Starting with 1998's French Connections 1-2, Falcon Studios has gotten into the habit of doing a really big-ass, away-shot, two-part production as its major fall release. France, Australia, Greece, New Orleans, Hawaii and London — these have all provided memorable locations for memorable productions.
Cross Country 1-2, with a 23-man cast, looks like it could be one of the most memorable of all. It certainly takes the prize for having the farthest-away location: New Zealand!
Chris Steele, Falcon's Director of Production and Cross Country director, is the one who came up with the idea of filming there. He had visited New Zealand in 2003 and his vacation photos so impressed the Falcon production crew that he got an immediate green light for the project.
He hired the award-winning writing team of Jack Shamama and Michael Stabile ("Before they won any awards," Steele laughs) to come up with a story, then he packed up the cast and crew and they all flew off for three weeks of filming in New Zealand. ("They were really happy to see us in the little town of two thousand where we headquartered," remarked Steele. "We were an economy booster. We took up three hotels and turned a little local pub into a gay bar.")
With six of the ten sex scenes taking place outdoors, "It dawned on me," Steele said, "on the very first day, that we were at the mercy of Mother Nature. If it rained, we were sunk." Fortunately, no rain.
Another concern of Steele's was that there be no question that the movie was shot in New Zealand. In addition to the "B-roll," the non-sex footage that shows off the location, Steele is proud that the outdoor sex scenes give the movie a unique look: "That final three-way with Roman Heart, Matthew Rush, and Erik Rhodes on a yacht with the spectacular islands and crystal blue water as a backdrop — it can't be anywhere but there."
The plot pits fiercely competitive best friends Erik Rhodes and Matthew Rush against each other in a dangerous contest to retrieve a priceless Maori totem and turn it over to Roman Heart. The one who brings back the totem not only wins big bucks, but Roman's ass. One reason Rush and Rhodes consent to this competition is that they have both sampled the goods before — and both were both dumped and left heartbroken by Heart. What they don't know is that behind this scheme is Heart's manipulative new boyfriend, Dean Monroe, an unscrupulous collector who will stop at nothing to possess the totem.
Even with only elementary math skills you'll have figured that that leaves 19 penises unaccounted for. Never fear. Shamama and Stabile have provided "a sex-crazed cult that worships the flesh, a mysterious Maori guide, and of course some of the most gorgeous men on the planet," among other things, to pick up the slack.
Cross Country 1-2, which releases on Sept. 21, will be, from a marketing standpoint, another path breaker for Falcon. This will be their first title ever to be released into all markets simultaneously: webcast (the movie will premiere on NakedSword.com), retail, and wholesale.
Another marketing tool is the "Cross Country Sweepstakes," a trip for two to New Zealand that includes a seven-night stay at Orongo Bay Homestead (where a large portion of the movie was filmed). Fans can register for the sweepstakes from now until November 30 at CrossCountrytheMovie.com. The drawing will be held December 30 and the winner will be announced January 2, 2006.
Contact info: 800-227-3717, 415-431-7722 (CA), FalconStudios.com; Falcon is distributed by Pulse Distribution, 888-797-8573.
Photo courtesy of FalconStudios.com.
