Western Religion (film)

Western Religion is 2015 wild west feature film by writer/director James O'Brien. It features performances by Claude Duhamel (Supernatural), Peter Shinkoda of Spielberg's Falling Skies and Marvel's Daredevil and Australia's Miles Santos of The Elephant Princess among many others in a large international cast.

Western Religion is set in 1879 in Religion, Arizona, where gunfighters from the far reaches of the globe come to compete in a poker tournament where their very souls are on the line.[1]

The story of the production was first picked up by Variety in 2013 as the filmmakers looked to overcome the government shutdown of all national parks just weeks before their scheduled shoot at Paramount Ranch.[2]

To remedy the situation, O’Brien and his producing partner Louie Sabatasso of 3rd Partner Productions enlisted the aid of Peter Sherayko, known for delivering the historical detail in Tombstone. Together they built their own Hell on Wheels style wild west tent city from scratch in the mountains of Agua Dulce, California.

Sherayko, who played Texas Jack Vermillion in Tombstone, is featured in the film as Southern Bill, along with Louie Sabatasso (Wish You Were Here) as the colorful Salt Peter, joining an ensemble cast which includes Merik Tadros (Munich), Holiday Hadley (Gone in 60 Seconds) James Anthony Cotton (Phenomenon) and Ireland's Tony Herbert (Speed Dating).

Western historian Henry Parke made a special visit to the Western Religion set and wrote an article on the making of the film.[3]

The independent film was completed on schedule and within budget, despite hurricane winds destroying the sets and the coordination of a massive international cast in the remote territory of Agua Dulce.[4]

O’Brien engaged London-based composer Ram Khatabakhsh (Capsule) to create the original score.[5]

Western Religion is slated to make its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[6]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Lealos, Shawn S. (2015) http://renegadecinema.com/35986/wild-west-movie-western-religion-poster-and-trailer-unveiled
  2. ↑ Johnson, Ted. Variety Magazine (2013) http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/government-shutdown-derails-film-shoots-at-paramount-ranch-1200689657/
  3. ↑ Parke, Henry. Henry's Western World. http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2013/11/on-set-of-western-religion-plus-help.html Henry's Western World/
  4. ↑ Rodriguez, Liz. New York Life Magazine (2015) http://newyork.lifediverse.com/wild-west-movie-western-religion-poster-hd-trailer-unveiled/
  5. ↑ Kilday, Gregg. The Hollywood Reporter (2014) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ram-khatabakhsh-score-hotel-33-711148/
  6. ↑ Parke, Henry. Henry's Western World. http://www.henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2015/03/western-religion-goes-to-cannes-plus.html/