Wide Blue Yonder (film)

Wide Blue Yonder
Directed by Robert Young
Produced by John Cairns
Stephen Cranny
Robert Young
Written by Hugh Janes
Starring Brian Cox
Lauren Bacall
James Fox
Music by Bill Connor
Cinematography Svein Krøvel
Edited by Jeremy Strachan
Production
company
Euromax Productions
Wide Blue Films
Distributed by Europafilm
Release date
  • 19 August 2010 (2010-08-19) (Norway)
  • May 2011 (2011-05) (Cannes)
  • 25 May 2012 (2012-05-25) (Norway)
Running time
 89 minutes
Country Norway
United Kingdom
Language English
Budget 8.7 million (USD)
€6.4 million (Euro)

Wide Blue Yonder (Norwegian: Wide Blue Yonder - Begravelse til besvær) is a 2010 Norwegian-British black comedy-drama film starring Brian Cox, Lauren Bacall and James Fox about an old rogue sailor who breaks all the rules to fulfill an old friend's dying wish to be buried at sea. It was directed by Robert Young from a screenplay written by Hugh Janes, adapted from his successful stage play.

Plot

Two retired sailors, Wally and Skipper, are old workmates and best friends for 40 years now living at an old folks’ home in Norway. One day, Wally finds Skipper dead and he wants a burial at sea, the old-fashioned way, as he promised him. Wally isn’t going to let the fact that he doesn’t have a boat, any money or, for that matter, a body, stop him from keeping his word; and so he takes his friends May, George and Nina on a bold mission to send the coffin to the bottom of the North Sea. However, Ms. Reimark, the administrator of the local retirement community where Wally lives, has other plans for him and the deceased.[1]

Cast

Production

Wide Blue Yonder was originally written for the theatre by UK playwright Hugh Janes and staged in London's West End with Eric Sykes as the lead.

Filming

The film was shot on locations in Haugesund, Karmøy and Sveio from July 13 to mid-August 2007.

Problems with the film began during principal photography when UK producer John Cairns' Parkland Films and Norwegian producer Bjørg Veland's Euromax Productions were unable to pay their bills, including salary for cast and crew. They had raised only €2.4 million of the production’s €6.4 million budget.[2]

Norwegian producer Bjarne Hareide was brought in to restructure the financing, but when filming wrapped, €1.6 million local costs were still uncovered. New investments were needed to finish the feature and the film was finally ready for a star-studded world premiere at the Norwegian International Film Festival in 2010. However, it took another two years to clarify the rights, further complicated by the UK producer’s bankruptcy.[3]

Release

Wide Blue Yonder world premiered at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund on August 19, 2010 and was also screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in May 2011. Five years after its completed production, it was finally released in Norway on May 25, 2012 and saw a limited release in the United States on June 27, 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Wide Blue Yonder - Begravelse til besvær - Filmweb, retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ Variety - "Yonder" having money troubles, retrieved April 30, 2017.
  3. ↑ Cineuropa - After five years, UK-Norwegian black comedy Wide Blue Yonder is set for release, retrieved April 30, 2017.
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