Period drama Angels In The Asylum, starring Simon Pegg, has been forced to shut down as the production hits financial difficulties.
Starring Simon Pegg and Katherine Waterston, the British period drama Angels In The Asylum has been forced to stop filming due to cashflow difficulties. The directorial debut of filmmaker Rob Sorrenti, the film was midway through its month-long shoot when production was brought to an abrupt halt, according to a report published by Deadline.
Angels In The Asylum sounds like a passion project for those involved. Rob Sorrenti, a filmmaker previously known for his shorts and documentaries, began developing his feature in 2008, and after years of work, managed to attract an impressive cast. Pegg (pictured above in TV’s The Undeclared War) and Waterston are joined by Minnie Driver, Aurora Perrineau and Miriam Margolyes to name a few.
The film is based on the true story of a group of some 43 women who were wrongly imprisoned in the 1940s and 50s. Diagnosed with typhoid, the women were put in a Surrey institution for the mentally ill and kept there for years without parole.
According to Deadline’s report, the budget for Angels In The Asylum was set at $6.4m, but began production without all of its financing in place. Some 15 days into the shoot, a gap in the funding emerged, and production had to be put on hiatus. Exactly what the cause of the money issue was hasn’t been determined; the more troubling part of the story, though, is that while the actors will still be paid, members of the crew have no such protection. It’s reported that they’re owed some £600,000 in unpaid wages.
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In a statement, Sorrenti and producer Heather Greenwood described the disruption as “devastating.”
“It has taken 15 years to bring the film into production,” the pair wrote. “It was devastating when we were forced to halt filming due to our second round of financing failing to materialise. After being let down we were forced into hiatus.
“Since that time, we have been desperately trying to raise finance with the goal of addressing our outstanding obligations to both our cast and crew. We have also put some of our own funds into the project, but sadly, it hasn’t been enough to rectify the situation. We remain determined to find a solution. We also want to make it very clear that we, the producers, have not been paid for our work on the production.”
Alternate sources of funding are currently being sought. John Cairns, CEO of the film’s distributor Parkland Pictures, insisted that “this won’t be the end of the road for Angels In The Asylum” in his own statement.
“Everyone has worked very hard and is determined to find a way to complete the film with everyone paid,” he added.
Here’s hoping this is one film story that eventually gets a happy ending.
