More on Possible New Dan Radcliffe Movie about Photojournalist Dan Eldon
Radcliffe
Posted by: Sue
December 30, 2007, 01:50 PM
Several days ago we reported that actor Dan Radcliffe was possibly in line to portray the late photojournalist Dan Eldon in a new movie. Today, the Guardian has more on this, featuring an interview with Kathy Eldon, the mother of the photographer, who says Dan will be portraying her son in this new movie. Quotage:
The film, Journey, will see Radcliffe play Dan Eldon, a 22-year-old who was among four journalists stoned to death by a mob in Mogadishu in July 1993. The timing is right and the person is right and I couldn't ask for more,' said Kathy, a journalist, producer and activist. 'He has portrayed a magician for years and my Dan was a different kind of magician. There are parallels in the two Dans' lives. Daniel Radcliffe is a poet, he keeps journals and he's half Jewish. He has a puckishness, sense of humour and energy inside him which remind me of Dan...'Daniel Radcliffe is the first time we've found a young enough actor with a global following. We love the way he's a global soul. He's travelled the world and feels comfortable in the world and hasn't been corrupted by Hollywood.'
While this sounds very exciting, we are trying to obtain official confirmation from Dan's reps, and will update with more on that when we can. Also, if this proves certain, we do not know when this film will be made, as Dan is currently filming "Half-Blood Prince," that continues until early spring of 2008, and is also set to return to the stage when "Equus" opens on Broadway in the fall of 2008. The story of "Journey" focuses on 22 year old Dan Eldon, a photographer who was brutally murdered in Somalia in 1993, when he and his colleagues Hansi Krauss, Anthony Macharia of Reuters and Hos Maina of the Associated Press were surrounded then stoned and beaten to death after an angry mobbed turned on the journalists in the aftermath of a bombing in Mogadishu. You can read more about Dan Eldon and see some of his remarkable photographs via this link, as well as learn more about journalists who are killed each year while bringing the news, here. Thanks Helena!
Judy, he first mentioned it in an Australian interview quite a while ago. It certainly makes him more fascinating, doesn’t it?
To me, this movie will alert people to the whole story, like that movie Michael J. Fox did where some US soldiers did terrible things in Vietnam. The fact that this poor boy died in the line of work is the reality, unfortunately, he isn’t the first and he certainly isn’t the last. I hope it does make it to filming, movies like these don’t tend to be blockbusters, but is important to be seen. Well done Dan!
This should be a wonderful film. I had the joy of writing part of my honors thesis on Dan Eldon, and his story is incredible. Though he died at age 22, he lived more in that time than most people could if they have 500 years. I’m so glad they are finally making a movie about his life, and Dan Radcliffe should do a wonderful job with the part.
Wow, another acting coup for Dan ! The character he will be playing is fluent in Afrcan languages so that means Dan wil take some lessons in those dialects. And I hope the director handles that stoning to death scene well. If given the right treatment, it could achieve some symbolic meaning for people of today.
And I thought last year was his busiest but Dan was just gearing up for more. Even the media has remarked on how he will fit this rpoject into his already heavy schedule. Maybe the filmmakers can start principal photography next year but may have to wait for Dan to finish his HP commitments before he is free to become another character. But then, as they say, Dan Rad is worth the wait.
And let the bashers just choke on their sour grapes. lol. 1) THis movie has more meat than ten teen or indie films combined. If your own idols find it hard to get a project, don’t blame Dan for beating Heath Ledger and other big stars for this role. 2) December BOys as an indie film is performing as expected of an indie film. After only 3 months it has already earned more than a million dollars and hey come on, indie films only have 2 to 4 million budgets. DB is set to be shown in more countries next year so the boxoffice total may yet go up.
BTW, I don’t think “Journey” is an indie film. With the prepublicity being set into motion this early, it doesn’t sound like an indie film. It may just be a low budget mainstream film, something on the scale of “Blood Diamond”.
I was thrilled to read for the first time that Dan’s half-Jewish! I knew there was more than one thing I loved about him. What a great role model for all our kids, and especially our son, who’s growing up in a Christian/Jewish family. Why hadn’t we heard this before?