Black and Blue Films are proving themselves as a dominant force in the British film industry, and as shown by these exclusive pictures, they have been rubbing shoulder with one of cinema’s most iconic actors. Mark Hamill – the galaxy’s greatest ever Skywalker – is on board Black and Blue’s AIRBORNE, and will star alongside a number of top Brit actors including Alan Ford, Billy Murray, and Julian Glover.
It seems that Black and Blue’s own producer Jonathan Sothcott is just as excited to be working alongside Hamill. ‘I was up to my neck with ELFIE HOPKINS,’ says Jonathan, ‘so we weren’t going to come in… but then they pulled off a major casting coup – Mark Hamill. Mark bloody Hamill. One of the most iconic film actors of all time. STAR WARS is one of the first films I ever saw and it’s still in my top five. That was it. We were in.
‘I have worked with a lot of fantastic actors, but meeting Mark Hamill was very cool. He is a natural and compelling raconteur and, surprisingly perhaps, a real genre buff. He told us about sneaking in to see early Hammer Horrors and the Vincent Price film THE TINGLER at his local cinema when he was a kid.’
Hamill’s love of the genre may prove useful as AIRBORNE is Black and Blue’s latest in a run of successful horrors. The film follows an aeroplane that sets off on a flight only to report to the ground that its two pilots are dead. And it isn’t long before the passengers begin dying too…
One major issue with having a actor such as Hamill attached, is whether he can shake the association of the ludicrously-popular films that made his name a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
‘Mark’s scenes were filmed on location in Leicester at the space museum,’ Jonathan tells us. ‘We had to wrap quite early one night because the museum was booked for a private party… what we didn’t know is that it was a bloody STAR WARS themed party. So as Mark opened his trailer door he was confronted by an army of Jedis, Wookies and Storm Troopers, none of whom had any idea that Luke SkyWalker was there. Needless to say he took it in his stride.’
So perhaps not… but regardless, Hamill is sure to make an interesting contribution to a team that will be already familiar to fans of Black and Blue Films’ output.
AIRBORNE is directed by Dominic Burns (JACK FALLS) and will be released later this year. But for now, check out our exclusive set pictures…
