The director seems to have it all worked out. The title will be The 33, with an established running time of 93 minutes, and a tentative release date for the second half of 2012. Dude even has a poster already drawn up. I can't wait to see that. >sigh<
Ortuzar hasn't been shy about his intentions. In fact he has plenty to say about it. He told AFP...
"When the mining accident happened, I said: 'here we've got yet another good story,'" he said explaining how real events for him can turn into creative inspiration.
"We have to wait for the ending, but what’s already happened up to now is incredible… There’s such a great story to tell here. My idea is to craft a story focusing on this confinement and at the same time on the rebirth the miners will go through once they come to the surface."
"We're filming at the camp as a way of observing what goes on there so we can recreate it later,"
Ortuzar has also found some sort of mystical connection to the number 33...
"It's going to be called 'The 33' because the number is almost mystical: there are 33 miners and 33 were the letters in the message"
The message he's referring to is the one they sent up to let everyone know they were all safe and accounted for, written in Spanish. Ortuzar says this is also why the film will run for 1 hour and 33 minutes.
To his credit, he says this isn't just some moneymaking ploy. He intends to give all of the film's earnings to a special fund set up for the children of the trapped miners.
The miners have no kids. Just kidding.
Ortuzar is also hard at work on a film about the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Chile back in February. The worst things are for Chile, the bigger this guy's filmography. I'd be more disgusted if I was the least bit surprised. We'll just have to wait and see if he makes good on his promise.
