Matthew Fox Crosses Against ALEX CROSS

Matthew Fox  is best known for his role as Dr. Jack Shephard in J.J. Abrams award-winning smash-hit series “Lost.” For this role, he jointly won the 2005 SAG Ensemble Award, as well as being nominated for the Golden Globe and Emmy for Outstanding Leading Man in a Drama Series.  His other television work includes the popular Golden Globe award-winning series “Party of Five.” He recently made his theater debut as 'Bobby' in Neil Labute'sIn a Forest, Dark & Deep, for which he received rave reviews. For film, his credits include Speed Racer, Vantage Point, Smokin' Aces, We are Marshall and the forthcoming movies Billy Smoke and World War Z starring Brad Pitt.  In unstoppable action, and unforeseeable twists, ‘Alex Cross’, Matthew Fox plays the baddie role and arch adversary of private investigator Alex Cross played by Tyler Perry 

Photo courtesy of UIP

When it came to casting Cross’ adversary, Cohen went against conventional wisdom which would have led him to who would make the best villain. Cohen’s take on it was that it should be somebody who could have played the hero, thus accentuating the ambiguity of the character. “I met Matthew Fox for another movie and while it didn’t happen for us, I came away with the impression that he was intense guy and I remembered him. 

“I thought if he could somehow wrap his mind around a villain of this proportion that he would be amazing and I really think he rose to the occasion of playing it,” says Cohen. 

To elevate the movie to another level, Cohen believed that it was essential Fox transform himself into something neither an audience nor the actor himself were familiar with.  “Matt put himself physically and emotionally on to a whole different level,” says Cohen. “This is a villain unlike anything anyone has seen.”

 

Fox lost nearly 35 lbs. for the role creating a visage that has him looking gaunt, nearly skeletal yet leaving behind only sinew and muscle on his 6’2” frame. 

“Rob is just a very, very cool director with amazing taste,” says Fox. “He told me and I agreed—months before we started filming—that playing this part was going to require a big commitment physically. I felt I had to lose a lot of weight and get shredded down so that on the outside Picasso looked like someone who would have these disturbing ideas.”

 

In a way, Patterson and then the filmmakers have constructed Cross as the most American of icons: a lone sheriff in the old west who enforces the law and looks for justice where he can find it.  

“He’s a civilized man who, as the movie goes on, loses his civilization one layer at a time until he’s down in the depths with Picasso,” notes Cohen.

By contrast Picasso’s twisted sense of logic has him inflicting pain his victims or even himself, as he believes this is the only time that a person can be totally free. “He captures the moment with agonizing Cubist-like sketches because the character becomes more and more obsessed with the actual moment of death,” says Fox of his role. “In his mind, he’s giving his victims a moment of truly being alive before they die.

“He’s very much of an existentialist and the notion of shattering people’s constructs of right and wrong and the way the world should work, but he’s essentially chaos personified.”

Perry recalls his one and only non-acting encounter with Fox: “We met at the production office and he says, ‘I’m Matthew.’ I say, ‘I’m Tyler and this will be the only time we’ll be talking until we’re done.’ And he says, ‘yep, you’re right,’ and we went in separate directions.”

“ALEX CROSS” is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corporation.

Showing on October 17, 2012

TYLER PERRY IS THE NEW ALEX CROSS

Tyler Perry plays Crusading Detective/Psychologist Alex Cross meets his match when he goes against the psychotic, mob hit man, Michael "The Butcher" Sullivan (Matthew Fox). 

As Cross investigates the hit man's gruesome murders, Cross vows to hunt down the killer if it's the last thing he does. However, Sullivan is a mastermind and continues to evade Cross while pushing him to an ethical breaking point as a cop and a father. As Cross closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable—a revelation that could change everything and a role previously held by Morgan Freeman in “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider. 

