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2006年5月 全球響起 求救訊號

《驚濤駭浪》《木馬屠城》大導演
胡夫根彼得遜Wolfgang Petersen
再度掀起 驚濤浩劫

驚濤遇險 海底奮鬥求生 災難如在眼前

《海神號》

─荷里活人氣紅星傾力演出─
《變形俠醫》祖舒路卡斯Josh Lucas
《烈火雄心》卻羅素Kurt Russell
《火海豪情》積仙達芭列Jasinda Barrett
《大白鯊》李察杜里福斯Richard Dreyfuss
《北極快車》占美班納Jimmy Bennett
《魅影歌聲》艾美羅森Emmy Rossum
《電鋸殺人王》米克維傑Mike Vogel
《筆姬別戀》美亞瑪斯杜羅Mia Maestro
《移魂追兇》馬克寶杜斯域Mark Protosevich
《魔間行者》哥羅斯畢戴爾Klaus Badelt

《驚濤駭浪》攝影 尊西爾John Seale
《木馬屠城》剪接 彼得漢尼斯Peter Honess
《深海變種》美術 威廉山度William Sandell
《驚濤駭浪》服裝 伊莉嘉艾度菲臘斯Erica Edell Phillips
《蜘蛛俠2》特技效果 巴基艾里斯Barclay Aaris

5月31日 絕海求生

《海神號》經典海難 銀幕再起驚濤

一艘名為《海神號》的豪華郵輪，在除夕夜駛向北大西洋，乘客均興高采烈參加各類慶祝活動。

這艘郵輪足有二十層高，共有八百間客房。在除夕夜，所有賓客均聚集於船上最堂煌的的舞廳，準備迎接新一年的來臨，船長白列福（安德貝加）各眾人舉杯，賓客一齊高歌友誼萬歲，歡樂氣氛籠罩全船。

但在同一剎那，郵輪總指揮卻發現不尋常現象。

他分析水平線後，驚覺一種名為「魔浪」的暴烈巨浪，正以飛快時速迫近郵輪，此魔浪所捲起的水牆足有百呎高，任何船隻被它吞噬，後果不堪設想。他企圖急轉方向，避過魔浪衝擊，但一切已來得太遲。

當驚濤巨浪直撲船身，整艘郵輪全無招架之力，徹底被反轉，所有船員及乘客被凌空拋擲，被碎片壓倒，甚至被海水扯進深海中。

船身各處支架陷落，電路走火令到四周陷入一片漆黑，而火勢迅速蔓延，令整艘「海神號」陷於絕望與騷亂之中。

災難事變將數百倖存者困於仍然安好的大舞廳中，船長要求各人聚集一起，等待救援。

在眾人當中，職業賭徒迪倫尊斯（祖斯普卡斯）不理勸喻，企圖闖出舞廳，尋求生路，九歲的干拿（占美維納）要求迪倫帶他與媽媽瑪姬（積仙達芭列）一同離開。而與女兒失散的羅拔藍西（卻羅素）亦隨他們出走去尋找女兒（艾美羅森）及她的未婚夫基斯頓（米克華高），他們較早前還在擔心父親會否贊同他們的訂婚計劃。

迪倫在百般不情願下帶領眾人往上尋求出路，最後跟隨他們冒險一試的還有一個怕羞的偷渡者（米亞馬斯特奴）、一個具有自殺傾向的人（李察杜里福斯）及一個知悉船身結構的女侍應（法迪洛迪格絲）。

由災難深淵往上求生的過程充滿意想不到的驚險，僅存者必先懂得團結與彼此信任，才能在絕境中闖出一條生路。

大導演胡夫根彼得遜（Wolfgang Peterson）繼《驚濤駭浪》及《木馬屠城》後一部矚目全球的災難驚險電影，將於五月全球同步上映。海神遇險，勢必轟動。

《驚濤駭浪》《U潛艇16》《木馬屠城》導演
將驚世「魔浪」展現觀眾眼前

《海神號》的致命海難，由一種名為「魔浪」(Rogue wave)凡天然巨浪引起，這種「魔浪」具有十分傳奇色彩，而根據「歐洲太空中心」衛星拍攝顯示，近年多宗海難事件，都與「魔浪」有關。根據雷達記錄，過去12年就有500宗「魔浪」襲擊海難，二百艘超級貨輪因而沉沒，其中最著名是重4萬3千噸的「慕尼克號」，在78年於大西洋離奇沉沒，無人生還。95年，瑪麗皇后2號遇上95呎高魔浪，僥倖逃過大難。科學家大多認為「魔浪」是由巨大氣流引發水流累積凝成巨浪，但亦有「魔浪」在不明情況下突然出現令人防不勝防。

曾執導《驚濤駭浪》及《U潛艇16》的德國導演胡夫根彼得遜，對處理海水驚險故事可說經驗豐富。這部電影是根據72年的《海神號遇險記》的意念改編而成，除了都是以郵輪在除夕夜遇險的基本故事架構外，其他人物及情節都是嶄新構思。胡夫根彼得遜分析這部新海神號的故事主題，是要帶出人類在密封環境下面對災難時所引發的原始恐懼與反應，誰會是英勇的領袖？誰會做跟隨者？誰要生存就要付出百份之一百的不屈勇氣。

雲集荷里活實力人氣幕前幕後

號稱06年最令人屏息以待的鉅製《海神號》，由經驗豐富的胡夫根彼得遜掌舵，監製阿基華高斯曼亦是荷里活最有實力的製片之一，去年剛監製《史密夫與史密妻》，並以《擊動深情》獲金像獎及金球獎提名，另一監製鄧肯韓德遜曾與導演合作《極度驚慌》及《驚濤駭浪》，亦曾參與海事軍難片《戰海豪情》的製作，對海上驚險片非常熟悉。編劇馬克寶杜斯域在編寫《海神號》劇本前，親自乘坐《瑪麗皇后2號》橫渡大西洋體驗郵輪生活與見聞，增強了影片的真實程度。

《海神號》幕後強勁，幕前亦人氣十足。影片人物眾多，但角色個個具有立體背景，主角祖斯魯卡斯飾演帶頭逃離生天的賭徒，他曾在《有妳終身美麗》獲得SAG Award提名。另一個戲中關鍵人物前紐約市長藍西由卻羅素飾演。他在《烈火雄心》、《絕地危機》所表現的硬漢形象，十分討觀眾歡心，今次他除要引領眾人逃生，還要尋找他的失蹤女兒珍妮花。珍妮花一角由近日在荷里活紅得發紫的艾美羅森飾演。她在《明日之後》及《歌聲魅影》的演出贏得了甚多影迷，更被金球獎提名，被喻為荷里活最有前途玉女新星。

