duchovny’s acting. If it bothers Duchovny fans that much that they have to resort to bringing Gillian Anderson’s name up every time he gets panned, maybe it’s down to their own insecurity.
Of course your a fan of Gillian Anderson. Its the same thing you say over at the IMDb.:) Same old same old.
Boy, that was annoying.
cool. didn’t know they were remaking ‘crimson tide’
What in the world?! Submarine camp?!
A FANTASTIC idea! And with Ed Harris in the Bette Davis role of a lifetime!
Sign me up sign me up sign me up up up!
Looks cool
Looks appalling and David Duchovny can’t shout to save his life.
Decrepit filmmaker: With today´s technology anybody can make a movie!
-This is the best example not anybody is capable.
Um. That looks exceptionally awful. I mean that looks really, really bad.
Three great actors working together and a brilliant idea. I am looking forward to seeing this.
David Duchovny rules!
Hey Magdy,
When you walk through the storm, keep your head held high or pass that bong.
Can’t wait to see this. Everyone loves a submarine movie and these are some great actors.
Wow…tough crowd. I think it looks kind of cool. I like all three of these actors a lot and failed to see anything Betty Davis-esque about Harris.
Diane, I’m not suggesting Ed Harris is acting LIKE Bette Davis, I’m saying he’s taken the role of the unbalanced, aging monster in a certain, campy type of film that she did quite a few of late in her career. It’s like saying so-and-so is playing the “straight man,” which FYI doesn’t mean heterosexual. Or like saying you are taking the “Suzanne Sommers” role on this comment board. Get it?
Yes, I do and did get what you were alluding to. I also am aware of what the term “straight man” means, thanks. And,to round things up, my thinking that your statement about Betty Davis was an attempt to incongruously wedge in an observation that would have been pretty clever were it even remotely appropriate to the situation, which it was not, does not make me the dumb blonde to whatever it is you fancy your role is here.
I did not get an “aging, unbalanced monster” vibe from Harris at all here. From this clip, my guess is he’s the hero of the piece in a not-at-all camp fashion. If you don’t like the clip or the concept of the film, fine. Just hold on to those really cool worldly, jaded sentences you come up with for occasions where they actually make some sense.
You’re right. I’m being awful. Sorry.
Gosh, if you’re going to be nice about it, now I feel like I was awful.
Are we sure this isn’t a Funny or Die thing?
This looks really awesome!! Duchovny, Harris, AND Fichtner-that’s my type of movie!
BTW, is anyone else enjoying the “sound design” on that punch as much as I am. I’m not kidding, this is going to be a classic.
Duchovny is the man so I’m in, but this primitive teaser highlights the importance of having stronger A/V creative, especially at market.
As someone forgot the memo, here are the five-fold communication criteria the industry generally measures the achievements or effectiveness of a trailer:
1. Hero/Heroine (Who are the characters?)
2. Journey (Story and setting?)
3. Tone (Emotionally engaging?)
4. Originality (Is it fresh?)
5. Resonance (Happy/hopeful ending?)
1. Hero is (to me anyway) obviously Ed Harris. He is plainly aware something has gone wrong on a ship (sub) of which he is/was captain. Duchovny,in this small clip, is the antagonist, up to something dreadful (see #2).
2. Setting is a Russian submarine gone rogue and potentially starting a world war.
3. It’s a short clip but in as much as we see here, yes, it’s emotionally engaging that Harris’s character is trying to stop a world war.
4. There truly are only a limited number of basic plots about which all literature and film revolve. It’s not the first submarine film or the first film to play around with potential world wars being started. I can’t tell if it’s going to be a great take on these themes or drearily derivative but I don’t get the feeling from this short bit that it will most likely be the latter.
5. Huh? If only works with “happy/hopeful” endings have resonance then you are eliminating about 75% of the world’s greatest literature, drama, poetry, song and film. Not expecting “Phantom” to acquire that status but it’s hardly a problem with a film being obviously marketed as a thriller of a sort that a happy ending is not guaranteed here.
This is a particularly difficult sell because a submarine film will inevitably draw comparisons to mainstream K-19 The Widowmaker, U-571, Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide. Without a point of identification or reason to care, audiences won’t buy in. Characters, emotional engagement, originality and resonance are critical in its messaging.
Consider, is positioning this as a thriller the smartest sell? The cheap production music alone immediately lessens this to direct-to-DVD caliber. Emotion is the engine of good advertising, so budget accordingly. Also Phantom may not have the production value of its predecessors but it does have Duchovny and Harris – emphasizing character and performance will immediately elevate this, to generate interest and positive WOM you aren’t reading here.
Well, IMO, it did give me a reason to care; it emphasized Harris and Duchovny’s performances and characters; if it’s a thriller –and I can’t imagine it’s anything but a thriller– then, yes, positioning it as a thriller is the smartest sell. The fact that it’s a submarine film might make it a hard sell but there is nothing a clip or trailer, no matter how well done, can do to make it not be a submarine film so that point is irrelevant as far as the quality of the clip goes. It was a short clip but it did have resonance (if that means something besides a happy ending). Look, this could end up being a bad film but you are using a standard that may very well be valid but then criticizing it without regard to the fact that the clip actually does work on most of the levels you say it should.
This might just turn out to be the worst performance of Duchovny’s celluloid career, and that’s saying something. Absurd “menacing” gestures, weak voice acting…
Ed Harris and William Fichtner, you can do better than this and you know it. Shame on you.
I’ve watched this a couple of timesand, yeah, if you didn’t know these actors, you’d still be able to pick out Duchovny as the TV actor. Fichtner’s done a good bit of TV too but mostly his career is as a film actor. I don’t see any reason for him or Harris to feel ashamed about this, though, based on this very short clip. I’m interested enough by it to keep my out for something more informative.
Wow Keith got all that from just a short trailer. The worst performance of Duchovny’s life?? I think you’re nuts. The movie looks awesome
You just got a degree in film studies right?
Why are people so negative about this?
I think it looks fresh and definitely something different for David Duchovny. I never really watched X files so I’m curious to see his talent once he’s out of the Californication universe.
Definitely seeing this!
this looks good!
Love it!
I can hardly wait to see this!
Die hard on a submarine.
How original.
What’s up with all the hate? This looks AWESOME! Anyone who knows ab movies knows that Todd Robinson isn’t ever going to make a bad film. Phantom will be incredible. Great cast, great writer, great director! What could ever be more promising? I’ll be in line to see it the night it comes out in Nashville!
This is going to be a great film. I’ve been looking forward to its release for months. A fantastic cast, a real drama. Bring it on!
JV nailed it! Can’t wait to see Phantom!
Gillian Anderson just looked at her bulging shelf of awards and laughed her as* off.
Gillian Anderson looked at her bulging shelf of awards and realized how old and dusty they were. Kind of like her fans who still hold a grudge against David Duchovny for leaving the Xfiles.
Tim, when was Anderson’s last award? Duchovny is every bit as wonderful as her. David has recently won a Golden Globe.