If you had to be stranded on a harsh, unforgiving, frozen mountaintop, we'd imagine the experience would probably be enhanced by knowing that Kate Winslet or Idris Elba were around (though we'd be a little worried about being near Kate after Titanic). They're stuck together in new novel adaptation The Mountain Between Us, and the first images from the drama are now available courtesy of USA Today.
With J. Mills Goodloe and Chris Weitz having worked on the adaptation of Charles Martin's book, The Mountain Between Us has Paradise Now director Hany Abu-Assad bringing to life the story of surgeon Ben Bass (Elba) and photojournalist Alex Martin (Winslet) who charter a jet, only for it to crash in the wilderness.
As they try to survive, the pair – even though Alex has been trying to get home for her wedding – grow close. "I really didn’t see an epic love story against the background of survival," Abu-Assad tells the paper. "I think optimism and hope is crucial to survive. And to go on with your life even if you’ve had a lot of bad luck. So if you give in to the bad luck, you will die. But if you fight the bad luck, you have a better chance to survive and make your life better. This is very simple wisdom, yes? But still very crucial especially in these kind of days, when everybody feels entitled to their good luck."
There was a lot of luck needed to shoot this one, with freezing temperatures making it difficult to speak, eyelids freezing shut and Winslet in particular braving potential hypothermia for a shot involving her plunging into freezing water. "Every day we had the call sheet with five different scenarios in every possible weather," says the director, who had to wait for the right conditions each day. You can find more on the movie and the paper's site.
Given the usual timeline for such things, we'd expect the first trailer to land this week. The Mountain Between Us will be out on 20 October.
Chris Weitz Re-Writing The Mountain Between Us As It Loses Its Leads