其他參與影片演出的著名演員還有《大白鯊》男主角李察杜里福斯、《銅牆火壁》的天才童星占美班納，《火海豪情》女星積仙達巴列、及阿根延著名女星美亞瑪絲杜等。

由於影片講述在海底逃生，大多演員在拍攝前都會接受一星期的潛水訓練，以配合眾多在水底發生的場景。

精英班底打造震撼CG效果

胡夫根彼得遜在《海神號》一片中，全力創造了全新的震撼視野，他運用了最強的班底、最新的CG特效，打造了一艘令舉世觀眾讚嘆的超級郵輪「海神號」，這艘22層高，一千一百呎長，可接載四千船員及乘客的豪華郵輪，跟片中的海洋外景，全部由ILM特技班底精心打造，他們的鬼斧神工，觀眾早已在《驚濤駭浪》中大開眼界。

「海神號」的設計結合了摩登與古典，無論質量面積，在現實世界均不會找到。可說是胡夫根彼得遜借助CG特技鑄成的海上夢幻號，它本身是整個災難故事的主角，正如祖斯魯卡斯形容，所有船內的生還者像在巨大的活獸裡頭走動，並看著它痛苦地死去。

導演找來了他合作無間的班底去塑造這個海底驚險世界，包括攝影師尊西爾，曾以《別問我是誰》一片獲英國金像獎，剪接師彼得康尼斯曾以《幕後嫌疑犯》獲奧斯卡提名，特技監督尊費沙以《蜘蛛俠2》獲金像獎，並曾監督《驚濤駭浪》的特技，而美術指導咸廉山度亦首以海上軍事片《戰海豪情》獲金像獎提名。

在《海神號》的片中將有超過600個VFX特效場面，是最多VFX特效電影之一。其中片首長兩分半的鏡頭，由水底跳到船身，到展現甲板上旅客的生態，到現出背景的日落，令人嘆為觀止，除顯現了郵輪的驚人構造，亦創造了一視察美妙的世界。

所有VFX的特效場面，均由ILM的百多名特效電腦專家負責，他們特別為《海神號》一片，製造了一種名為「電腦制式水流動中」的嶄新電腦技術，這種技術可製造海水沖擊船身及船內時，所引起的連鎖反應效果，令水擊場面具有更真實的可信性，而不是憑空想像。

全球最大容水量片廠拍攝

<海神號>大部份場景都是在五個大片廠拍攝，包括著名的「16號片廠」。這個片廠正是導演胡夫根彼德遜五年前拍＜驚濤駭浪＞的地方，它的立體面積是95呎x 10呎x 22呎，可容一百三十萬加侖水，是全球最大的容水量的片廠，＜海神號＞的主要場景，被翻轉的大舞廳，就在這裡搭建及拍攝，並製造出九萬加侖水的沖擊效果。

這個大舞廳被驚濤沖倒翻轉，場面驚險，難度甚高。它共有五層高共720呎，由100個工作人員共花了五個月時間搭建，共耗用了75萬磅的鋼材及一萬塊層板。

水底拍攝難度爆燈

影片有很多在水底發生的場面，對攝影師尊西爾(《別問我是誰》)是一大考驗，攝影機在水底以防水設備緊緊鎖定，與激流對抗，又採用了Corrective ports式玻璃片放在鏡面上,以糾正在水底拍攝的折射問題。負責手搖鏡頭的攝影組用防水膠貼將所有設備包實，在水底如常運作。

在水底拍攝其中一項最重要的措施，是要確保演員及工作人員的安全。負責安全的潛水人員隨時候命，在水底戒備，因電力設施散佈在水中各處，每個角落都充滿危險性。

倒轉了的奇異場景

在＜海神號＞裡，主要的場景都會準備兩個版本，一個是正常的，一個是倒轉了的，對工作人員與演員來說，在倒轉了的場景內拍攝及演戲，極具新鮮感及挑戰。對場景美術師來說，搭建倒轉了的場景需小心計算重量負苛的平衡，因建造材料包括了極重的鋼材及層板，計算稍有差池後果不堪設想。

水襲舞廳驚險逃生

影片其中一場最驚險場面，是大水終於衝擊眾人視為避難所的大舞廳，攝製組擺放了10條八呎直徑的大水喉在舞廳的場景後，9萬加侖的海水在一聲令下同時侵襲大舞廳，場景迫真的令所有演員與攝製人員透不過氣。攝影組同時用了五部攝影機準備，又用不同角度拍攝，讓剪接有更多層次，攝影人員用鐵箱保護著攝影機，以防被大水沖走，他們全穿上防水衣及帶上眼罩。

主角被水衝擊後，唯一安全地是要即時攀上只有36吋直徑的冷氣槽，這個需歷時八分鐘的歷程挑戰著各人的勇氣，在密封的環境下演員要向上直爬，是對他們體力極限的莫大考驗。

水火交融，驚險升級

＜海神號＞的災難由水引起，當船受襲後，各處都因電漏起火，主角一邊被大水迫得走投無路，一邊又被大火圍困，絕對是受到左右夾攻。工作人員在水面上撒下易燃液體，又在水中放上無數電力導管，到處燃起能受控制的火頭，製造出一片水上火海的奇景。

災難中的「非真人」

在＜海神號＞災難發生時，全船陷入一片恐慌，求生者四處逃竄。在幾百個人物當中，其中有150具的倒模人被安在多個騷動場景中，由特技化妝師精心設計的這些倒模人，是由「魔幻王國」的特技化妝組KNB負責，與真人像倒模一樣，主角卻羅素笑言，：「與這些倒模人演戲十分有趣，我們甚至不敢將腳踏上他的的身上，以為他們會尖叫。」

演員介紹
卻羅素 Kurt Russell
硬漢型男星，80年代演出尊卡本達《逃出紐約》一片成名，並先後合作多部賣座電影，包括《怪形》及《逃出L.A.》。與梅麗史翠普合演的《施活的遭遇》更獲金球獎最男主角提名，代表作品有，《烈火雄心》、《絕地危機》、《最高危機》及《宇宙奇兵》。

