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By DAVID MILES | The New Mexican
'Appaloosa,' features actors Harris, Zellweger and Mortensen, will begin shooting Oct. 1
A Western movie starring Ed Harris, Renee Zellweger and Viggo Mortensen will be filmed in and around Santa Fe this fall, the Governor's Office said this week.
Appaloosa will be shot from Oct. 1 through Nov. 24, according to a news release. Groundswell Films/New Line Cinema will produce the film and expects to hire roughly 90 New Mexico crew members and 500 local extras.
The production team is scouting locations in and around Santa Fe, said Lisa Strout, director of the New Mexico Film Office.
Harris will produce, direct and act in Appaloosa, the Governor's Office said. Other producers are Robert Knott, Michael London and Ginger Sledge.
Harris has appeared in such movies as Pollock, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff. Mortensen's credits include roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Crimson Tide and Carlito's Way. Zellweger won an Oscar award for her role in Cold Mountain, and she also starred in such films as Cinderella Man, Bridget Jones's Diary and Jerry Maguire.
Appaloosa is based on a Robert B. Parker novel set in the 19th century. Harris and Mortensen will play two lawmen who are hired to bring order to the town of Appaloosa, which is being plundered by a renegade rancher. But their plans are disrupted when an attractive widow arrives on the scene.
Producers do not plan to apply for a no-interest loan from the state, Strout said, but they do plan to apply for a 25 percent tax rebate on their production expenditures in New Mexico. Strout said she did not know what the film's budget will be.
More than 70 feature films and television series have been shot in the state since Gov. Bill Richardson took office in 2003, boosting New Mexico's economy by more than $1.2 billion, the Governor's Office said.
Contact David Miles at 986-3036 or dmiles@sfnewmexican.com.
ON THE WEB
For more information on New Mexico film projects, including employment opportunities, visit the New Mexico Film Office's Web site at www.nmfilm.com.
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