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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content may change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. |
| Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll | |
|---|---|
 Tagline: "The sleep of reason produces monsters" |
|
| Directed by | Marilyn Manson |
| Produced by | Alain de la Mata Marilyn Manson |
| Written by | Lewis Carroll (adapted) Story: Marilyn Manson Screenplay: Marilyn Manson Geoff Cox Anthony de Silva |
| Starring | Marilyn Manson Lily Cole Tilda Swinton Evan Rachel Wood Alan Cumming Daryl Hannah Jonathan Pryce Tim Roth Johnny Depp Angelina Jolie |
| Music by | Marilyn Manson Chris Vrenna Tim Skold Ginger Fish Madonna Wayne Gacy |
| Cinematography | Benoît Debie |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $42,000,000 (estimated) |
| Preceded by | Doppelherz |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll is an upcoming fantasy horror film by Marilyn Manson with Anthony Silva and Geoff Cox. It is directed by Marilyn Manson as part of his Celebritarian Corporation art movement, and is his directorial debut as a feature filmmaker. It is being produced by Blue Light for Wild Bunch and has estimated budget of $42,000,000. In the leading roles are Marilyn Manson as Lewis Carroll, English model Lily Cole as Alice and Evan Rachel Wood as Alice's alter ego. Release date looks to be heading towards 2008.
Contents |
Plot
A synopsis given to journalists at the press conference mentioned above read:
| “ | Victorian England.
A haunted writer in an isolated castle is tormented by sleepless nights and visions of a girl named Alice. He finds himself becoming a symptom of his own invention. “Now all my nightmares know my name.” He is Lewis Carroll. Terrified of what waits for him each night. |
” |
Personnel
Cast
- Marilyn Manson as Lewis Carroll
- Lily Cole as Alice
- Evan Rachel Wood as Alice's alter ego
- Tilda Swinton as Lewis Carroll's dream wife
Crew
- Marilyn Manson – director, producer, writer, score
- Alain de la Mata – producer
- Geoff Cox – writer
- Anthony de Silva – writer
- Lewis Carroll – writer (adaption of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There)
- Benoît Debie – cinematography
- Chris Vrenna – score
- Tim Skold – score
- Ginger Fish – score
- Madonna Wayne Gacy – score (possibly contributed prior to leaving Marilyn Manson)
- Steven Klein – art department
Filmmaking
Pre-production
The script for the film has been completed as of December 2005. Marilyn Manson:
| “ | I want to take the children’s story that we all know, and discover the horrifying roots that grow beneath every one of its childish metaphors. The characters may be absurd and wrapped in puzzles, but, the author himself is the story that I find painfully close to me. Lewis Carroll is far more complex than the world’s narrow perception of him as a quiet deacon, a mathematician and a loner, simply obsessed with photographing young girls. He was possibly one of the most divided souls living in his own hell that the world has overlooked. | ” |
Marilyn Manson has stated his aim for the project is to “redefine the horror genre” and bring it back to the days of “Polański and Hitchcock”. “It‘s kind of a return to Hitchcock-style psychological horror about letting your mind do the damage and sometimes what you don’t see is scarier. The film has also been linked with other projects such as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s King Shot and an as yet untitled film with Tilda Swinton. As of December 2007 much of the design is finished and the film has a distributor. Marilyn Manson:
| “ | It was meant to have been filmed earlier but Eat Me, Drink Me became something that was absolutely my first priority. Now the movie will be delayed even more because of the ongoing scriptwriters strike in Hollywood which is affecting all present productions. I’ll try and restart it at the beginning of next year. | ” |
Marilyn Manson has stated that Phantasmagoria will be filmed in a way no one has done yet. “I have a camera that I’ll be the first person to use in cinema, and I‘m very excited about it. It’s very unique[sic]”. He has suggested the use of subliminal elements to enhance feeling, but also says he may go further. “I‘m going to do a lot of things that may end up being illegal. Until they are, I will do them. I think it will change people’s opinion about horror films and they will realize they’re not all about slasher”. “I might add that the girls playing Tweedledum and Tweedledee are twins who get to have real, genuine sex with each other. I like to make dreams come true”.
Production
Currently the production on Phantasmagoria is postponed due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike and shooting is slated to begin March 2008 after Marilyn Manson's North American Rape of the World tour.
Locations
In addition to Ireland, Schenker mentioned Sintra in Portugal as a location. Marilyn Manson explains that it “is a very powerfully magical, strange place. It was my first choice for location to shoot my film Phantasmagoria...”
Soundtrack
Marilyn Manson has mentioned that so far the music has been based around some of the score Chris Vrenna originally created for American McGee's Alice. He intends to be working with Tim Skold and Ginger Fish on the original soundtrack and previously unreleased Marilyn Manson's songs but has added that he doesn’t want to over extend himself as he has other responsibilities, i.e. acting and directing. Marilyn Manson does mention the possibility of there being at least one unoriginal song used in one of his films: “There’s a song that’s a huge influence on the way the movie ends called "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" by Roxy Music, and it very well might make its way into a film, which would be very odd because it’s a 70's song in a 19th century film”.
Promotion
At a press conference for the film at Berlinale 2006 Marilyn Manson and Lily Cole showed a five-minute trailer, poster and still photos by Steven Klein to around sixty journalists which was generally well-received.
Release
The film will reportedly be made available through Marilyn Manson’s official website though he has also stated that the first film’s release will be “very unconventional”. Marilyn Manson has also made many references to how his website will change in the future, stating that the website is very video-extensive and “has been created to be a place where you can see even more than what is in the film, whether it will be viewed as trailers or teasers, or further elements that aren’t necessary to support the film. If you enjoy the film, there’s a wealth of knowledge there to dig deeper”. Release date looks to be heading towards a 2008 release.
Trivia
- The title is taken from a famous but hard to find collection of poems originally published as "Rhyme? and Reason?" but titled "Phantasmagoria" in later editions. Twin Engine Publishing HB, Wildside Press Books and Prometheus Books are some of the few contemporary publishers of the book.
- Phantasmagoria is also the name for live horror shows involving projection onto smoke screens that were invented in the 18th century France.
- The tagline is taken from The Sleep of Reason, from Los Caprichios, by Francisco Goya.
- The film takes place in 1869, approximately 100 years before the birth of Marilyn Manson.
References
All from Official Wild Bunch Website and various interviews, clauses.
See also
- Lewis Carroll
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
- Works influenced by Alice in Wonderland
- Eat Me, Drink Me (Marilyn Manson's 2007 studio album)
External links
- Official Website
- Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll at the Internet Movie Database
- Official Marilyn Manson Website
- Official Marilyn Manson Myspace
- Official Marilyn Manson VampireFreaks
- Official Wild Bunch Website (includes info and stills)
- Official Celebritarian Corporation Website
- The Heirophant
- The Nachtkabarett: Marilyn Manson Imagery & Analysis