“I am sure a lot of people were confounded when they heard Tyler was doing this character after Morgan Freeman did the role in earlier movies,” says director Rob Cohen. “Tyler usually sticks to his own productions but if you read Jim’s books, the character is a 40-year-old guy who is a big and physical; that’s Tyler. He’s truer to the Patterson character from the books than what was previously done on screen with Morgan.”

For his part, Perry admits to a little bit of trepidation stepping into the role.
“Knowing that Morgan Freeman had done this role was very, very intimidating but also thrilling to know I took on something that Morgan said yes to,” says Perry.

“Tyler is physically perfect,” says Patterson.  “And he’s going to blow people’s minds how good he is in a dramatic role because people have seen him do comedy and a little bit of drama but nothing like this.”

“Jim knew that this movie was important because it’s the origin story of the character.  Since he created the character nearly 20 years ago, television is now chock full of procedural investigations that are ‘walk-and-talks’ so we had to take this to another level,” says producer Bill Block.  

“It’s more of a man-hunt movie,” says producer Paul Hanson, “and from a visual standpoint, there are locations that would be nearly impossible to recreate which adds to the cinematic experience.  But to create that experience we needed someone who could envision things we couldn’t imagine and we got pretty lucky that Rob Cohen said yes.” 

Cohen saw the potential in the script but realized that the Cross character had to be re-imagined from the books as well as the two movies (Along Came a Spider, Kiss The Girls).  While the director, renowned for his direction of numerous action-oriented movies, realized that the cinematic experience he wanted to create could only truly come alive with some out-of-the-box casting. 

Cohen met Perry in 2010 when he saw the actor in the stage production of “Madea’s Family Reunion.”

“I wanted to see what the Tyler Perry phenomenon was all about and after the show when we met I was amazed at how big he was and I told him, ‘You could be an action movie star’ and he sort of laughed and said ‘well, maybe we’ll work something out.’” says Cohen.

“Then, as luck would have it, Bill Block called me about this movie and wants to know what I thought about Tyler playing Cross and I told Bill that with his acting chops, his physical size and commanding voice that Tyler doing the role is a great idea.”

Those qualities that Perry possesses are exactly what Patterson envisioned when he created the character of Cross nearly 20 years ago.  

“Morgan is a great actor.  But Tyler is much closer to the Alex Cross in books, physically and age-wise, in terms of his ability to do action,” says Patterson.

Perry had to undergo some rigorous training in the self-defense art of KravMagra used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies. “I trained about three times a week and it’s the most ass-kicking workout I’ve ever experienced,” says Perry. 

Perry also went on ride-alongs with Atlanta homicide policeman to get some first-hand experience and from the movie’s armorer Darcy Leutzinger, learned how to handle weapons. 

With unstoppable action, and unforeseeable twists, this suspenseful action thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat.

“ALEX CROSS” is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corporation.

Showing on October 17, 2012

Meet ‘Alex Cross’

Based on James Patterson’s best-selling novels (with over $3 billion in worldwide sales), “I, Alex Cross” will reboot the global franchise originated by the films “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider”.  

Poster courtesy of Solar Entertainment

Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) is a decorated detective, forensic psychologist and devoted family man.  Working with his long-time partner, Tommy Kane (Ed Burns), he catches a complicated quadruple murder case and begins to profile a killer whom he labels Picasso for the drawings he leaves at the scene.  Picasso (Matthew Fox) is a suave, highly skilled assassin who is targeting an elite list of executives all part of the corporate empire of Leon Jospin (Jean Reno).  

After Cross successfully thwarts one of Picasso’s murder attempts, Picasso retaliates by targeting Cross’ family.  Now it’s personal as Cross blurs the lines of justice to pursue a killer no one can stop.  The film leads to a thrilling climax where Cross and Picasso face off in an intimate battle only one can win.  And in the end, a final twist reveals all was not as perceived to be and Cross is changed forever.  

“Alex Cross” will be a taught, psychological thriller and powerful family drama.  The film will re-imagine the thriller genre with a polished, high gloss stylization.  In success, the film will launch multiple sequels.

"Alex Cross” is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corp.

Showing soon across the Philippines!