Dominic Monaghan and Freddy Rodriguez Cast In Fortuna

Move over Middle East-based War films, it seems like a wave of economic crisis movies and television shows are on the way. Last week we wrote about an upcoming HBO series called Americatown, which follows groups of Americans who immigrate to other countries in a future where the United States has collapsed. Today it was announced that Dominic Monaghan (Lost) and Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) have been cast in a horror thriller which sounds a bit like The Island meets Children of Men.

Set in the year 2100, where “a collapsed economy and climate crises have eliminated the middle class” leaving a divide between the really rich and extremely poor. To avoid a revolt from the masses, the rich elite create a game called Fortuna, where one out of every thousand players will win a chance to join the upper class. Contestants are never seen from again, which of course is part of a hidden sinister goal to “reduce poverty” by 30% over 50 years.

Swiss director Barthelemy Grossmann (13 m2) wrote the script, will helm the project, and also star alongside Monaghan and Rodriguez as desperate men who play the game. The film will shoot for six weeks starting on November 10th in Bulgaria.

source: THR

  • simon2it
    If it's as well executed as Children of Men, this could be cool. And I like the actors.
  • Jordan
    The bassist from Drive Shaft? HELL YEAH!
  • Jordan
    i mean, guitarist. haha.
  • Bob
    I cannot express to you how absolutely awful this script is. First 20 or 30 pages is a lot of lazy set-up, a bunch of older teenagers (I guess they've been aged up, because surely Rodriguez and Monaghan are meant to be these characters) hanging out and talking about how bad everything is. There's a really great screed by one guy's father where he talks all about how evil the rich people are. Then they go to play Fortuna, the game. Here's what it is -- a bunch of people are stuffed into a room and then... they're left there. Until there's only one person left. That's the rest of the film -- one room, a thousand people, lots and lots of blood. It's absurd. It is NOT Children of Men. There's no story. It's just bloodsport, watching as extra after extra gets ripped to shreds by the mob. To spur things on, a couple boobytraps pop out -- a trap door, flamethrowers -- but that's the extent of it. Spoiler alert: at the end, the main character has to kill his brother in order to win. Snore.
  • Beatrice B
    Hey Bob. Assuming that you had actually read the original script. Are you really allowed to spoil the script if you had access to it? You have revealed main plot twists!!!!
    But in spite of the script. I am really looking forward to this film. Specially because I do love the actors (specially Freddy Rodriguez)
  • Marty J
    So long as Freddy Rodriguez gets to shout "YOU HOMO!" at someone, it doesn't matter. Nobody says the word 'homo' quite like Freddy.
  • Lance Y.
    Bob's funny.
  • jamie
    so according to Bob, it's sort of like Cube meets The Long Walk


    could be decent
  • orange cinema
    @ jordan

    you were right the first time: charlie pace is the bass player for the mighty 'drive shaft'.

    the premise sounds cool, but i got a feeling that DM will be dying in this one. i think he's fallen into theat realm of playing characters who expire before the credits roll.

    "you all everybody...you all everybody!"
  • There's an SF story by, as I recall, Charles Sheffield that is astonishingly similar to this plot. The only differences I recall is that the 'game' is won by couples to vacation as upper class citizens and at the end of their vacation they get a chance to win permanent status changes to the upper class, but in reality they're dumped into the borderlands between the two classes where they're apparently killed. In the story one couple sees evidence of this and try to tell the others until they are 'awarded' the prize themselves.
  • Phil
    DEF SOME RUNNING MAN IN THERE, pretty pumped this loks like a 50 50
  • south texas terror
    The Island Cube of the Children of Running Men. thats what it sounds like to me
  • Jordan
    @ orange cinema

    haha. sweet! now i remember. i just got confused cause i remember when he found his guitar case, it was an acoustic guitar. it's been awhile since i've watched the show.
  • fex
    interest peaked.
  • Quenfis
    So, this is not the biography of Bib Fortuna?
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