At a time when the Star Wars franchise is exploding like never before, one closely-related project is making an unexpected move to the big screen. It's taken more than thirty years, but Roger Christian's fantasy short Black Angel, which screened alongside The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, is now becoming a feature film.
Christian, an Oscar-winning set designer and director who designed the first lightsaber, directed the original Black Angel and will return to write and helm this one, as well. An IndieGogo campaign has launched today and already has raised more than $30K, nearly a third of its goal. It also has two confirmed stars in John Rhys-Davies (Sliders, The Lord of the Rings) and Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), two guys who know their way around the fantasy genre. Here's how Christian describes it...
Think Game of Thrones meets Valhalla Rising, Excalibur meets Lord of the Rings. A powerful tale of ancient Celtic magic and Nordic Paganism, it’ll be gritty, dirty and heroic – everything great fantasy should be.
The story follows a knight as he journeys deep into the dark underworld with the daughter of a rival king, to meet the face of evil itself and fight the Black Angel in combat. Full of drama, action and heroism, pure light is pitted against eternal darkness and damnation.
In making this film, we want to return to the visceral physical action of classic fantasy films, like Conan the Barbarian and the original Star Wars. We will mainly rely on practical effects to bring the world of Black Angel to life, with CGI integrated into the film only when absolutely required.
George Lucas had commissioned Black Angel to accompany The Empire Strikes Back, and the 25-minute "swords and sorcery" film played across Europe and Australia. It has been recognized as an influential step in the fantasy genre, inspiring John Boorman's Excalibur, but all of the negatives were thought to be lost. However, thirty years later they turned up in Universal's possession, and the film has been making the festival rounds ever since.
Lucas won't have anything to do with this version, though. And if things go according to plan Christian plans an 8-week shoot to begin this September in Scotland. You can contribute to the IndieGogo campaign here.
