BRUCE WILLIS’ LATEST HEIST MOVIE “PRECIOUS CARGO”

Press release

DIRECTED BY FORMER ARMY OFFICER MAX ADAMS

Bruce Willis plays merciless crime boss in the gritty action heist movie “Precious Cargo” also starring Claire Forlani and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.  In “Precious Cargo” Eddie (Willis) hunts down the seductive thief Karen (Forlani) who failed him. In order to win back Eddie’s trust, Karen recruits her ex-lover and premier thief Jack (Gosselaar) to steal a cargo of rare precious gems. But when the job goes down, allegiances are betrayed and lines are crossed as Jack, Karen and Eddie face off in a fateful showdown.

 

Photo courtesy of OctoArts Films Int'l.

                At the helm of the movie is writer-director Max Adams who keeps the audience guessing in his feature-length directorial debut. Since his arrival in Hollywood a few short years ago, the former Army officer and battalion commander, who also has a Master’s degree in film production, has risen swiftly through the ranks to become an in-demand action screenwriter known for his humorous, brisk dialogue, cleverly constructed plot twists and ability to write realistic action and fight sequences. But the story for “Precious Cargo” was written long before Adams arrived in Hollywood and while he was a graduate student at Florida State University’s film school.

                With his encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, action films and real-life action experiences after serving for six years in the Army, Adams quickly established himself as “the action director” after enrolling in Florida Stat University’s graduate school in 2006.   A couple years later when it came time to make a short film for his Master’s Thesis, Adams wrote, directed and edited “Precious Cargo,” a story set in the world of multi-million dollar heists and double-crossing professional thieves.  A short time later, while working on HBO’s acclaimed “Boardwalk Empire” the show’s writer-producer Terence Winter and writer-director-executive producer Timothy Van Patten encouraged Adams to write a feature-length version of the short, which he did. 

                The cast and crew filmed “Precious Cargo” along the picturesque Mississippi Gulf Coast, inlets and waterways around the Gulfport-Biloxi area during an action-packed 17-day shoot—much of it in the sweltering early summer heat of May-June 2015. According to the cast and crew, with thunderstorms, oppressive humidity and temperatures soaring into the hundreds, Adams proved to be every bit the cool, calm focused leader that saw him elevated to a commanding officer in the 3rd Army Infantry in Iraq.

                “For his first shot at being a director I can’t imagine a more daunting task,” said Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who plays con man and professional thief Jack.  “This was a very ambitious script that he wrote and an ambitious schedule and Max did an amazing job – getting everything together, being a leader on set, making a great film and allowing us to have an amazing onset experience.  He’s the guy we followed and will continue to follow.”

                “I had the most fun making this film,” said Claire Forlani, who plays femme fatale Karen Colson.  “It has been one of the most fun sets I’ve ever been on with such a brilliant level of humor.  And when you’re working these hours in this race to get a film made, to have that attitude, it comes from the top.  And that’s Max.  It’s been a really tight schedule and a lot to do, and he’s not only done it, but he’s done it brilliantly.  I adore him.  I think he’s really accomplished something admirable and fun with this film.”

                “Precious Cargo is a good mix of comedy with an intense blend of action and drama happening behind that,” said Gosselaar.  “I like that there’s a light touch to this film, a comedic element throughout.  I always like to see an action film that has a comedic element and doesn’t take itself too seriously.  This is that kind of movie where you can sit down for 90 minutes, eat popcorn and enjoy the ride.”

                “Precious Cargo” opens May 11 from OctoArts Films International.

BRUCE WILLIS in THE PRINCE

Bruce Willis  leads a venerable group of veterans and newcomers in “The Prince,” a non-stop action film that forces a retired crime boss back into the seedy underworld he’d left behind. For twenty years Paul Brennan (Patric), a retired New Orleans crime boss, has lived a quiet life off the grid, running an auto repair garage in remote Mississippi. When his teenage daughter Beth goes missing, Paul is forced to return to the city and face his former enemies including  Omar (Willis), the city’s most powerful man whose family he mistakenly took out, in an explosive final standoff that may offer redemption for Paul’s past mistakes. 

Photo courtesy of Axinite Digicinema

Prolific producer, Randall Emmett (“2 Guns,” “Escape Plan”) read the script and immediately knew it was a winner in the vein of his previous action packed movies. “Bruce really fell for the material, as well as Jason, and then John came on board and I felt that actors of this caliber would bring something really special to the characters and to the story of a man having to face his old demons when his daughter disappears in the same crime universe that he used to live in.” says Emmett.