祖斯魯卡斯 Josh Lucas
《海神號》的其一位主角，在去年的賣座電影Stealth 飾演軍機機師走紅，前年與韋基馬合作演出《仙境大道謀殺案》、與珍妮花康莉妮先後合演《有你終生美麗》及李安執導的《變形俠醫》。與本屆金球影后莉絲韋特絲潘合演《我要嫁得好》也成為02年的大大賣座電影。

李察杜里福斯 Richard Dreyfuss
六十年代已出道，在《畢業生》及魯卡斯的《美國風情畫》中首露頭角，75年演出史匹堡的《大白鯊》正式成名，此後連續演出《第三類接觸》及《再見女郎》，並以後者奪得最佳男主角。成為八十年代荷里活最出色的演員之一。代表作品還有《生命因你動聽》。

積仙達芭列 Jacinda Barrett
今年除了《海神號》，她還有三部曲電影推出，包括Last Kiss， School For Scoundrels及 The Namesake。芭列是澳洲出生的演員，在美國牛津求學，近年作品包括《火海豪情》、《BJ單身日記2》及《人性本色》。

艾美羅森 Emmy Rossum
7歲開始已在舞台演出，從小學習歌唱技術，13歲演出首部電影Song Catcher 03年奇連依士活安排她在《懸河殺機》中飾演辛潘的女兒一角，同年演出《明日之後》，全球賣座令她備受矚目。去年在祖舒密查的歌劇電影《歌聲魅影》中飾演茱莉一角，正式上位，分獲金球提名及全美影評人協會選為大躍進女星。

導演胡夫根彼得遜 Wolfgang Petersen
七十年代拍出第一部電視片I Will Kill You, Wolf及後又攝製六集電視電影Crime Scene捧紅了女星娜塔莎堅斯基。

73年他拍出首部電影The One or the Other獲德國電影獎最佳導演。81年，他攝製的二次世界大戰片《U潛艇16》Das Boot獲奧斯卡最佳導演及最佳劇本提名，票房更橫掃國際，令他正式成為大導演。84年他拍攝第一部英語電影The Never Ending Story全球賣座。93年他獲荷里活邀請拍攝由奇連依士活主演的《火線狙擊》，獲奧斯卡劇本提名，95年的《極度驚慌》及97年的《空軍一號》，票房同樣成功，令他成為荷里活最有叫座力的導演之一。

2000年他邀請佐治古尼，演出海難片《驚濤駭浪》，突破了海難片的特效技術，04年的《木馬屠城》，成功打造畢彼特及奧蘭杜布林的魅力英雄型像，成績驕人。

彼得遜最後五部電影合計在全球獲得15億美元的票房。

解構超級郵輪《海神號》
船長 米高白列福 Michael Bradford
大副 雷諾士 Raynolds
二副 卓文 Chapman

郵輪特點
船長：1106呎
高度：224呎/共二十層樓高
容量：800間客房
可載乘客：2627人
船員：1486人

甲板以上位置
擁有六層豪華房間
共有套房382間
兩間複式頂樓
每間套房設有特大螢幕LCD電視
有14種房間設計可供選擇

甲板之下位置
有220間客房及的士高、休息室及娛樂間
豪華大舞廳 ~ 慶祝新年來臨
大舞廳側有超級賭場
船身有876個船窗

甲板前面位置
擁有設備完善的圖書館
酒吧
豪華健身院

甲板尾部位置
有可看日落的餐廳
水族館
瞭望台
三個標準泳池，包括戶外及戶內
兩個按摩池
Shuffleboard Deck

甲板上之陳設
681張休閒坐椅
456張甲板坐椅
348張木?
45把大遮傘

安全設施
32艘救生艇
31個安全監察攝影機
44個安全救護箱
413個指示牌

《鐵達尼號》沉沒時船上正放映《海神號遇險記》？！

一個不為人知的秘密，原來《鐵達尼號》沉沒時，船上的二等艙正放映著史上首套《海神號遇險記》的默片。這個災難性的巧合在紀實小說家摩根羅拔臣的小說The Wreck of the Titan中有詳盡記述。

1912年的4月12日，當《鐵達尼號》撞上冰山開始沉沒，在二等艙的乘客正興高采烈欣賞著《海神號遇險記》。1912年電影還在默片時代，還未成為高級文化，但《鐵達尼號》在船上還是提供了電影放映活動。當其時為免招惹一等艙乘客斥為低俗娛樂，放映活動只會在二等艙進行，還要待一等艙所有活動完結後，樂師有餘閒可為影片伴奏。

當時在二等艙有兩部電影放映，一部名為The Lighthouse Keeper，另一部就是由當時還未成名，但日後卻成為電影之父D.W格里菲斯所拍攝的《海神號遇號記》。影片全長53分鐘，講述六名乘客在船翻後求生的故事，這個故事後來被小說家Paul Gallico改編成69年的小說版本，繼後在72年拍成了電影版。

當時二等艙的乘客被影片的曲折劇情打動，很快又再安排放映第二場，但這個時候，他們不知船外已發生大災難，《鐵達尼號》開始下沉，一等艙的乘客早已積極逃生，但大多二等艙的乘客還被蒙在鼓裡。最後285人中只有116人獲救。由看《海神號遇險記》到《鐵達尼號》沉沒，實在是個令人驚異的巧合。

www.poseidonmovie.com

Production Information

It's New Year's Eve and festivities have begun aboard the luxury cruise ship Poseidon, at sea in the North Atlantic.

One of the finest vessels of its kind, Poseidon stands more than 20 stories tall, boasts 800 staterooms and 13 passenger decks.

Tonight, many of the ship's guests have gathered to greet the new year in style in the magnificent Main Ballroom. They raise champagne glasses as Captain Bradford (ANDRE BRAUGHER) delivers a holiday toast and the band (led by STACY FERGUSON, aka FERGIE of the BLACK EYED PEAS) rolls into a version of "Auld Lang Syne."

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the Chief Officer senses that something is wrong.

Scanning the horizon, he sees it - a rogue wave; a wall of water over 150 feet high, bearing down on them. He tries to steer the ship away from maximum impact but it's too late.

