Movies - The Fountain

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	Movies - The Fountain

The Fountain is a 2006 film directed by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky's science fiction drama stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

Plot

The Fountain is an odyssey about one man's thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th century South America, where conquistador Tomas Verde (Hugh Jackman) commences his search for the Tree of Life, the legendary entity believed to grant eternal life to those who drink of its sap. As modern-day scientist Tom Verde, he desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz). Travelling through deep space as a 26th century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries of life that have consumed him for more than a millennium.

Background

Darren Aronofsky originally intended to film The Fountain on a $75 million budget in 2001. Aronofsky cast Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett for the lead roles. While it was believed that Aronofsky and Pitt had creative differences during pre-production, Aronofsky stated in an interview that Pitt was not really at fault, saying, "The ultimate reason shut down is because of Brad, but Brad didn't do it. He didn't come to Australia, but why he didn't come has to do with a lot of things and has to do with many politics of his own life as well as what had happened before that on a film." Pitt eventually left the project to film Troy
. As a result of Pitt's departure, the studio withdrew its support, shutting the movie down for the time being.

In 2004, Aronofsky resurrected The Fountain with the help of Warner Bros., although he only received a $35 million budget for the project. Aronofsky cast Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz to replace Pitt and Blanchett in the lead roles. The director finally filmed The Fountain in 2005. The film is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be released in 2006.

Cast

Trivia

The Fountain was completely shot on a soundstage in Montreal.
Clint Mansell, who scored Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream
, reprises his role as composer for The Fountain.
Mayan Mysticism is the main cultural influence for The Fountain, particularly the Mayan Mystic Tree.
The co-writer for the film and long-time associate of Aronofsky, Ari Handel, has a Ph.D in neuroscience.
Aronofsky and Weisz presented a panel for The Fountain at Comic Con 2005, showing a trailer and the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Aronofsky specifically wrote in parts for Ellen Burstyn
and Mark Margolis, who were previously in Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream
.
Sean Gullette
, who starred in Aronofsky's Pi
, plays a minor role in The Fountain.
20 of the 70 extras cast as Mayan warriors are actually Mayan, flown in from Guatemala.

Graphic novel

A graphic novel of The Fountain (ISBN 1401200591) illustrated by comic artist Kent Williams was released in November 2005 to positive reviews. The graphic novel is based on the original script Darren Aronofsky wrote for the movie he originally had in mind. After the initial script was refused for production reasons, Darren Aronofsky presented the script to Vertigo Comics to be transformed into a graphic novel. Aronofsky gave Kent Williams the freedom to visualize the story as he saw fit without having a say in what the graphic novel turned out to be.

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