James Cameron's Sanctum
Release Date:
February 4, 2011
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 153/171 |
Max Braden |
I can't believe that Cameron left his name attached to this - the dialogue is bad, the camera angles are bad, and the story isn't exciting. |
If you saw the movie title Sanctum, without knowing anything else, what would you think it was about? A board room drama maybe? Or something about a psychologist? And if you heard a movie was "from James Cameron" you'd probably think he directed it, right? Neither is true about Sanctum, an extreme adventure thriller from Universal Pictures.
Sanctum is rooted in the extreme sport of cave diving, where adventurers use SCUBA equipment to explore large caves with inner lakes and rivers, including fully submerged passages. British actor Richard Roxburgh (Dracula in Van Helsing) stars, along with Rhys Wakefield (Australian soap opera Home and Away) and Ioan Gruffud (Fantastic Four). The group of adventurers are exploring an enormous cave in the South Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea when a cyclone causes unexpected flash flooding in the cave. Cut off from the exit, the group fights Mother Nature and themselves to try and find a way out alive.
James Cameron's name was thrown around a lot in advertising this film, and although he didn't direct it, he served as executive producer and the 3-D technology he developed for Avatar was employed to shoot Sanctum. Sanctum is directed by Alister Grierson, his first feature release. The story was inspired by Andrew Wight, a cave explorer and documentarian who once found himself trapped. Screenwriting credit is shared with John Garvin.
Despite heavy advertising using Cameron's name, Sanctum opened on Super Bowl weekend with weak reviews and weak attendance, coming in second to The Roommate with $9.4 million at 2787 sites. (Max Braden/BOP)
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