The wave strikes with colossal force, pitching the ship heavily to port before rolling it completely upside down. Passengers and crew are thrown into free fall, crushed by debris or dragged into the sea as water bursts in through shattered windows. Supports collapse, broken gas lines ignite flash fires and lights fail, leaving vast sections of the ship in darkness and chaos.

In its aftermath, a few hundred survivors are left to huddle in the still-intact Main Ballroom, now resting below the waterline. They should stay together, the captain maintains, and wait here for rescue.

One man, professional gambler Dylan Johns (JOSH LUCAS), prefers to test the odds alone. Ignoring orders, he prepares to exit the Ballroom and find his own way to safety, but is collared by nine-year-old Conor (JIMMY BENNETT), who asks that Dylan take him and his mother Maggie (JACINDA BARRETT) along. Fast behind them is Robert Ramsey (KURT RUSSELL), anxious to search for his daughter Jennifer (EMMY ROSSUM) and her fiance Christian (MIKE VOGEL). Only an hour earlier this young couple had found it impossible to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges.

Wary of alliances, Dylan reluctantly leads the small band of survivors upward through the bowels of the ship. Those who choose to join them rather than wait below include a shy stowaway (MIA MAESTRO), a suicidal man (RICHARD DREYFUSS) who re-discovers his will to live and a young waiter with knowledge of the ship's layout (FREDDY RODRIGUEZ).

Determined to fight their way to the surface, they must forge a path together through layers of wreckage as the ship continues to sink. Bonds form quickly in this journey of vertical climbs, dead ends and sheer drops. And trust proves vital.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Virtual Studios, a Radiant Production / Next Entertainment / Irwin Allen Productions / Synthesis Entertainment Production of a Wolfgang Petersen film: Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss star in Poseidon, also starring Jacinda Barrett, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Jimmy Bennett and Andre Braugher. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich, based on the novel by Paul Gallico, Poseidon is produced by Wolfgang Petersen, Duncan Henderson, Mike Fleiss and Akiva Goldsman. Kevin Burns, Jon Jashni, Sheila Allen and Benjamin Waisbren are the executive producers. John Seale, A.C.S., A.S.C., is the director of photography; William Sandell, the production designer; and Peter Honess, A.C.E., the editor. Music by Klaus Badelt. Costumes designed by Erica Edell Phillips. Poseidon will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

What Would You Do if the Whole World Turned Upside Down?

For filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen, Poseidon raises an intriguing and personal question: What would you do if the whole world turned upside down? "Would you be a courageous leader or a follower? Would you panic? Would you give up or keep on going?"

The acclaimed director of Troy, The Perfect Storm and Air Force One, Petersen rose to international prominence with the tense 1981 World War II submarine drama Das Boot, which earned him Oscar nominations for both direction and screenplay. A master storyteller acutely interested in human nature, he returns to the sea with Poseidon to focus not only on the power of a massive rogue wave that overturns a luxury cruise ship in open water, but on the intense dramas that play out among a small group of people fighting to survive in its aftermath.

"In a disaster you really get to see who people are inside, with the artifice and the normal conventions of life stripped away," he says. "Life-or-death decisions are made in seconds. When you see how people react and how they behave in extreme situations you know what they're made of."

"The Poseidon passengers came aboard to celebrate," Petersen sets the stage, noting that Poseidon's passengers are on the kind of cruise people take not to reach a destination but rather to enjoy the luxury and leisure of the journey itself. "It's New Year's Eve and they are beautifully dressed and ready to have fun. Everyone has plans for the future." Indeed, as the clock strikes midnight even members of the ship's staff take a minute for their own impromptu celebrations in the hallways and kitchens off the Grand Ballroom where guests gather to ring in the new year.

"All of a sudden they are attacked by a monster wave and everything is turned upside down. Things are hanging from the ceiling, falling down or peeling away from the walls, and there are gas leaks, steam, smoke and fires. Imagine your whole life changing in an instant and you must deal with the unthinkable. Nothing is where it should be and you are totally disoriented. It's an apocalyptic world."

Heightening the sense of panic, Petersen explains, is their confinement. "This is not something a person can run away from. Trapped within a closed environment where there is no escape, no help and very little time, they are forced to deal with it by themselves." What begins as an immense and spacious setting becomes suddenly small and claustrophobic, broken into disconnected pockets of air and clogged passageways. "The movie starts with thousands of people, then hundreds, and then it becomes just a handful as everything draws tighter and more intimately focused."

"The story taps into our primal fears - fire, drowning, falling, being trapped, being helpless," says Poseidon producer Akiva Goldsman. Most recently a producer on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Goldman's screenwriting credits include an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for A Beautiful Mind and a BAFTA nomination for 2005's Cinderella Man. "Even if you never intend to set foot on a ship, these are disaster scenarios that could potentially find you anywhere." On that level, adds producer Mike Fleiss (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel), "It's a monster movie, but in this case the monster is water and it's chasing them to the finish. It was Wolfgang's intention to bring as many genuinely terrifying elements as possible into play."

And what could be more terrifying than a disaster of this magnitude, striking in the middle of the sea where help, if it comes, would be hours away?

"Rogue waves exist," states Petersen, who has long considered water "the most dangerous, dramatic and unpredictable of elements," and was aware of the phenomenon prior to embarking on Poseidon. Once the stuff of maritime legend, these veritable walls of water, as reported by eyewitnesses, have come under scientific observation only in recent years via ESA (European Space Agency) satellite technology. Long suspected but unproven as the cause of countless ocean disasters, they are now confirmed responsible for damage to cruise liners and off-shore oil rigs since the 1990s when serious research began.

Radar reports from one North Sea oil field indicate nearly 500 rogue wave assaults in the past 12 years and, more gravely, the ESA suggests they could be the cause behind many of the 200 supertankers and cargo ships sunk in the last 20 years, generally attributed to severe weather. One notable example is the 43,000-ton Munchen, overturned in the Atlantic in 1978 with no survivors. In 1995 the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 was luckier, narrowly surviving an encounter with an estimated 95-foot wave during a hurricane. While scientists cite strong currents as one likely origin of these monsters, focusing natural oceanic flow into a single force, there are also incidents of rogue waves that develop in the absence of strong currents, literally out of nowhere.

