Eye in the Sky

Drama film

Eye in the Sky stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top-secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of .

To make sure Eye in the Sky offered an authentic portrayal of modern warfare, the filmmakers enlisted former Royal Artillery Officer Chris Lincoln Jones to serve as the project's military expert. A 25-year veteran of the British military, Major Jones vetted Hibbert's script and advised the filmmakers on everything from the characters' backstories to military jargon to Uniforms.

To make sure Eye in the Sky offered an authentic portrayal of modern warfare, the filmmakers enlisted former Royal Artillery Officer Chris Lincoln Jones to serve as the project's military expert. A 25-year veteran of the British military, Major Jones vetted Hibbert's script and advised the filmmakers on everything from the characters' backstories to military jargon to Uniforms.

Long before a headline-making American drone attack destroyed an Afghan hospital in October 2015, British writer Guy Hibbert penned a remarkably prescient script about the slippery moral slope enabled by unmanned military aircraft. That was in 2008 and he then spent four frustrating years trying to get it made. But when Hibbert met producer at a party in 2012 and told him about the screenplay, Doherty was immediately hooked on the story's dramatic potential. “Guy gave me the pitch which I instantly loved, and that same night he sent me the script,” recalls Doherty, a former music executive who now runs the Raindog Films production company with actor Colin Firth.

Firth was also taken with the screenplay, but it was the following year before the pair decided to move forward with the project. Raindog sealed its deal with Hibbert in the summer of 2013, spurred by breaking news. “In July of that year, President Obama admitted for the first time that the U.S. had also killed civilians in drone attacks around the world, as previously the administration had said it had only ever killed terrorists in these attacks” Doherty says.

In late 2013, Doherty was introduced to South African-born director Gavin Hood, “I was immediately drawn to Eye in the Sky because it's an incredibly contemporary exploration of the way we wage war now,” says Hood.

As the script made the rounds in Hollywood, a number of other acclaimed filmmakers also began circling the project. “People were going after this wonderful piece of material because it's not just actors — directors have to audition too,” Hood explains. Known for his meticulous pre-production process, Hood spent a month putting together a multi-media presentation, then pitched his vision for Eye in the Sky to the producers in November 2013.

Determined to land the project, Hood left no room for error. “They laughed at me when I showed up with my big old computer because I didn't want to take a chance that their equipment would break down,” he recalls. “I always spend a lot of time putting together mood boards and visual references, so I'd collected all these images, photographs, articles and video references to give shape and color to the story. I took all of that to my first meeting and they seemed to like what I showed them.

One of Hood's key creative decisions was casting Academy Award winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) as Colonel Katherine Powell. Mirren, whose wide-ranging career has encompassed three additional performances and a recent turn as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in Trumbo, had never played a soldier. “In the circumstances we see in Eye in the Sky, legal questions are very much part of the process,” she says. “These people don't want legal issues to come back and bite them in the ass a year later and find they're being accused of war .

Coming off of his three-time Emmy®-winning performance on the hit AMC series “Breaking Bad,” Aaron Paul assumes the role of drone pilot Steve Watts. “When I learned the controls, my spine started to hurt a little bit because it's so nerve-wracking. It felt so strange that my character was in controlling a drone halfway around the world in Kenya. As I dove deeper into the character, I almost felt like it was really happening.

Alan Rickman, who has played such iconic villains as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films and Die Hard terror mastermind Hans Gruber, takes on the role of General Benson, Colonel Powell's commanding officer. In real life, the veteran British actor says he was never cut out for a military career.

While Benson enjoys the luxury of viewing terrorist activity from a 4,200-mile remove, Nairobi spy Jama Farah, played by Barkhad Abdi, puts his own life in jeopardy when he positions himself just a few hundred feet from the enemy. Abdi, who fled to Minneapolis from war-torn Somalia at the age of six, says returning to Africa to shoot Eye in the Sky was as a reminder of the perils of technology-driven combat.

Although Eye in the Sky's tale of digital-age warfare spans four continents, the entire movie was actually filmed in and around the visually versatile location of Cape Town, South Africa. “The reason we chose Cape Town is that we were able to replicate Singapore, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Central London, Sussex — where Colonel Powell lives — and of course Nairobi, where the terrorists' is located,” explains producer Ged Doherty.

Share this article: Eye in the Sky

Facebook
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Twitter
Email

MORE TOPICS

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American film and television actress, comedian, writer and producer.

In Patiala house, a second-generation Sikh in London gives up his dream to save his father's reputation until he meets a girl who gives him the strength to stand up for what he believes.

Patiala House

Patiala House is an Hindi Family Drama / Sports film being directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Mukesh Talreja, Krishan Kumar, Twinkle Khanna under the banner of ‘People Tree Films Pvt. Ltd.’ and ‘Credence Motion Picture’ and Hari Om Entertainment .

Machete Kills

Machete Kills is an action-packed thrill ride about the adventures of legendary secret agent Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo). In his latest mission, Machete is recruited by the U.S. President (Carlos Estevez) to stop a crazed global terrorist (Mel Gibson) from starting a nuclear war.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone, but turned it down because he felt there was no substance to the character. Stallone said that Van Damme told him that he should "be trying to save people in South Central." Dolph Lundgren was then cast as Jensen.

The Expendables

The Expendables is about a group of elite mercenaries, tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early 1990s, and stars an array of action veterans from those decades, including Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Pompeii

Set in 79 A.D., Pompeii tells the heroic story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator.

How to Be Single

These days, in cities big and small, there’s a nightlife rife with girls’ nights out, singles’ bars, online dating and one-night stands arranged on apps—no romance required. Today’s singles aren’t necessarily looking for Ms. or Mr. Right, or drowning their sorrows in their lonely bachelor/ette pads.