Multiple sources have reported that Sanctum will be released on Februray 4th, 2011. That means it will be out a month before :D Who else is excited?

Just found this article about Sanctums release. Looks like they have pushed it back to March 2011.

Jim here. Universal has set a release date for JAMES CAMERON PRESENTS SANCTUM 3D: Friday, March 4, 2011 (via Deadline).

The timing puts the diving thriller up against Sony’s PRIEST which will also be in 3D. PRIEST recently had its release date changed from January 14, 2011.

Based on true events, this adventure drama concerns a father and son who are trapped in an underwater cave with a team of divers as the group strives to stay alive against all hope.

Obviously the world is watching this movie as it is the first officially “touched” project from James Cameron since AVATAR, even though he is only producing. Should be a heckuva ride.

Source: MarketSaw

Just found a video from the set of Sanctum, thanks to neutron1 on the IMDB boards. You can’t see Rhys (I think), but it’s totally worth a look!

Showtime – Sanctum Set Visit

by Desktop on 25 Mar 10

Post-production house Digital Pictures has welcomed the Sanctum production team to its Melbourne facility, working on the reported $30 million dollar feature, which is one of Australia’s first stereoscopic (3D) films.

Sanctum is based on the the real-life experience of Andrew Wight and follows a diving expedition gone wrong when a storm forces a group of divers to become trapped in an underwater cave for two days in the remote underground cave systems of the Australian Nullarbor Plains.

“This is such an exciting opportunity for Digital Pictures. We have extremely talented people who are passionate about delivering the very best in picture quality. Working on a 3D stereoscopic feature – championed by a visionary like James Cameron – is a dream job for the whole team,” said Rachel Knowles, Head of Post Production, Digital Pictures.

Digital Pictures will undertake the 3D conform, digital colour grading, digital mastering for 3D cinema, 2D digital cinema, the DI 35mm negative, and the HD video deliveries for the production. VFX and animation company Iloura has also partnered with the Sanctum team to undertake a complex and challenging VFX and animation package also and amazing world of 3D.

Wight scripted and is co-producing the feature along with Aaron Ryder. Alister Gierson (Kokoda) is directing and James Cameron cements his commitment to stereoscopic technology and story telling as the film’s Executive Producer.

Sanctum is due to be released later this year.

KATE DENNEHY
March 21, 2010

Actor and director Richard Roxburgh abruptly dismisses my suggestion of exploring wonderful underwater caves in Fiji on his upcoming family holiday.

“Not interested,” he says, cutting me off mid-sentence.

It’s not rudeness that produces the response but his knee-jerk reaction after spending the past three months enduring a form of underwater torture.

Roxburgh heads the cast of Sanctum, the $30 million, 3D action thriller about an underwater cave diving expedition that goes horribly wrong.

Fairfax Media caught up with Roxburgh, his gorgeous Italian wife and actor, Silvia Colloca and their energetic three-year-old, Raphael as filming finished at the Gold Coast this month.

Roxburgh managed to maintain his equilibrium, if not his health, knowing his punishing schedule and challenging scenes would be intertwined with precious time with his family.

A persistent cough and heavy cold increased the demands of the shoot and Roxburgh suffered underwater nosebleeds during the last two days of filming.

“This is the most gruelling thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

“We had to wear a full face mask and breathing apparatus that only allows you to take and expel mini-breaths. When you’re doing action sequences underwater it’s pretty scary ‘cause you feel like you’re not going to get enough air. The cough, cold, nosebleeds and 3am finishes were pretty taxing.”

Canadian director of the multiple Oscar winning 3D blockbuster, Avatar, James Cameron is executive producer of Sanctum, to be released next year.

It’s based on the near-death experience of Andrew Wight who is a caver and the film’s producer. He was leading a dive expedition in a remote cave system beneath the Nullarbor Plain when a freak storm caused the entrance to collapse, leaving 15 people trapped.

Filming underwater created obvious communication and lighting difficulties and the actors had to resurface often to recoup and re-hydrate. The underwater action sequences at night took four or five hours at a time and a lot of the other filming wasn’t easy either.

“If we weren’t crashing through bat shit-infested tunnels we were hanging out on a rocky ledge having 30,000 litres of water a minute thrown on our heads,” Roxburgh said.

“I hesitate to use the word ‘torture’ but there were moments like water torture, a bit like we were going to war. But that’s the way it had to be because that’s what the film’s about – people dealing with a sequence of nightmarish events.”

If you’re interested in reading the rest of the interview (no more sanctum talk) press here.

Sanctum wraps shooting in QLD
March 18, 2010
Movie Mazzupial

Underwater 3D epic Sanctum finished filming in Queensland today and I spoke to director Alister Grierson exclusively about it. The Gold Coast director and the stars are flying down to Mt Gambier on Monday to shoot the final underwater cave scenes.

Grierson says they have spent the last three days filming on Dunk Island in North Queensland and are now on the “home stretch”.
“It’s very exciting, but I’ve got more work to do supervising the shoot with the second unit in Mt Gambier,” he says.
“It has been physically demanding for the actors and quite dangerous.
“It’s always stressful when you have people in the water in these dangerous situations but they really stepped up to the challenge.
“They’re relieved to finish in a way, but it’s always sad when you finish a film because it’s like a community and you form some really close bonds.”

Sanctum stars Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd and Australian actors Richard Roxburgh and Rhys Wakefield as three divers on a cave-diving expedition gone wrong. It is based on the real-life experience of the producer and writer Andrew Wight and is being executive produced by Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron (also known as God).

Majority of the film has been shot on the Gold Coast at Warner Roadshow Studios and Grierson says the post-production will be done in Melbourne.
“Heading into the editing room, adding the visual effects and all the sound, it’s my favourite part of the filmmaking process,” he says.

He says they will deliver the finished film to the studio in October, with a late 2010 theatrical release most likely.

Despite having a budget of only $30 million, James Cameron says he thought Sanctum would be able to utilise his 3D technology better than Avatar.
“Avatar is much more expansive, but the thing that most people don’t understand with 3D is that it works best in a very claustrophobic environment,” he said.
“With Sanctum you can really feel that those rock walls in the cave are only a few feet away.
“It works exceptionally well in creating a sense of claustrophobia.
“There will accelerated heart rates, tight breathing and white knuckles when they (audiences) go through a lot of the experiences in this film as a result of the 3D putting them right there in these constricted places.”