Arclight Films is in full sales gear at the Cannes Market for fantasy adventure, The Portable Door, and has a fresh first look photo above now making the rounds with actors Sam Neill (Jurassic Park franchise, Escape Plan, Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder )and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Alita: Battle Angel).
Filming is currently filming in Queensland, Australia as of June 7 from prolific and award-winning director Walker (Sydney Film Festival winner Ali’s Wedding, Sky’s “Lambs of God” and Stan’s “The Commons”). Pic hails from The Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films, in partnership with Sky and Australia service, Stan.
The film joins Neill and Waltz with Patrick Gibson (Netflix’s “The OA”, Fox Searchlight’s Tolkien) and newcomer Sophie Wilde (Stan’s “Eden”, BBC’s “You Don’t Know Me”), and is adapted for the screen by Leon Ford (Indomina’s Griff the Invisible), based on Tom Holt’s popular 2003 serial septology of fantasy novels.
In The Portable Door, Paul Carpenter (Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Wilde) are the lowly, put-upon interns who begin working at the mysterious London firm J.W. Wells & Co. and become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices, and Paul and Sophie discover the true agenda of the vast corporation where they work.
Also starring are Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings franchise, Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” Warner Bros. Anabelle: Creation), Chris Pang (Warner Bros. Crazy Rich Asians, Charlie’s Angels), Jessica De Gouw (Orion Pictures Gretel & Hansel, Warner Horizon Television’s “Pennyworth”), Rachel House (Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Soul, Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok), Arka Das (Disney’s Mulan, Academy Award-nominated Lion), and Damon Herriman (Sony Picture’s Academy Award-winning Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, FX’s “Mr Inbetween”).
Arclight is handling worldwide rights for all territories outside of North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Sky will release the film as a Sky Original in the UK & Ireland, Germany, and Italy.
The Portable Door will premiere as a Stan Original Film in Australia, with Madman Entertainment handling theatrical distribution locally, ahead of the film’s premiere on Stan. ICM Partners and UTA’s Independent Film Group are jointly representing the film’s North American rights.
Additional finance partners include Fulcrum Media Finance, MEP Capital, and The Jim Henson Company with support provided by Screen Queensland, Create NSW, and Film Victoria.
Jim Henson Company’s Blanca Lista (Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) is producing along with, and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge Films (Lionsgate’s Daybreakers, Bait 3D). The Jim Henson Company’s own Lisa Henson and Chris Lytton are exec producing as well as Arclight’s Gary Hamilton, Brian Beckmann, and Ying Ye, next to Sky’s Julia Stuart and Laura Grange, and Stan’s Cailah Scobie and Shana Levine.
“Director Jeffrey Walker is leading an amazing cast and creative team to bring to life the high-fantasy setting and unique humor of The Portable Door,” said executive producer Lisa Henson. “An unexpected adventure filled with deeply funny moments; The Portable Door is poised to be the next Henson fan favorite.”
“It has been exciting to watch the diverse comedic talents of our incredible cast take this gem of a script by Leon Ford to a whole new level. We are truly creating a very special film that will be lots of fun for audiences of all ages,” said producer Todd Fellman.
“Sam and this wonderful ensemble are fantastic additions to the star-studded cast of The Portable Door. Alongside Christoph, Patrick and Sophie, they will help bring this unique story from one of our favorite fantasy books to the big screen. Sam’s comedic mastery is unparalleled and international audiences are in for a ride when they see him playing the mysterious manager of the organization,” said Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton.
Julia Stuart, Director of Original Film at Sky comments “It’s very exciting to continue to build our content offering in Original film with such legendary partners as The Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films alongside our friends at Arclight Films. The Portable Door is going to be an unmissable adventure with a very British sense of humor that I cannot wait to share with Sky Cinema customers across all our markets.”
“Stan continues its strong investment and focus on premium local programs and feature films like The Portable Door as part of our strategy to create more Australian produced content. Helmed by one of Australia’s most accomplished directors, Jeffrey Walker, and featuring award winning actors Christoph Waltz, Sam Neill and Patrick Gibson, alongside a stellar Australian cast, we look forward to seeing this magical film cast a spell on Stan subscribers,” said Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie.
“The film promises a joyful cinematic experience; a big screen visual feast of imagination, fantasy and humour. Audiences will recapture, uninterrupted, that feeling from their youth of watching a truly creative work,” said Madman CEO & founder, Paul Wiegard.