LOS ANGELES—AVN Hall of Fame director Axel Braun has made his name throghout most of the past decade on porn parodies, but today he announced that he is about to start production on an original feature for Wicked Pictures, The Possession of Mrs. Hyde, his first since 2003's mutiple AVN Award-winning film Compulsion.
“I’ve actually been wanting to shoot an original feature for a while,” Braun said. “Somehow the timing was never right, and when it came to big productions I ended up prioritizing my passion for parodies, but when I realized that the last feature I shot was in 2003 I decided 15 years was such a landmark anniversary that it was now or never!"
With an intricate and suspenseful screenplay written in collaboration with his late father, Golden Age adult auteur Lasse Braun (Sensations, American Desire), and his 25-year-old son, director Rikki Braun (Exposed), Axel's long-planned passion project will be shot with two ARRI Alexa digital cameras, which Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins described as having better tonal range, color spaces and latitude than film cameras.
“I’ve always been a film fanatic,” said Braun. “Being able to finally achieve the look and feel of film with a digital camera is just fantastic, and I can’t think of a better project to use the Alexa on than this one."
In making his announcement, Braun, who currently graces the cover of the June issue of AVN Magazine, stated his goal was to go back to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and expand its narrative, answer some questions, and also stay true to the spirit of the characters in a way that movies never did. “In the book, Hyde was a man whose features were quite different from those of Jekyll, but they were not those of a monster, as always depicted in movies. In fact, when describing him, Stevenson wrote: 'He’s quite younger, slim, and quick-footed. An extraordinary-looking man, and yet I can name nothing out of the way.'"
To do justice to Stevenson's original vision, two different actors have been cast in the roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with adult legend Tom Byron coming out of retirement to play Jekyll, and Braun’s favorite Seth Gamble taking on the coveted role of Mr. Hyde. The two of them famously played Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars XXX, one of the highest-selling adult DVDs in history, for which Byron received a Best Supporting Actor AVN Award.
"I met Tommy in 1990, on the set of the very first movie I wrote with my father, Fantasy Nights," Braun recollected. "He is not only an icon in our industry, but also one of the most incredible actors I have ever worked with, and it is an absolute honor to have him be part of a project that means so much to me."
Of the opportunity to work again with Braun, Hall of Fame member Byron said, "I first met Axel almost 30 years ago when I worked for his legendary father Lasse Braun. I instantly took a liking to him. Since then we've made great movies and have had some crazy adventures, like the time he drove me from the MiFed convention to the Milan Airport, where I saw my life flash before me several times—if you've ever been in a car driven by Axel, you know what I'm talking about. So when he contacted me about appearing in a movie that he co-wrote with Lasse and his son Rikki, it was a no-brainer. It's truly an honor to be a part of this amazing project. It's been a few years since I stepped onto a set, so I hope I remember what to do and am not too distracted by the lovely cast!"
For his part, Gamble has been in some of Braun's most successful movies, including 24 XXX, Cinderella XXX, Suicide Squad XXX, and of course Star Wars XXX. He is also the lead in Deadpool XXX: An Axel Braun Parody, which the industrious moviemaker is creating concurrently with Mrs. Hyde. "Seth has always given me 110 percent in every role," the director says of the versatile young star. "He is not afraid to challenge himself, both as an actor and a human being, and I am beyond thrilled to have him as the lead in my two biggest movies of the year. I remember when my father saw Star Wars XXX, he asked, 'Where did you find the kid who plays Luke? He’s incredible.' He was absolutely right, and knowing that Seth made such a strong impression on Lasse means the world to me.”
Co-screenwriter Rikki Braun, whose debut feature for Wicked, Exposed, received seven AVN nominations, added, “My grandfather and my dad worked on this off-and-on since 1988, that’s 30 years ago! It started out as a mainstream project set in Victorian-era London, then over the years slowly morphed into the modern-day version that the three of us penned together. It’s for sure a huge undertaking for us and Wicked, but also a way to come full circle in many ways, and I’m just so stoked and grateful that we’re finally doing this!”
The ladies of The Possession of Mrs. Hyde are formidable; after auditioning 14 actresses for the lead, Braun settled on 2018 AVN Hottest Newcomer nominee Avi Love for the female lead.
“Avi’s audition was perfection in so many ways,” Braun said. “Being the most important movie of my entire career, casting the right lead was critical. As a matter of fact, I was not gonna do it unless I found the right girl, which is one of the reasons why I didn't shoot it before. Avi Love deciphered the complexities of the character down to its core, and much credit must be given to her team at Nexxxt Level, fellow directors Jonathan Morgan and Andre Madness, who understood my emotional attachment to this project and went above and beyond with their coaching the same way they did with Kleio Valentien, who won back-to-back Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress AVN Awards for Batman v Superman XXX and Suicide Squad XXX."
