By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
This is Not a Test: Paramount to Screen WTC For 9/11 Rescuers
The latest update on World Trade Center has director Oliver Stone previewing the film this week for 9/11 rescuers in New York and New Jersey, a mildly interesting development considering a Paramount representative told me late last week that the film is not even finished. A gaggle of Gotham’s higher-ranking critics screened the rough edit prior to Saturday’s Stone/Nicolas Cage/Maggie Gyllenhaal press junket (your trusty yet lowly author did not quite make the invite list), after which I was told the film would go back for fine-tuning.
Naturally, with more than three weeks remaining before WTC opens, the quick succession of this week’s screenings begs the question: Is Paramount soliciting the rescuers’ feedback before locking a final cut?
Absolutely not, the Paramount rep told me this morning. While the invitees will not likely view a completed film, neither will they be attending anything resembling test screenings. Rather, the rep said the studio scheduled the screenings as a courtesy to the rescuers, many of whom advised Stone and his producers throughout the making of WTC and whom the filmmakers felt were owed the privilege of seeing the film first. That is to say: After Jeffrey Lyons, but before the film bloggers. Which, agreed, only seems fair.
Meanwhile, the union representing Port Authority rescuers has advised its members that the film could trigger depression, panic attacks and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder–which could probably go for anyone who witnessed or helped out after the 9/11attacks. And God knows there is no excising that from the final cut, so consider yourself warned.
(Photo: Francois Duhamel/Paramount Pictures)