What has Al Gore started eh? Since An Inconvenient Truth hit cinemas with its tale of impending environmental doom, there’s been a suspicious amount of tree-hugging going on. Not that we’re against this new lean to green, far from it, it’s about time we started looking after this bog old hunk of rock, we’re just not sure a free movie’s going to quite do the trick.
Luc Besson has announced that his next project – due to begin shooting next week on a soy plantation in Brazil – will be distributed free of charge in a nod to the film's save the planet message. Besson has teamed up with Environmental do-gooder Yann Arthus-Bertrand to produce Boomerang, which has nothing to do with the flop Eddie Murphy comedy of the same name. The film will be shot in no less than 60 countries, aiming to capture a broad array of the Earth’s natural beauty. It will then be made available gratis to all who wish to watch it.
“It's never been done in the film industry before,” said Arthus Bertrand. “It's a bit complicated, but the idea is to make the film freely available so that as many people as possible will be able to see it." That is once backers have recouped their investment in the film plus 10%. There’s always a catch.