Remarked Love, "It's truly an honor to be cast as the lead in Axel Braun's upcoming feature! He is in a league of his own, the amount of work, passion and attention to detail he puts in everything he does is simply extraordinary, and I am looking forward to bringing my best to what I know will be an incredible movie!"
The A-list roster also features Charlotte Stokely, a 2018 AVN Award nominee for her incredible performance as Batwoman in Justice League XXX: An Axel Braun Parody. "Charlotte was so amazing as Batwoman and gave so much in terms of dedication, professionalism and passion that now I literally write roles specifically for her. It’s not even that she was my first choice for this character ... she was my ONLY choice.”
“This feature is very special to me,” Stokely offered. “Axel co-wrote it with his father before he passed, and to see their passion project finally come to life is just a beautiful feeling. I’m very honored to play this role and I can’t wait to see this amazing movie come to fruition!"
2018 AVN MILF Performer of the Year nominee Reagan Foxx is another performer Braun was excited to involve in his passion project. "I’ve shot Reagan in an all-sex movie, and so did Rikki, and we were both equally impressed by her sensuality and her fantastic attitude. We asked her to audition for the role of Mary Reilly before anybody else, and she totally nailed it. Quickest casting ever!"
On taking the role made famous by Julia Roberts in the Stephen Frears adaptation Mary Reilly, Foxx enthused, "What a thrill! I have only been in the industry for two years, but I’ve had the pleasure of working with some amazing people and Axel is at the top of that list! This is a juicy role, and a very personal project for him, so I am especially thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it.”
Exotic Russian-American Elena Koshka, another 2018 AVN Best New Starlet nominee, is a recent addition to the high-profile cast. “I just shot Elena for the first time last week in Axel Braun’s Nylon 2, and I was blown away not only by her otherworldly beauty but also by her unique personality," the director noted. "She really is something else ... within minutes of meeting her I knew she was the perfect fit for this movie.”
"To be chosen for this huge movie really surprised me!” Koshka said. “I would like to express my gratitude to Axel and everybody at Wicked, a company that’s continuously producing cinematic masterpieces. It’s a lot of pressure, I can tell you that, but I am so excited to be part of this and to bring Axel’s vision to life"
Also joining the ensemble is AVN Award nominee Kenna James, of whom the director related, "Kenna was one of eleven girls who sent me a video audition for her role. Four of them were very good, and two of those were 'big names,' so given the scope of this production, the obvious choice would have been to cast one of them ... but Kenna’s audition had something special and really stood out."
For her part, Ms. James gushed, “This will be my first experience working with Axel Braun and I am beyond excited! His reputation as a director within the industry is stellar and his body of work is absolutely epic ... being a part of his first original feature in fifteen years is a tremendous honor and I am so ready to dive right into this project and give him my very best!”
Rounding up the female cast in an unusual non-sex role is Wicked’s superstar contract performer Jessica Drake, another Braun favorite, who will also be seen playing Lady Deadpool in the director’s Deadpool XXX parody.
“Jessica is in a class by herself,” Braun said. “For the role of the FBI criminal psychologist I needed somebody who could convey intelligence, compassion and strength, and that just IS Jessica. Also, she is by far the most meticulously prepared actress ever to work in the industry, and anybody who’s been on a set with her knows exactly what I’m talking about. I mean, on Justice League XXX she not only had all her twelve pages of dialogue memorized, she also memorized everybody else’s AND her two-page voice over ... see what I mean?"
Ms. Drake, who is currently shooting the long-awaited sequel to Brad Armstrong’s award-winning blockbuster Fallen, is quick to return the praise. “I’m really looking forward to portraying such an intellectual character in The Possession of Mrs. Hyde, and I can’t wait to see how Axel will bring to the screen the intense dynamic between myself and Avi Love. Working with Axel is always an adventure, and I eagerly await this next chapter!"
2018 is shaping up to be one of Braun's biggest years, with a total of fourteen movies scheduled to have been added to his credits by the time it's through: The Possession of Mrs. Hyde, Deadpool XXX, and 12 all-sex titles, all through Wicked Pictures. "We are very proud to have been the studio behind Axel’s hits for the past five years," Wicked Pictures president and owner Steve Orenstein commented. "We're thrilled to be working with him on such a unique and personal project, and can’t wait to see what new ground he will break by introducing Mrs. Hyde to adult fans worldwide.”
