Wexford loses out on Hollywood film shoot
CO WEXFORD has lost the battle for the shooting of a key scene in Ridley Scott’s latest movie, ‘The Last Duel’.
A bridge at Tintern Abbey was on a short-list of locations across Europe for the shoot, with actors Adam Driver and Matt Damon due to be filmed.
Scott will be filming in Ireland next month, but Co Meath – and not the Model County – is his preferred location, specifically around Bective Abbey.
The bridge will be used in the upcoming movie during the last week of March, with the road over the bridge being closed at that time. Bective Abbey, which is right across the road from Bective Bridge, was used in 1995’s ‘Braveheart’, where it doubled as the Tower of London where William Wallace - played by Mel Gibson - was hung, drawn and quartered.
Based on Eric Jager’s book of the same name, ‘The Last Duel’ tells the story of the last trial by combat in medieval France, where a Norman knight and a squire intended to fight to the death over the alleged rape of the knight’s wife by the squire. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener adapted Jager’s book with Scott set to direct the movie next month.
MDb lists Adam Driver as Jacques LeGris, the Norman knight, while Matt Damon will be playing Jean de Carrouges, the squire, with ‘Killing Eve’ star Jodie Comer set to play the wife Marguerite. Scott arrived at Tintern Abbey in November by helicopter, landing in a field beside the abbey which had been strimmed to ensure a smooth landing.
The Gladiator and Alien films director was looking for a bridge upon which to shoot a major scene for his film which is being produced by Fox. The film is scheduled for limited release to American audiences on December 25, 2020, and looks set to open globally on January 8, 2021.
Scott previously visited Tintern Abbey’s battlemented bridge in early October. The OPW have been liaising with Pearl Street Productions and Scott Free Productions on the shoot.
The scene Scott has in mind is a horseman crossing a wet, muddy old bridge facinf conflict.
There has been disappointment locally as any the arrival of Hollywood stars of the calibre of Driver, Damon and Driver would have generated enormous interest in south Wexford, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Tom Hanks and the cast of Saving Private Ryan arrived with Steven Spielberg in the mid-90s.