'River Queen' stars back for NZ premiere

After sickness, numerous injuries, the dismissal of its director, a car crash involving a lead actor, bad weather and rumours of a curse, the movie River Queen is finally on track for a New Zealand world premiere.

Distributor Twentieth Century Fox announced the premiere would take place in Wanganui on January 24 next year, with a nationwide cinema release two days later, making New Zealand the first country to see the film in general release.

Samantha Morton and Kiefer Sutherland will come back to Wanganui for the premiere.

Snippets of the troubled film, billed as the most ambitious New Zealand story ever attempted, were shown at a media conference yesterday.

The two clips, of a battle between Maori and British forces, and of lead actress Samantha Morton being brought to a Maori village to save an ailing chief, displayed the slick, high production values of an American blockbuster. Producer Don Reynolds said the final cost of the film came in over its $23 million budget.

The film, a 19th century drama about a woman's search for her lost son, is set in the 1860s New Zealand wars.

Most of the film was shot on location last year near the Whanganui River in the dead of winter. Continuous rain in the first week saw river levels rise and temperatures drop, causing sickness among cast and crew.

Two weeks into shooting, director of photography Alun Bollinger gave notice because of a back injury. At least five production office staff left the set within the first few weeks.

At the end of July came another bizarre twist. A notice was published in Taranaki's Daily News from a group calling itself the United Chiefs of Aotearoa, warning of impending disaster for the cast and crew of the film unless the "Paramount Chief of the river" was acknowledged.

Morton clashed with director Vincent Ward and also fell ill, causing her to remain off-set for six weeks. Main actor Cliff Curtis also lost control of his SUV while driving to the River Queen set, hitting a parked car and coming to rest in the lounge of a house in Otaki.

Problems continued when Ward was sacked in October, but was later reinstated in December in time to oversee the final scenes and post-production.

Ward said yesterday that every producer he had worked with called to give him support following his dismissal.

He also joked about his relationship with Morton: "We're planning our marriage next week."

On a more serious note, he said, "The main thing for me is that she's very excited about the movie."

Asked if he would work with Morton again, he said, "I'd think long and carefully about it."

The film gets its first international exposure at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, where it hopes to attract the attention of North American critics and distributors.

Ward, best known for The Navigator and the Academy Award nominated What Dreams May Come, was philosophical about all the troubles that have plagued production.

"That's part of the legacy of Apocalypse Now and that's part of the legacy of this film."