Producer Duncan Henderson, a 2004 Oscar nominee for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, teams here with Petersen for the third time after sharing producing duty on Outbreak and The Perfect Storm. He notes that, unlike Petersen's other two seafaring dramas, Poseidon marks the first time a disaster catches its victims completely unprepared. "The submarine crew of Das Boot were military and the fisherman in The Perfect Storm were professionals who had sailing experience so even though they weren't prepared for the dire circumstances they ended up facing, at least they went into it with some expectation of risk. But Poseidon is a cruise ship. These are tourists like you and me. Not only is the scope of this tragedy much larger, it involves a group of people who are the least equipped to anticipate or deal with it."

Screenwriter Mark Protosevich (The Cell) crossed the Atlantic himself on the Queen Mary 2 in preparation for his work on Poseidon. He found both passengers and crew to be a diverse mix of ages, nationalities and backgrounds, supporting Petersen's assertion that "disasters are great equalizers. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, if you're the richest person in the world or if you're working in the kitchen; you're all in it together."

"This kind of crisis brings out our essential selves, the very best and the very worst, says Protosevich. "Relationships are tested and emotional bonds will be either strengthened or severed. If someone you love shows cowardice you will never forget it, but if they are willing to risk their own life for the sake of others you will never forget that either. The potential for heroism lies in each of us; whether or not we choose to act on it defines who we are."

The challenges faced by the Poseidon survivors and the choices they make in some ways represent, for Petersen, a parable for life. "If you hold onto someone you might save him or maybe he will just pull you down. At what point will you decide to let go? Either way, it's a shocking moment and nothing will ever be the same."

The Poseidon filmmakers brought to this project a genuine fondness and respect for the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, from producer Irwin Allen and director Ronald Neame.

Like that earlier film, a classic of its genre, Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon begins with the same concept and uses it as a catalyst for a fresh story. "We borrowed the idea of a luxury liner with thousands of people aboard, hit by a rogue wave on New Year's Eve," he explains, "and then started from scratch with an all-new screenplay and original, contemporary characters. Our story is in those characters, what they experience as individuals and as a group, and the way their journey ends."

The Passengers

"This is about you," Petersen emphasized from the start, telling his cast, "It's not about things exploding or big tanks of water; it's about how you handle your situation and how you behave. I want to see your sweat, your fear, everything."

This ensemble of actors had to be not only talented but resilient. In addition to performing their own harness work from precipitous platforms and being blasted by incoming torrents, the final weeks of filming had the actors working underwater - a skill for which each received a week's training from a diving safety team.

Josh Lucas, who stars as self-sufficient professional gambler Dylan Johns, was so committed to doing his own underwater stunt work that he practiced after-hours at home, a routine he finds somewhat comical in retrospect. "Having said I wanted to do it, I would stupidly go home after work, after being in water all day, and swim laps in the pool to see how long I could hold my breath," he recalls.

Lucas attributes his enthusiasm largely to Petersen's own joyful energy. "Wolfgang has this extraordinary charisma and I think its core is his absolute passion for filmmaking and for telling stories. We all felt it. It was impossible not to get caught up in it."

Throughout production, the actor also found himself thinking about people who have actually struggled in extreme situations - a consciousness he shared with many of his colleagues, especially as news of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami was still fresh when filming began in June 2005. "I think we all felt a sense of responsibility to honor the experience and to really show what that fear and pain and claustrophobia is like. There was a moment where I came up from the water into a space with about an inch of breathing room above me and I genuinely panicked. I was so grateful to be on a film set."

Another of Lucas' challenging scenes involved not only water but fire. "The group gets separated while crossing the lobby where an oil spill has created essentially a pool of fire, and my character has to jump into this pool and swim underneath it with a fire hose to create a connection between the two sides. I had to come up at just the right spot and it was pretty hot and terrifying," he admits. "There are some wild sequences in this film."

Lucas, who charmed audiences as Reese Witherspoon's true love in Sweet Home Alabama and shared a 2001 SAG Award nomination for A Beautiful Mind, describes Dylan as "a hustler, probably not of a caliber to play in Vegas but good enough to make some money off people on a cruise who've had a few drinks. He's not a bad guy, but he's not a hero either. He just wants to go his own way, take care of himself first and not worry about other people."

Dylan's dilemma arises when he tells young Conor his intention to escape the overturned ship by himself while the others patiently await rescue. Jimmy alerts his mother Maggie and their ensuing discussion is overheard by former fireman and ex-New York City mayor Robert Ramsey, eager to leave the ballroom to search for his missing daughter. Nelson, another passenger, is also game to climb. To help them navigate the ship's unfamiliar architecture they enlist the help of a passing waiter, Valentin.

Dylan and Ramsey couldn't be more different. Where Dylan is wary of assuming responsibility for the others and fears it will slow him down, Ramsey embodies a lifetime of leadership - for better or worse. Having met briefly on board and sized each other up over a tense poker standoff, the two men begin their odyssey already at odds. Says Lucas, "Dylan's selfishness offends Ramsey at his core and Ramsey's take-charge manner gets Dylan's back up."

Kurt Russell, who stars as Robert Ramsey, notes that one of the things he likes about the movie is how, "It allows you to get to know these people without being told explicitly who they are. Ramsey used to be a fire fighter who became mayor of a large city. He's recently divorced and no longer in office and, ironically, he's on this cruise to get away from an environment that has become very pressurized."

Part of that pressure is his loving but difficult relationship with his headstrong 19-year-old daughter Jennifer, accompanying Ramsey on the cruise with her boyfriend, Christian.

Rescuing Jennifer becomes Ramsey's prime focus after the ship is hit. Whatever his failings as a father, a husband or an elected official, all that matters now is ensuring her safety and that means making his way to the floor above the ballroom, to the disco where the young couple went to ring in the new year - now a smoky ruin, where electricity and water make a fatal mix and Jennifer struggles to free Christian, trapped beneath a mass of metal.

From Ramsey's pragmatic point of view, Russell notes, "When a ship capsizes like that, you only have two choices: you can stay in this one room where there's still some air and hope you'll be rescued before the ship goes down completely, or you can trust that feeling inside that tells you to take matters into your own hands and try to save your own life."

Russell handled much of his own stunt work on Poseidon, a standard he has maintained throughout a remarkable career that began when he was only 10 years old. He has earned a lifetime of acclaim, including an Emmy Award nomination for his dead-on portrayal in the title role of ABC's 1979 biopic Elvis and a Golden Globe nomination for Silkwood. Reflecting on the sometimes random nature of relationships that could literally save your life, he remarks on how strange it is, "To think that the most important few hours of your entire existence could be spent with people you barely know. Perhaps you don't even know their names."

