Birth of the project, filming location, crash scene… Here are five things to know about “Mayday”, the new action film worn by Gerard Butler.
Mayday by Jean-Francois Richet
With Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An…
What is it about ? A commercial pilot, Brodie Torrance, pulled off the feat of landing his storm-damaged plane on dry land. He will discover that he landed on a war zone. He and the passengers find themselves taken hostage…
Birth of the project
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Mayday was born in the mind of Scottish novelist Charles Cumming, author of spy thrillers like Box 88 or The Man Between. He had first envisioned this project as a novel. But, encouraged by producer Mark Vahradian, he finally decided to turn it into a feature film script. Cumming came up with the plot idea during a family trip to Egypt, as he recalls:
“It was in the middle of the terror and kidnapping campaign, and as we landed at Hurghada International Airport, I wondered what would have happened if our plane had been diverted to an area controlled by the terrorists. The plot became a race against time to prevent the passengers from being kidnapped before the pilot could get the plane back into the air.”
Jean-François Richet on familiar ground
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This is not the first time that French director Jean-François Richet has directed a major international star who has appeared in numerous American films, since he worked with Ethan Hawke on Assault sur le central 13 and with Mel Gibson on Blood. Father.
Originally, it was Christian Gudegast who was to direct Mayday. He would have found Gerard Butler after the muscular Criminal Squad (2018).
Location of the plot
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The producers chose to set the plot of Mayday on the island of Jolo, in the Philippines, where even the country’s army refuses to venture. Producer Marc Butan explains: “There are no rules or laws in force there. These armed groups have not been as publicized as the Islamic State, but the area is controlled by religious extremists and capitalist pirates.”
“There are hundreds of islands in this archipelago and the Philippine government does not have the means to control them all. So we thought it was an original environment that spectators had never seen before. “
Where was the film shot?
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Mayday was mainly shot in Puerto Rico, whose tropical jungle can easily pass for that of the island of Jolo. The technical team managed to unearth a plane from the Puerto Rico Ministry of Education, which, as Marc Butan explains, “stood on a rusting airstrip in the sun.”
Production designer Mailara Santana adds: “But our art team tweaked it and we even built engines to replace the originals that had been sold as spare parts. We needed the whole plane, because Jean-François wanted to move the camera from the cockpit to ‘at the tail of the plane.’
Recreate the crash
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The art department built the interior of the plane on a film set, where it was placed on a giant platform that could shake the craft to recreate its chaotic descent to the crash: “The plane was caught in the storm for 15 minutes and we saw the turbulence live with the passengers and the crew. It’s very disturbing and it takes your guts. We feel at the heart of the storm and the cockpit with Torrance.”
“We feel the fear and panic of the characters”, recalls Jean-François Richet. Stunt Leader Jim Churchman continues: “We must have wondered how passengers die on an airplane. How do we make people believe that the plane is moving so violently that these jolts can kill passengers? And then, how do we ensure the safety of the actors playing these passengers and the crew? , while the plane is rocking so violently?”