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23/8/02.
Max will be premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in September as part of the Special Presentations - no date confirmed yet.

20/7/02.
Dog Soldiers will have a sequel filmed. No details about cast, director or writer has been confirmed. Kevin is attached to a new project called The Bums' Rush, co-funded by Scottish and Norwegian companies. Dougray Scott will be on of the (executive?) producers. This film also stars Denis Lawson, Ian Robertson and Joseph McFadden.

13/7/02.
More Dog Soldiers release dates (from imdb.com)!

USA: 20 July 2002 (Cinemuerte Film Festival)
Germany: 24 July 2002 (Rosebud Film & Video Festival)
France: 14 August 2002
Finland: 20 August 2002 (Espoo Film Festival)
UK: 3 October 2002 (Leeds International Film Festival)
Spain: 4 October 2002 (Sitges Film Festival)
Hong Kong: October 2002

It will also be released in Singapore, the date has yet to be confirmed.

4/7/02.
The official site of 16 Years is up! Dogs Soldiers will be released in France on 7 August 2002. The Rocket Post will has its premiere on a Caravan in Outer Hebrides, according to Scotland on Sunday on 30th June, 2002, it will also be screened at the Toronto Internation Film Festival.

Caravan hosts most exclusive premiere

Makers shun Hollywood for Harris to launch film about mad scientist

CLAIRE GARDNER AND MIKE MERRITT

WITH only 100 seats and no running water or toilets, it is an unlikely venue for the premiere of a multimillion pound movie.

But the makers of a film about a mad German scientist who tried to use rockets to deliver post between islands in the outer Hebrides have shunned a glitzy Hollywood launch in favour of a mobile cinema on Harris.

Producers of the £10m film The Rocket Post will host their premiere in the Screen Machine - a 35ft by 45ft box on the back of a lorry. Guests, including the film's stars, Kevin McKidd from Trainspotting and Gary Lewis who played the father of Billy Elliot, will have to pop across the road to a nearby hotel to relieve themselves.

It is not even clear if champagne will be allowed in the 100-seat auditorium, which has a strict no alcohol and smoking policy.

Producer Mark Shorrock, of London-based Ultimate Pictures, said: "We are going to stage the premiere in the Western Isles because it is the home of the film. We could have done this in Hollywood but we chose not to.

"We want the islanders - especially those who took part - to be involved. After all it is where the story of the film originated. This is completing the circle. Invitations will be going out to all the cast as well as islanders who were extras in the film."

The Rocket Post is loosely based on the true story of Gerhardt Zucher, a German scientist who was convinced the future of postal services across the British Channel lay with rockets.

He managed to persuade the British government to let him try, but before he was allowed a shot at the White Cliffs, Zucher had to prove his technology on the very edge of Britain, where the service would meet a real need.

He was sent to the Island of Scarp, 500 yards off Harris, to test out his theories. In July 1935 he was ready for his first launch, with attending press and dignitaries invited to see the launch.

More than 1,000 letters, all bearing the postmark 'Western Isles Rocket Post' were sealed in a metal chamber and placed inside the four foot aluminium rocket. But the rocket never made it across the sound to Harris. In fact, it never left the launchpad.

When Zucher pressed the ignition button there was a blinding flash and sparks. Onlookers who had gathered hoping to see the future of postal deliveries were showered with singed letters falling from the sky.

Convinced the failure was due to the wrong type of fuel, Zucher tried again three days later, this time from the Harris side. But that, too, failed. He returned to Germany with his dream in tatters and ended up in the Luftwaffe during the war.

Graham Campbell, manager of the Screen Machine, said he was delighted the film company had chosen the mobile cinema as a premiere venue, but added he was not sure whether it could live up to a Hollywood-style launch.

He said: "When they were filming on the island we happened to be there and they said to us then they thought the cinema would be an ideal place to hold their premiere. The cinema is basically a box on the back of a lorry and it does not come with all the mod cons.

"We would have to make sure we were parked near a hotel so the luxuries that come with a premiere could be catered for.

"I'm sure we could waive our no drinking, no smoking policy on this occasion."

However, American showbiz magazine the Movie Times is surprised by the move. "Most films of note would want to come to Hollywood to premiere. The outer Hebrides seems a slightly bizarre choice," said a spokeswoman.

The premiere is expected to be held just weeks after the film's first screening at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

The production was to be shot on Scarp but the island's owner, American Burr Bakewell, refused at the 11th hour, so a whole new set had to be built on nearby Taransay, which was used for the BBC Castaway series. The switch and the extra logistics doubled the £5m budget.

A spokesman for Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, the Council for the Western Isles, said the film had been a great boost for the economy.

He added that many islanders were looking forward to watching themselves on screen. "Everyone is talking about the premiere. It's going to be a great success," he said.

"The mobile caravan is a popular feature here. A lot of the islanders gather to watch filmsand I think they will enjoy watching themselves on screen."

13/6/02.
Kevin is currently filming 16 Years of Alcohol in and around Edinburgh. The filming started on 2nd June and is going to last for 5 weeks. According to The Scotsman, he attended Bryan Ferry's concert on 2nd June with Richard Jobson, the writer and director of 16 Years. He is also mentioned in Siobhan Synnot's Notebook in The Scotsman on 5th May - "On Tuesday I sat in the stairwell of a crumbling Newcastle filmhouse with the warmly unpretentious former Trainspotter Kevin McKidd." Kevin also participated in the tribute to John McGrath on 19th May at The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.

On location in Edinburgh, Kevin on far right. From The Scotsman.

11/6/02.
TV Alert!! Dog Soldiers will be shown on Sci Fi on 15 June at 9pm ET/PT, repeated at 1am. Further information is available on their website.

19/5/02.
First, Kevin has got a daughter! She is now two month old and is called Iona Claire. Of course, she is very cute! Thanks Kevin for sharing his happiness with us. Max, a film about young Adolf Hilter's pursuit of art, starring John Cusack, in which Kevin plays a small part, will be on a limited release in the US from 27 December, 2002. Further information is available in film. Many thanks for Kevin for telling me about all his recent projects.

10/5/02.
The release date for Dog Soldiers in the UK is 10 May - yes, today! You can watch Marcie's Dowry here! You'll need Real Player or Windows Media Player. North Square has been commissioned to be shown in Australia and South Africa. I'll post up the dates when I find them.

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