Starring as young Jennifer is Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera), and as her boyfriend Christian is Mike Vogel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

As the cruise begins, Jennifer, secretly engaged to Christian, is ambivalent about breaking the news to her over-protective single father. It is not his disapproval or denial that she really fears because she is clearly a spirited young woman who will stand her ground. "It's more that she's afraid of hurting her father by 'abandoning' him," explains Rossum. "She loves her father. He's always been there for her and now she's at a point in her life where she's fallen in love and wants to transfer her allegiance to the man she loves and she's really torn between the two of them.

"It's a challenge for everyone growing up to declare their independence and define who they are. The accident on board just accelerates the process," Rossum continues, noting that, "In a situation like this people's true colors are revealed and I think Jennifer emerges as a woman who is smart, courageous and loving."

Production tested Rossum's own courage and stamina beyond what she first expected. "I knew it would be physically and emotionally demanding just from reading the script," she says. "But I didn't realize the full extent of it until I was there. None of us did. Suddenly we were swimming 20 feet underwater in a tight corridor or sling-shotting across a three-story drop with just a harness and no safety net. It took a lot of courage, but I came to realize that fear is 85% mental. Once you conquer that, everything is easier."

Likewise, in the role of Jennifer's secret fiance Christian, Mike Vogel successfully faced down his own potential vertigo - with help from an unexpected source, director Petersen's passion for classical music. "It was the most surreal moment of the entire shoot," Vogel recalls. "We were standing on a sort of balcony 50 feet in the air over what remained of the lobby, upside down, and all around us was steam, sparks and water. We were all feeling a little apprehensive. Then Wolfgang surprised all of us by blasting a classical symphony. Once we all realized what was happening, we broke down laughing and it helped all of us relax. It was wild, though. The cameras and everything took on a musical rhythm, with Wolfgang as the conductor."

From the beginning, Christian is anxious to reveal the truth about his relationship with Jennifer. An honorable young man, he feels the longer they delay the less respect Ramsey will have for him. "Throughout the story, Christian is anxious to prove himself to his future father-in-law," says Vogel. "He knows that in Ramsey's eyes they are still kids. After the wave hits, everyone is focused on escaping but for Christian it's still a matter of proving to Ramsey that he is worthy of his daughter."

Aware of Ramsey's accomplishments and stature, Vogel explains, "Christian knows he has a lot to live up to. Somehow he needs to show Ramsey that he is the man for Jennifer and that he is able to protect her. Their climb through the ship gives him that opportunity."

Very much in love and anxious to begin their new life together, Jennifer and Christian throw their fates in with the others, aware that the next few hours might be all the time they will ever have.

On the opposite side of the romantic spectrum is Richard Nelson, described by Richard Dreyfuss as, "a lonely, middle-aged man who is broken-hearted because his long-time love, with whom he intended to share this cruise, has suddenly left him for another man."

New Year's Eve finds Nelson alone at the ship's railing, preparing to jump overboard. The sight of the approaching rogue wave snaps him out of his sad reverie and sends him rushing back to the ballroom in time for the melee that follows as the room rotates a full 360 degrees.

"He ends up being a real source of encouragement and even humor to the other survivors," says Dreyfuss, noting that Nelson's renewed will to live is severely tested more than once in the upward climb. "He gets injured along the way but he never gives up."

Dreyfuss, whose career encompasses an impressive range of credits and awards including an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for The Goodbye Girl, was himself a constant source of one-liners for castmates and crew. He joked to reporters that he joined Poseidon for the opportunity "to do a lot of slipping, falling, drowning and screaming," and simultaneously poked fun at his Jaws fame by claiming Petersen valued his "underwater acting" skill.

"Movies have reached the point where you can be taken anywhere in your dreams," says Dreyfuss, whose own pre-production Queen Mary 2 cruise gave him a feel for the environment and scale of a ship of that stature. "We had five stages devoted to this film and all of them in various stages of chaos. You can take essentially a football field and turn it on a degree. You can tell this story as if it's real. Movie technology has gotten to the point where it is the individual talent of the filmmaker that can make anything look like you are really there."

Conceding the powerful attraction of these kinds of survival stories, Dreyfuss adds, "It's 'Ten Little Indians'…and then there were nine, then eight and so on. We all want to know who makes it and who doesn't and why; it's human nature and it's a great movie tradition."

Starring as widowed mother Maggie James and her precocious son Conor are Australian actress Jacinda Barrett, whose U.S. feature credits include The Human Stain and Ladder 49, and 10-year-old Jimmy Bennett (only nine during production), a rising young actor with an already substantial resume including a recent role as Harrison Ford's kidnapped son in Firewall.

"Maggie's trying hard to support her child and create stability in his life because his dad died when he was very young," Barrett says of her character, a single mother who works long hours and only took this holiday as a gift to the boy. Though proud of his self-assured maturity she knows it comes from his having grown up too quickly. "When the tragedy strikes, Conor tries to take care of his mother and comfort her in his usual way as if he doesn't need a parent," says Barrett. "But slowly a shift takes place and I think that as Maggie finds her strength more and more Conor is able to relinquish some of the grown-up behavior he's been trying to uphold until, at the end, he's just a kid who needs his mom."

Barrett, who did her first gimbal work on Poseidon, found the level of action "exhilarating." Of the production's multi-camera system, she says, "I'd never shot with five cameras at once. It is a constant balancing act to set up the perfect shot for each camera and, as an actor, it keeps you on your toes as you never know exactly what all the cameras are seeing."

Young Bennett, whose favorite scene is the one in which he leaps down from a piano bolted to the floor (now the ceiling) in the ruined ballroom, understands that, "Conor is pretty brave. He knows it and he enjoys it. When they're climbing through the ship he's always ready to do whatever he has to do, and he's always asking 'Mom, are you all right?' because he doesn't want her to be worried about him."

Eager and able to perform many of his own stunts, Bennett was admittedly "bummed out whenever there were things I wasn't allowed to do," but still managed a lot of swimming. "I can hold my breath a long time," he says. "I can do two laps in a row without breathing."

Because of Maggie's focus on her son and her work to the exclusion of a personal life, Barrett notes that, "when she meets Dylan at the New Year's Eve party it kind of blindsides her," their natural attraction being "something she was not looking for and hasn't felt in a long time. What charms her most is how Dylan connects with Conor." That connection is partly what prompts her and her son to take a chance on following Dylan out of the ballroom. But Maggie is cautious, and will take the full measure of this man before she really trusts him.

