A
film starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton
that was to mark McGregor’s return to filmmaking
in his native Scotland has been halted by a funding
crisis.
McGregor, in his first movie in Scotland in more
than five years, was to have played the lead in
an adaptation of the novel, Young Adam, by Glasgow-born
author, Alexander Trocchi.
Sigma Films, based in Glasgow, working in conjunction
with the Recorded Picture Company in London, was
due to begin filming next month.
Industry insiders say almost £1m was lost when
backers pulled out. Months of art work and preparation
will be lost.
Actors and film crews are now having to seek work
elsewhere as the project folds.
Scottish Screen confirmed the film had "hit the
buffers", but added that no money from the organisation
had been lost.
The film was to have been directed by David Mackenzie.
Tommy Gormley, first assistant director, said:
"I was looking forward to making a really top
quality film in Scotland, but it seems it wasn't
to be for now."
He added: "I would still hope the film will be
made eventually. I have been lucky and have some
offers of work in London."
The producer was Gillian Berry, of Sigma, who
made The Last Great Wilderness and
worked with Peter Mullan on Orphans.
Trocchi is reputed to have been friendly with
the controversial novelist, William Burroughs,
and was a founder of the Sigma movement, which
Ms Berry's
company is named after. She was quoted as saying:
"It means cosmopolitan scum, but we
couldn't really call our company that."
A murder mystery, the novel tells the tale of
a loner who gets work travelling on a barge between
Glasgow and Edinburgh and then finds the body
of a woman in the canal.
Swinton was to play the role of Ella, who becomes
involved in an erotic relationship with the loner.
She was drawn to the script principally because
of Trocchi.
Sigma and the Recorded Picture Company declined
to comment.
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A
film starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton
that was to mark McGregor’s return to filmmaking
in his native Scotland has been halted by a funding
crisis.