Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, The Three Musketeers (2011) brings the legendary story by Alexandre Dumas back to the big screen – this time in 3D. The movie was given its spectacular UK premiere in London last night, with Orlando Bloom (Duke of Buckingham), Milla Jovovich (M’lady De Winter), Luke Evans (Aramis), Ray Stevenson (Porthos) Matthew MacFayden (Athos) and Logan Lerman (D’Artagnan) all gracing the red carpet.
The story sees young D’Artagnan travelling to Paris to realise his dream of joining the King’s Musketeers, only to find out that his idols now spend their days drunk and lazy, having lost their purpose in life. However, D’Artagnan’s feistiness impresses and inspires them, and soon they find themselves off on a mission to recover the Queen’s stolen necklace from the hands of the cunning Duke of Buckingham and the astute M’lady, and save the future of France in the process.
But why another interpretation of The Three Musketeers? “I think every generation deserves a movie about the Three Musketeers”, replied director Paul W.S. Anderson. “…and now in the 21st century we have the ability to produce movies in a way that had never been done before, with the 3D technology and all, and so we have the opportunity to show the 17th century in a completely new way”. Anderson admitted he’s a big fan of 3D, and that he believes “it will add to the entertainment”.
Screenwriter Alex Litvak was also present, and talked about the writing process. He maintained the story’s original ideas and plot, but focused on giving the characters attitude and charisma. He admitted that his favourite character is Athos – “he is grumpy, but he is so because of personal issues, and while I was writing I was also going through something similar, so it was easy to empathise with him”.
Greeting us with an exuberant “Hello, big group”, Orlando Bloom talked about his character, the Duke of Buckingham. Gone are the days of the young, inexperienced Orlando: looking dashing and confident, he is now a poised professional who’s very excited to be playing the villain. “I had a really good time. When they asked me to play the Duke of Buckingham I was very excited. He’s a bit of a baddie…”
Bloom told of when he was approached for the role – the director was worried he’d see the character as too close to his previous one in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the UK actor thought “it was different, it was fun, and I was spoilt for choice for outfits…I got to be sort of petulant without having to swashbuckle around too much!”
Costumes were another hot topic; the Duke of Buckingham is the unlikely fashionista of the movie, and all the actors wore colourful period outfits that were as much elegant as awkward to work in. “I loved them” said Gabriella Wilde, who plays Constance.
Playing M’lady – “a modern woman living in the 17th century” who’s not scared to jump from one building to the other and to challenge her male counterparts – is Milla Jovovich, who, of course, didn’t even dream of turning down the opportunity to be completely involved in all the action scenes. “I did my own stunts”, she proudly revealed. And was it scary? “No! The scary part was filming in a corset…”
Finally, we spoke to up-and-coming Californian actor Logan Lerman, who plays D’Artagnan. Like his character, he is young, lively and confident. Asked about his preparation for the film, he replied that he did “lots of crazy training, three months before filming, and throughout the film – which was like 5 months”. And does he live fearlessly, like his on screen alter ego? “I don’t wanna get into trouble!” he laughed. “But yes, live life, do what you wanna do”.
The Three Musketeers is due for release in the UK on 12 October, 2011.