Wing Commander Movie Wraps

You know how Malcolm McDowell, who starred in the Wing Commander III and IV computer games, was supposed to star in the Wing Commander movie, currently shooting in Luxembourg? Well, it seems that Mr. McDowell is now out and David Warner, most recently seen in James Cameron's Titanic as Spicer Lovejoy, valet to Billy Zane's Cal Hockley character, is in.

McDowell is shooting a new television series and had to bow out of the Wing Commander project. And so Warner was tapped to take his place as Admiral Tolywn. He already has a tenuous connection with the Wing Commander series, having starred in Origin's Privateer 2: The Darkening game.

Chris Roberts, who began the Wing Commander franchise at Origin before bolting to form his own company Digital Anvil, acquired the rights to make a film version of Commander. Filming on the movie started in Luxembourg on February 15 and is scheduled to wrap on April 18.

Digital Anvil is hoping to release the movie early next year, before the first of the new Star Wars films hits movie screens.

The Wing Commander movie is based on situations developed in the early Wing Commander titles. Freddie (I Know What You Did Last Summer) Prinze Jr. stars as Lt. Christopher Blair, and Matthew (Scream) Lillard stars as Maniac.

Digital Anvil describes the movie (and perhaps gives away too much of its plot, so be warned) this way: "Admiral Tolywn (Warner) sends an encoded message regarding a Kilrathi attack to... Blair, who is on his way to carrier duty with his buddy Maniac aboard a requisitioned merchantman piloted by the enigmatic Paladin (played by Tcheky Karyo). After Blair helps put the alien fleet on the run, Tolywn decimates them when they enter Earth space."

The US$27 million film will be distributed in the US and the UK by Fox, while Universal picked up distribution rights for the film in France.