As each new bit of information gets Paul closer to Beth, it also exposes him to Omar (Bruce Willis), “a very powerful man in the city of New Orleans who put a price on Paul’s head the day Paul mistakenly killed Omar’s wife and daughter,” explains director Brian Miller. “Like Open Range or Unforgiven, this is a modern day western where this gun slinger’s daughter goes missing in this city where he is a wanted man.”

Director Brian A. Miller plants the audience firmly in the gritty underworld of revenge seeking gangsters with the action-thriller The Prince, which shot on locations throughout Mobile, Alabama. “I have to say, the production value that we got from Mobile is quite spectacular,” says Miller enthusiastically of the city that turned itself into a back lot and doubled as New Orleans for a large portion of the shoot. Adds producer Randall Emmett, “Brian fell in love with Mobile and thought it was just ideal for The Prince. The city worked with us and the community really embraced us, so it made our production really work.”

                More of Willis in action when “The Prince” opens on September 10 in cinemas nationwide from Axinite Digicinema.

BRUCE WILLIS RESETS THE ACTION BAR HIGHEST IN “A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD”

Bruce Willis  has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994 Palme D’Or winner at Cannes), the philandering contractor in Robert Benton’s “Nobody’s Fool,” the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys,” the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison’s “In Country,” the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan’s Oscar®-nominated “The Sixth Sense” (for which he won the People’s Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the “Die Hard” films.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

John McClane – the hard-talking detective who always seems to be in the wrong place but doing the right thing – has become one of Hollywood’s iconic characters and Willis has enjoyed the role, reprising it in four sequels. The latest Die Hard movie, “A Good Day To Die Hard” sees McClane in Moscow, searching for his estranged son, Jack (rising Australian star Jai Courtney).

Bruce Willis reprises his iconic role as police detective John McClane in A Good Day to Die Hard, set against the backdrop of deadly corruption and political vendetta in Russia.  McClane arrives in Moscow to track down his estranged son, Jack, (Jai Courtney), and is stunned to discover he’s working undercover to protect a government whistleblower, Komarov (Sebastian Koch).  With their own necks on the line, the McClanes are forced to overcome their differences in order to get Komarov to safety and thwart a potentially disastrous crime in the most desolate place on Earth - Chernobyl.

Willis is McClane, and he embraced the opportunity to pay another visit to the beloved character that has a habit of finding himself in the wrong place at the right time.  Does trouble find John McClane or does John McClane seek it out?  “Well, he’s certainly attracted to trouble,” says the actor, “but yes, trouble also seems determined to find him.”

“I find it an interesting exercise to reach for the bar we set with the series, and I enjoy checking in with McClane at different stages in his life,” Willis continues. “In this story, he’s at a point where men tend to reflect on their past. For McClane, it’s the estranged relationship with his son. They haven’t spoken in some time, and the first news he’s received of him is about his arrest in Moscow.”

“This is a twist on the usual scenario in which McClane is the unexpected party guest who ruins some criminal mastermind’s well-conceived plan,” says Young. “This time, he spoils his own son’s painstaking and dangerous undercover operation.  With Jack’s cover literally blown, he and his father try to get Komarov safely out of Moscow and into Chernobyl, where he can retrieve the incriminating files that will put Chagarin away.  The shell-shocked Russian suddenly finds himself stuck between the feuding McClanes, a more dangerous proposition than prison, as John appears to be half-cocked and fully loaded.  But the three men are intent on making their way out of town by any means necessary, and begin to form an uneasy alliance.

                Under a hail of gunfire, the McClanes manage a desperate escape, and must regroup to figure out how to get to rescue Komarov, who is now in the hands of Alik’s men.  Jack McClane is out of answers, and must turn to John for help.

 Says Jai Courtney: “Jack takes a methodical approach to his work, probably out of a backlash to his father’s knack for winging it and hoping for the best.  But he’s now in a situation where there’s no book to guide him, he has no answers and is at the breaking point. His dad’s instincts are to never quit, regardless of the cost, and in this terrible situation Jack sees that very clearly - maybe for the first time. It gives Jack deeper insight and respect for John’s values. It’s a turning point.”

Adds executive producer Jason Keller: “John and Jack find themselves off the grid, in deep trouble, with no help. Jack doesn’t know what to do, and his father pulls him back and says that we can do this. And the key moment in the film happens when Jack chooses to swallow his pride and accept John’s help. Now you have two McClanes working together, which is more than our bad guys ever bargained for.”

               

“A Good Day To Die Hard” opens February 13 in more than 200 screens nationwide from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.