Best known to audiences as Nadia Santos on the popular series Alias, Argentinean native Mia Maestro stars as the shy but courageous stowaway Elena, a woman with a deeply held faith. Bound for New York to see her brother in the hospital but unable to pay the fare, Elena was offered covert passage by her friend Valentin, one of the ship's waiters, played by Freddy Rodriguez. After the ship turns over, she finds herself among the few survivors in the disco and tries to help a frantic Jennifer pull Christian free from heavy debris. When Ramsey and the others reach the disco, Elena joins them in their continuing climb.

Lonely herself, Elena soon forms a special bond with Nelson, who in turns helps her through the worst moments of their journey, traversing a dark and narrow duct that touches off Elena's claustrophobia in a panic attack that threatens to turn her back.

"It's a very touching film," Maestro observes, "because you are watching what happens to these individuals in a life-and-death situation. In times like that people do things they would never think themselves capable of doing. They're on the borderline, physically and psychologically and it's a very interesting place."

Maestro had both SCUBA diving and underwater acting experience prior to working on the set of Poseidon. For her, the wire work proved more daunting. "The first time is the toughest," she admits. "Even though you know, rationally, you're not going to die and we had an amazing group of stunt supervisors, it was still easy to get a little bit of vertigo looking down. What happens ultimately is that you just go with it."

Like Vogel, she found Petersen's impromptu classical concerts soothing and inspiring.

One survivor who remains behind in the sunken ballroom, Captain Bradford, is played by stage and screen star Andre Braugher. Currently headlining the new FX series Thief, Braugher earned an Emmy Award for his portrayal of lead detective Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street and nominations for both Gideon's Crossing and the acclaimed HBO miniseries The Tuskegee Airmen. Although the captain's choice is dictated by duty, Braugher understands him to be the kind of man who would remain behind to lend comfort to the trapped and injured even if he had the option to flee.

Braugher recalls being particularly affected by "the sacrifice Bradford makes, the compassion he feels for his passengers and his love for his ship. Even during wholesale panic in the ballroom he stands to deliver the heroic lie and calm people down. He's a good man. No matter how dire the circumstances, he remains steadfast."

In preparation for the role, Braugher absorbed a great deal of technical advice, learned the basic functions of a ship's propulsion and navigation as well as safety procedures. Interestingly, he says, "since no one anticipates ships turning over, there are no specific safety responses for it other than to close the bulkheads and try to seal off floors to slow sinking."

Acknowledging that Poseidon raises questions about how each of us might act in such a situation, Braugher believes, "There's really no way to know unless it happens. Am I injured or not? Am I with family? I would never leave my family alone so if they were injured of course we would never escape; if we're going to be entombed, we would be entombed together."

Freddy Rodriguez, whose work on the HBO series Six Feet Under has earned two SAG Awards plus three additional nominations and an Emmy nomination, blends pragmatism and compassion in the role of resourceful waiter Valentin. His knowledge of the ship's layout prompts Ramsey to approach Valentin with a proposition.

"Ramsey offers him money, double his yearly salary, if he will help them," says Rodriguez, who goes on to acknowledge that money is not Valentin's sole motivation. "He would likely have helped them anyway, by his very nature, no to mention that he himself is anxious to get out. He's a smart guy and he's definitely a survivor."

The role required Rodriguez to push himself to a level of physical performance beyond anything he'd previously done on camera, including one breathtaking stunt in which he appears suspended 15 feet over an elevator shaft by hanging onto the leg of Dreyfuss' character Nelson. He jokes that the toughest part of that scene was "gaining a comfort level with the safety harness, which is basically a straightjacket with no sleeves."

As for any lingering fears about disasters at sea, Rodriguez says, "I've never been on a cruise ship, but I've always wanted to go. It's like Jaws. Do you stop going to the beach after seeing Jaws? You've got to live your life. Absolutely, I would go on a cruise tomorrow."

Respected for his dramatic turns in Oliver Stone's Platoon and The Doors, and currently drawing laughs in HBO's Entourage, the versatile Kevin Dillon portrays Poseidon's less-than-charming passenger Lucky Larry, who also survives the initial impact.

"Larry's loud and flashy and kind of nasty; a guy who obviously has had a few too many drinks and is still drinking," says Dillon, admitting it wasn't easy to lend Larry a likeable dimension. "To his credit, he's not such a bad guy - just really hammered. At the beginning he's playing poker with the guys and is starting to annoy people, but after the trauma of the ship capsizing, he becomes more of an ugly drunk. It was a fun character to play."

In the role of Gloria, the ship's headline entertainer, is Stacy Ferguson. Best known to music fans as Fergie of the BLACK EYED PEAS, the multi-talented singer/composer began her career at a young age with acting, modeling and voiceover work. Twice nominated for a Young Actors Award as a series regular in the Disney Channel's Kids Incorporated, she won the award in 1987 and went on to appear in several feature films including the horror spoof Monster in the Closet and the 2005 comedy Be Cool.

In addition to the traditional "Auld Lang Syne," Ferguson performs two original songs in Poseidon. The ballad "Won't Let You Fall," co-written by her, will.i.am, Keith Harris, Byron McWilliams and Ron Fair, is "a beautiful, dramatic song that touches on one of the movie's themes," she explains. "It's about loving and supporting someone unconditionally no matter what happens, and I think a lot of the survivors on the ship experience that." In contrast, she collaborated with will.i.am and Printz Board on the Latin-tempo dance number "Bailamos," Spanish for let's dance, which she performs in the film to kick off the New Year's Eve party and "get those people out on the dance floor."

Cutting-Edge Technology and Effects Join

Tried-and-True Filmmaking and Practical Sets

"Shooting on a real ship was more problematic than one might think," says producer Duncan Henderson. Considering their options early on, it soon became clear that no existing ship could compare to "Wolfgang's vision of the newest, the best, the most grand and luxurious," as depicted in production designer William Sandell's preliminary drawings, which, Henderson says, were more appealing to the director than any of their other choices. "Wolfgang decided he didn't want to be held back by anything."

