Pendragon director speaks

The mailing list of the H G Wells society was privy to the following fasinating missive from the director of the forthcoming War Of The Worlds movie.

H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS will have a major world theatrical release on 30 March 2005. There is no winner or loser concerning Pendragon and Paramount. The winner/loser scenario might be true if both films were coming out at the same time. Whereas Pendragon's version will be released a full three-months in advance of Paramount's version, there is no direct toe-to-toe competition. Indeed, the release of Pendragon's version supports the release of Paramount's version.

Our distribution is a consortium of distributors of which more are signing on every week. The date posted on our website, 30 March 2005, is the worldwide release date. Some minor adjustments may be made country to country, based on a variety of factors relating to individual distribution contracts within each region.

The post-production of H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is an exciting, amazing and challenging experience. Each day, as scenes are cut together, another piece of Wells story comes to life. At present, we are cutting together and placing effects in the Shepperton shoreline sequence. Retakes and miniature photography will conclude in December on schedule.

In answer to your question put forth by some of the fans as to how we are recreating Woking, most of the structures from the correct time period in Woking were leveled in the 1960's in massive revitalization projects. Sadly, buildings dating back as far as the 1600's were leveled to make way for modern developments. Some period buildings were rebuilt as replicas with modern materials. Many turn-of-the-century houses and inns remain and were usable. However, much of turn-of-the-century Woking had to be recreated through CGI and miniatures. We used many reference source materials, archived photos and history books about Woking, some of which are only available in Woking and its nearby regions.

I must return to the editing suite at this time.

Best regards,

Timothy HinesDirector, H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS