Stars to tell tale of fight to save cinema
AN OSCAR-NOMINATED actor is among the stars appearing in a new movie being filmed in the centre of Carmarthen.
Sky has confirmed that the film, called Save The Cinema, has started production in the town and will star Jonathan Pryce, who was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar last year for his role in The Two Popes. The Welshman has previously played a Bond villain in Tomorrow Never Dies and appeared in smash-hit series Game of
Thrones.
He has also been confirmed as the man to portray Prince Philip in the final two series of Netflix’s
The Crown.
Other big names to feature in the film include Golden Globe-winning Samantha Morton, Harry
Potter star Tom Felton and Keith Allen, most recently seen by millions on our TV screens as Welsh murderer John Cooper in ITV’S The Pembrokeshire Murders.
A large number of film trucks arrived in Carmarthen three weeks ago and crews were seen on King Street in the town centre outside the Lyric Theatre, leading to speculation that the film was about the theatre’s history.
Sky remain tight-lipped on the exact plot of the film and who was involved, but the company, which is co-producing the film alongside FAE
Film and Television, has now revealed that Save The Cinema will be set in the 1990s and is inspired by the true-life story of local woman Liz Evans, mother of Go Compare advert regular Wynne Evans.
In the film, Liz, played by Samantha Morton, who starred in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starts a campaign to save the Lyric Theatre from destruction and, with the help of the local community, comes up with a grand plan which includes barricading herself inside the building.
Another part of the plan sees them contacting Steven Spielberg to ask a favour which may just help the cinema’s fortunes.
This is based on the true events of the summer of 1993, when then-mayor Richard Goodridge sent a fax to the Hollywood director pleading with him for a copy of his new blockbuster Jurassic Park after the Carmarthen cinema was snubbed in the scramble to show the film.
Incredibly, the councillor had a reply, and not only did the Lyric Theatre
screen Jurassic Park, it did so before any other cinema in the UK and hosted a joint premiere alongside London’s Leicester Square.
Sarah Wright, director of Sky Cinema and Acquisitions at Sky UK and Ireland, said: “I’m thrilled to start production on Save The Cinema. Filmed in Wales and featuring the best of British talent, at its core is an incredible true story – one woman’s seemingly impossible dream to galvanise her
community to stand up for local arts and all it represents.”
The film is being majority-funded by Sky in association with Head Gear Films, Lipsync and Ffilm Cymru.
It is due to be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema towards the end of 2021. It will also feature appearances from Baftawinning actor Adeel Akhtar, Gotham’s Erin Richards, Layer Cake star Colm Meaney and local comedian Rhod Gilbert.