Ridley Scott Talks The Last Duel Shutdown

Ridley Scott talks The Last Duel shutdown

Two weeks ago 20th Century Studios’ historical epic The Last Duel ceased shooting in on location in France due to Coronavirus concerns. Now famed director Ridley Scott (The Martian) has spoken to Variety about where they were in shooting as well as the importance of staying isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We, of course, sensibly put the film on hold,” Scott said. “I finished in France after shooting for a month and decided it was sensible to close down for the time being. We’re a month in and it looked fantastic. The period is 1360, so we’re back to medieval France and it’s kind of interesting. Back about two weeks ago, we decided to hold it out because it’s silly to continue and wait for the inevitable to happen. We were set to go to Ireland in a week and it was a natural break, so I said, ‘Why don’t we stop here and we’ll return?'”

The 82-year-old director is, of course, part of the age bracket most vulnerable to the disease, and he stressed the importance of isolating right now.

“If we stay indoors for the given amount of time, they get a handle on it to understand what’s going on,” Scott stated. “The irony is that for the most part, it’ll be an experience of mild to severe flu for most people and old geezers like me have gotta watch my back. And I am. I’m being very cautious, I want to return and finish off the film with Matt Damon.”

The medieval knight drama The Last Duel is led by Matt Damon (Ford v. Ferrari), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Ben Affleck (The Way Back). With the film currently set for a Christmas opening, it’s unclear if the delay in production will affect that release date. However it’s not the first time Scott has had to work on an expedited schedule after having to speed through eight days of major reshoots to replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in the 2017 biopic thriller All the Money in the World.

Based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, the novel takes place in 1386 and tells the story a Norman knight who returns from war to find his wife accusing his old friend of raping her. The story sees the French court decide the fate of the accusation with trial by combat between the pair. Comer will play the wife with Damon and Driver filling the two lead male roles. Damon and Affleck also co-wrote the script with Nicole Holofcener, the first collaboration between the pair since the Academy Award winning Good Will Hunting.

In addition to Affleck, Driver and Damon, the cast will also be led by Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) and will co-star Harriet Walter (The Crown), Samuel Hazeldine (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) and Nathaniel Parker (Of Kings and Prophets).

The Last Duel will mark the second collaboration between Damon and Scott, who previously worked on The Martian together. Scott and Kevin Walsh will produce alongside Damon and Affleck.

ComingSoon.net recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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Ridley Scott Talks The Last Duel Shutdown