"THE LOST WORLD"

The movie..

"BBC cameras will start rolling at Charleston on February 17 for a two-part epic and faithful portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. A cast and crew of 75, with up to 70 extras, will be shooting at remote locations in north Westland and Buller for five weeks.

The lead role will be played by American actor Peter Falk from the TV detective series Columbo, with more names to be announced next week. Half of the extras have been recruited from the West Coast and half from Canterbury.

The "stage" includes some of New Zealand's most stunning scenery: limestone formations in the Nile Valley, behind Charleston; rainforest at Lake Mahinapua, Lake Brunner, and Karamea, and the more barren landscapes of Denniston and Flock Hill.

Producer Christopher Hall was in Rotorua on Monday to finalise pre-production in that area. A small amount of film would also be shot near Taupo.

Mr Hall said the film needed unsullied landscapes to realistically convey the feeling of a prehistoric world, and the West Coast answered the call with a huge variety of scenery within a short travelling time."

"I suppose we are being quite adventurous going to the West Coast, but it suits us perfectly. It's because of the West Coast that we are in New Zealand."

"A lot of people think it's because it's cheap but that is not why we are in New Zealand at all. We came looking for the place that would tell our story – we looked at Queensland and other places – and the West Coast was where we found The Lost World," he said.

"The rough storyline will be familiar to many, thanks to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park: The Lost World – British explorers in the Amazon forest stumble upon a hidden plateau complete with dinosaurs and a missing-link tribe. However, while Spielberg adapted the story to a modern setting, the BBC production will be faithful to the original story and set in 1911. The set includes a missionary outpost town being built behind Charleston.

Mr Hall said all but 10 of the crew were New Zealanders, many of them fresh from filming The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Lost World will screen in Britain as the BBC's feature film over Christmas."

The cast.

Peter Falk
Bob Hoskins
Matthew Rhys
Elaine Cassidy
James Fox

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