GENERAL MOVIE NEWS

If Samuel L. Jackson ran for President, I bet he’d get an awful lot of votes. Now we can get out first look at what it would be like if Jackson really did run the US, with the first pic from The Big Game. It suggests that when Sam takes over, he’ll spend a lot of time hanging out on top of mountains.

The first image comes just as the shoot is coming to an end, along with a press release about the movie. Here it is: ‘The first image from the set of Jalmari Helander’s BIG GAME features Samuel L. Jackson as “The President” and Onni Tommila as his 13-year old sidekick “Oskari” as captured on location in Bavaria.

‘Joining the cast in the final weeks of the shoot are Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, Desperate Housewives) playing “The CIA Director”, Victor Garber (Titanic, Argo) playing “U.S. Vice President” and Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs, American Gangster) as “General Underwood.” Samuel L. Jackson and Onni Tommila (Rare Exports) take the leading roles and other previously announced co-stars include British talent Jim Broadbent (Iris, The Iron Lady) and Ray Stevenson (Thor, GI Joe: Retaliation) and, from Germany, Mehmet Kurtulus (Short Sharp Shock).

‘An adrenaline-fuelled action adventure, BIG GAME is written and directed by Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale) and is nearing the end of its eight-week shoot on locations across Bavaria and at Bavaria Film Studios.

‘When Air Force One is shot down by terrorists leaving The President of the United States stranded in the wilderness, there is only person around who can save him – a 13-year old boy called Oskari. In the forest on a hunting mission to prove his maturity to his kinsfolk, Oskari had been planning to track down a deer, but instead discovers the most powerful man on the planet in an escape pod.

‘With the terrorists closing in to capture their own “Big Game” prize, the unlikely duo must team up to escape their hunters. As anxious Pentagon officials observe the action via satellite feed, it is up to the President and his new side-kick to prove themselves and survive the most extraordinary 24 hours of their lives.

‘Based on a story by Jalmari Helander and Petri Jokiranta, BIG GAME combines the universal rite-of-passage theme of iconic 80′s films, such as E.T. and The Karate Kid with the visceral thrill of high-concept action classics such as Die Hard and Taken. The Director of Photography is Mika Orasmaa (Rare Exports, Iron Sky) with Scanline VFX (Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Iron Man) on board for all special effects.

‘As director and co-writer, Jalmari Helander comments: “BIG GAME is an action adventure story on an epic scale. I’m delighted to be taking this genre on as it has always been very close to my heart, as action-packed adventure stories contain the elements that I believe make movies that are worth watching.”’