The big picture
- The making of
roar
a 1981 adventure film, involved more than 100 wild animals and seriously injured several cast and crew members. - The perilous shoot took several years and cost $17 million, ultimately grossing just $2 million in foreign markets and failing to get a US release.
- Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is re-opening
roar
in 2015, introducing the little-known gem to new audiences and bringing in over $100,000 in ticket sales.
What could go wrong while filming a movie with 150 lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards and elephants? After their 1969 trip to a nature reserve in Zimbabwe, a married couple Noel Marshall i Tippi Hedren they were inspired to do roar, a 1981 film about a scientist and his family living in such an environment among wild animals. Maybe they never heard—or chose to ignore—the entertainer's advice Toilet fields, which warned about the inherently difficult nature of working with animals in film. Regardless, Marshall and Hedren, along with theirs roar cast and crew, would learn this lesson the hard way.
Along with their real life children included Melanie GriffithMarshall and Hedren began production on the daring film in 1976. While roar wouldn't hit theaters until 1981, that quickly became a legend as numerous people involved in the film were seriously injured by their wild and ruthless co-workers. If the film's tongue-in-cheek tagline, “No animals were harmed in the making of this film, 70 cast and crew members were,” is any indication. roar it's a singularly wild cinematic experience that has to be seen to be believed.
What is 'Roar' about?
Whether intentional or not, roar it relies on a thin story as a role that largely functions as secondary to its larger-than-life show. Managing a Tanzanian nature reserve, Hank (Noel Marshall), works with a population of lions, tigers, pumas and jaguars while awaiting the arrival of his wife Madeleine (Tippi Hedren) and their children Melanie (Melanie Griffith), John (John Marshall), and Jerry (Jerry Marshall). After members of an oversight committee are attacked by animals, all hell breaks loose and Hank, chased by lions, is forced to flee with his friend Mativo (KyaloMative). As Hank leaves, his family arrives at the reservation and walks into a literal lion's den.
What follows is not so much a traditionally structured and crafted adventure film, but rather a viscerally thrilling pseudo-documentary viewing experience that blends fantasy and reality in a way that few films have before or after As Hank and his vulnerable family struggle for survival, with one brush with death after another, the action feels menacing to the point of anxiety-inducing authenticity. As it turns out, much of what viewers see roar it's dangerously real and the film's cast and crew were ultimately able to provide the receipts as proof of the harrowing experiences they endured. “No one will ever make a movie like this again,” John Marshall said in 2015. “In hindsight, I know how stupid it was to make this movie. I'm surprised no one died.”
Many of the cast and crew of Roar suffered serious injuries
roar began filming at the Shambala Preserve in Santa Clarita, California on October 1, 1976 and It wouldn't be long before the injuries that would inevitably afflict cast and crew members began to pile up. The litany of pain endured during the perilous production included Melanie Griffith getting a claw on her face, Tippi Hedren suffering gangrene after having her leg crushed by an elephant, and John Marshall's head being gnawed off by a lion “It took six guys 25 minutes to get it off me,” Marshall recalls. But he was a cinematographer and a director speed i Twister — Jan De Bont who certainly had the worst of it, requiring 120 stitches after one of the ferocious felines was nearly scalped. Despite suffering such a horrific injury, however, De Bont surprised everyone by returning to work. To make matters worse, fires and a flood ravaged the film's shooting location.
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roar It was also plagued by financial and scheduling problems, ultimately costing $17 million and taking three years to complete. For Noel Marshall and Tippi Hedren, the harrowing experience contributed to the downfall of their marriage and led to a divorce in 1982. Also, while doing roar it was a risky endeavor that almost cost lives, the cast and crew received little short-term recognition for their efforts. Although the film played well with audiences overseas, particularly in Germany and Japan, it never achieved theatrical distribution in North America and grossed only $2 million at the box office end. But a film with such a notorious reputation as roar's was bound to see a resurgence in popularity sooner or laterand thanks to a few inquisitive minds, that's what happened 34 years after its initial release.
Drafthouse Films re-released 'Roar' in 2015
League Timfounder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Drafthouse Films, surprised for the first time roar through the filmmaker Greg Marks while attending the Telluride Film Festival 2014. “He sent me a DVD and I was blown away,” League recalled. Sensing an exciting and potentially lucrative opportunity to reintroduce roar to modern viewers, League brokered a deal with the film's owner, Olive Films, to re-release the 1981 thriller in 2015.. League's hopes for public interest were confirmed after a screening at the South by Southwest film festival. “Everybody was on the edge of their seats throughout this movie,” Leage said. “It's this great little undiscovered treasure that we hope to find a whole new audience.”
For The Hollywood Reporterafter its debut at the South by Southwest film festival, roar achieved theatrical distribution in about 50 American cities. As of July 2015, the film had played in 100 theaters and brought in over $100,000 in ticket sales, further validating Tim League's hunch that the lost gem of an adventure thriller still had plenty of mileage with viewers 34 years after its original release. In accordance with Weekly entertainmentTippi Hedren allegedly had mixed feelings roarThe resurgence of the audience due to his evolving thoughts on the coexistence of humans with wild animals. Melanie Griffith, however, was pleased with the renewed interest in the film. “I sent Melanie a DVD and I wasn't sure how she would take it,” said John Marshall. “Three weeks later he said, 'Can I get 10 more copies?'”
roar is available for purchase on Blu-ray from Amazon in the US
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