| The Tournament | |
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Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Scott Mann |
| Produced by | Keith Bell Glenn M. Stewart Gina Fegan |
| Written by | Gary Young Jonathan Frank Nick Rowntree |
| Starring | Robert Carlyle Kelly Hu Ian Somerhalder with Liam Cunningham and Ving Rhames Sébastien Foucan and Scott Adkins |
| Music by | Laura Karpman |
| Cinematography | Emil Topuzov |
| Editing by | Rob Hall |
| Distributed by | AV Pictures (worldwide) Dimension Films (US) Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) |
| Release date(s) | 20 October 2009 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £3,600,000[1] |
The Tournament is a 2009 British independent action film, marking the directorial debut of local filmmaker Scott Mann. The film was conceived by Jonathan Frank and Nick Rowntree while at the University of Teesside with Mann. The script was written by Gary Young, Jonathan Frank, and Nick Rowntree.
The Tournament was partially filmed in Bulgaria, and numerous locations around Northern England (where the film is set) and Merseyside. The film stars Robert Carlyle, Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu, Sébastien Foucan, Liam Cunningham, Scott Adkins, Camilla Power and Ian Somerhalder. The film received additional funding internationally, from Sherezade Film Development, Storitel Production and others, earning the film a budget of just under £4,000,000, and the film also features a renowned international ensemble cast.
However, numerous problems involving production, finance (the budget ran out twice), and securing a distributor, meant the film was not released until two years after filming, in late 2009.
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A group of the world's wealthiest and most powerful men, who are themselves tied into law enforcement agencies and criminal underworlds alike, and who also control the international media with their billions, have devised the ultimate entertainment for themselves – simply referred to as "The Tournament" – which takes place at intervals of every seven or ten years.
"Contestants" volunteer, but due to the nature of the tournament are some of the toughest or craziest individuals on the planet – they are expected to kill, and only the last surviving combatant will win the cash prize of £10,000,000. The men and women running the tournament not only view it as entertainment, but also bet high stakes on the outcome.[2]
For each tournament, combatants are selected from the world's special forces, serial killers, athletes, trained contract killers and assassins. The last combatant standing receives not only the cash prize, but also the glory and reputation of having the title of World's Number 1, and which itself carries the legendary million-dollar-a-bullet contract killing price tag. Each of the contestants carry a tracking device, embedded under their skin, allowing the observers to monitor their movements, and the contestants to track each other. The tournament lasts twenty-four hours, and if no-one has won, then the tracking devices will explode.
The mayhem which takes place is passed off as natural disasters, terrorist outrages, accidents, or put down to rampages committed by lone madmen. The unsuspecting towns where the tournament takes place are randomly selected, and the public never know of its existence. This year, the latest tournament has come to Middlesbrough, a city in the United Kingdom – the country with the most prevalent mass surveillance in the world – so that the events of the tournament can be easily followed and recorded through the ever-present CCTV as well as satellite surveillance. They also jam the communications of the emergency services, completely taking over the electronic infrastructure, and the stage is set.
The current Tournament becomes complex due to the actions of the organisers and competitors; not only has Joshua Harlow – the winner of the last Tournament – being convinced to return after his wife was murdered and he as informed that the killer is in the Tournament, but another contestant manages to remove his tracking chip, dropping it in a cup of coffee just in time for Father James Macavoy, a priest struggling with alcoholism and a crisis of faith, to drink it. With his only ally assassin Lai Lai Zhen, seeking to escape the game after her last kill, Macavoy must race to survive before the timer runs down.
In July 2007, Entertainment Film Distributors acquired UK rights to distribute The Tournament by first-time director Scott Mann. Filming began in Bulgaria on July 11, 2007.[2] The Tournament was also filmed in the UK in Manchester and on Teesside in the town of Middlesbrough and the surrounding area, including Newton Aycliffe and Billingham the roof top scenes are filmed in the town St.Helens.[3] Like most independent movies, The Tournament has not been without hardship. Due to running out of money twice, once leaving the director stranded in Bulgaria, it eventually got enough funding to finish filming completely and finally complete post-production.[4]
The film has been chosen to open the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in the Mann's Chinese Theatre on October 16 2009.[5]
As of 30 September 2009, the only website with information on The Tournament, is Mann Made, which holds a synopsis of the film, as well as a series of still images. There are also a MySpace page along with a Facebook group holding the same information. Trailers are available on YouTube.
Laura Karpman composed the musical score, with additional music by George Acogny, John Hunter and James Edward Barker. The movie also contained music from: Ruth Jacott, Fabian "R-CANE" Schlosser, Kevin Hissink and El Rod
Due to the fact the film was only picked up for distribution in late 2009, there are as yet few reviews of the film. Ratings aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes does not yet have a score.[6]
Staci Layne Wilson, of Horror.com, gave a positive review for the film, noting that the plot and script lacked originality and could be compared to films such as Smokin' Aces and The Running Man. She wrote: "[The Tournament] truly lives up to its "non-stop action" premise... ...the only other two recently-released movies I can think of to top it in that arena would be the Crank films and the absolutely awesome Shoot 'Em Up."[7]