By employing computer graphics to create the ocean, all exteriors and the ship in its entirety, the filmmakers did not need to compromise in scale, ultimately pitting a more-than 150-foot wall of water against a 20-story grand ocean liner more than 1100 feet long and carrying 4,000 crew and guests. Industry leader ILM, which previously contributed the groundbreaking aquatic effects for Petersen's The Perfect Storm, raised the bar again with new image-rendering techniques that bring the wave and the ship to life.

Meanwhile, extensive interiors were built on Warner Bros. Studios soundstages the old-fashioned way to accommodate practical effects. Most sets were duplicated in original and upside-down versions to depict, first, the ship's grandeur and then, post-impact, its utter destruction - all balanced on platforms that could pitch and roll the action on its side. Combining practical sets with CGI, Petersen achieved the size and scope unlikely to be found in the real world yet scrupulously realistic: a ship not only ultra-modern but timelessly elegant in every way, from its sleek exterior construction to every detail of decor and atmosphere right down to the handcrafted initial "P" reproduced in the buttons of the staff uniforms.

The ship itself becomes a character in the story - constantly shifting, lurching and emitting deep metallic groans as supports give way and the increasing load of water slowly drags it down. "We all felt the physical power of this huge ship dying, which is how Wolfgang looked at it," remarks Josh Lucas. "It was like we were inside some giant living beast that is mortally wounded. First it loses its heart, then vital organs start to shut down. All the while we're trying to get through it, everything is imploding, burning, sinking."

Petersen brought to the project many key artisans with whom he has worked before, among them renowned cinematographer John Seale, an Oscar and BAFTA Award winner for The English Patient and recipient of three additional Academy nominations; editor Peter Honess, whose work on L.A. Confidential earned a BAFTA Award and an Oscar nomination; costume designer Erica Edell Phillips, whose designs for Total Recall earned a Saturn Award; special effects supervisor John Frazier, a 2005 Oscar winner for Spiderman 2 and five-time additional Oscar nominee whose work on The Perfect Storm merited a BAFTA Award as well as an Oscar nomination; and production designer William Sandell, an Art Directors Guild Award nominee for The Perfect Storm who brought home a BAFTA Award and an Oscar nomination in 2004 for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis (a BAFTA nominee for Speed) oversaw the implementation of more than 600 VFX shots. "In terms of scope it's one of the most complex VFX pictures ever created," he says, and offers Poseidon's innovative opening shot as an example of the level of expertise brought to bear on the film.

"It starts under the water from the camera's point of view, then rises to reveal the ship, rotates around the bow and down the side of the ship, then spots a figure running along the deck," Shermis outlines. "The camera comes in tight on him, dollying 180 degrees around him. We lead him up a flight of stairs, then pull back to take in the beauty and grandeur of the ship, the upper decks, people having fun by the pool, then climb high up to the smokestacks and beyond that to a beautiful sunset on the ocean."

"It's two and a half minutes," Petersen says of the remarkable sequence. "The only real element in the whole shot is the jogger, Josh Lucas" - who was filmed against a green screen at the San Fernando Valley's Sepulveda Dam, one of the film's only two off-lot locations, then integrated into the virtual landscape. "It's the boldest, most insane shot ever done in the history of CG, yet completely photorealistic. I don't expect people will think, 'what a great CG shot,' instead, they might think, 'what a great ship; where did they find it?'"

Acknowledging how computer technology has evolved, he adds, "There is so much more we can do now versus five years ago, especially in the way we can show the natural weight and flow of water," the most difficult of all elements to realistically replicate.

With R & D input from Stanford University's computer graphics department, ILM special effects supervisor Kim Libreri led a 100-member team of software developers, engineers and artists for a year to create the proprietary software used on Poseidon. Called computational fluid dynamics, a new technology that simulates how water interacts with objects, it's a system so advanced it required the simultaneous development of new hardware just to run it. Says Libreri, "Existing machines weren't fast enough."

What that means on screen is that, "You're really going to see the wave react with the ship in ways traditionally not seen in computer graphics," he says. "It's not just rendering a wave to stand 150 feet high with a particular curvature, it's the full interaction of explosive events as that wave hits the ship, runs over the decks, destroys parts of the structure and turns it around. For the first time we can simulate particles of water striking objects, rolling over them, colliding with the back-spray and recombining in a naturally fluid way - and all of this in keeping with Wolfgang's aesthetic. He and Boyd Shermis wanted all the shots to appear as physically achievable, however difficult, rather than defying the laws of physics."

Other innovations are in reflected light. Says Libreri, "The computer needs to understand that when a light source strikes an object, some of that light bounces off and hits another object and so on." Poseidon raised the challenge of simulating sunlight and moonlight on the water and the ship's interior illumination at night, plus myriad details in combination, such as "how light scatters through water or spray and how bubbles form."

CG worked hand-in-hand with the practical effects team throughout, reuniting Shermis with special effects supervisor John Frazier, with whom he shared a 1994 BAFTA nomination for Speed. Frazier thought of it in terms of "elements," such as a virtual set into which he would add a live stunt or the various extensions the visual effects team made to double the distance of a physical hallway.

In a key scene in which one of the survivors is slammed by a plummeting piece of machinery while crossing a makeshift bridge, Frazier's crew worked with the actor to show his supports giving way. "We made the steel substructure bounce as if from the impact and the visual effects team then created the air conditioner unit that falls on top of it."

"Remarkable as the CG work is," observes producer Henderson, "we used it in combination with as much live action footage, sets and stunts as possible. We want audiences to feel that these are real rooms with real walls and real water. Whenever we could achieve a shot practically, we would."

Steel, Concrete and Lots of Water

With the exception of the opening shot captured at the Sepulveda Dam, the ship's (upright) disco filmed at L.A. Staples Center, and the Warner Bros. commissary kitchen standing in for Poseidon's galley, all sets for the film were built on five studio soundstages, including the famous Stage 16, where Petersen had helmed a different vessel five years earlier.

The site of such classics as The Old Man and the Sea and P.T. 109, Stage 16's water tank was previously enlarged for The Perfect Storm from 8 feet to a depth of 22 feet, making it, at 95' x 100' x 22,' the world's largest soundstage pool with a 1.3 million-gallon capacity. Stage 16 now housed Poseidon's most ambitious set, the upside-down ballroom which ultimately takes the violent impact of a 90,000-gallon rush of water, while neighboring Stage 19 held an identical but right-side-up replica of the ballroom, for scenes shot prior to the deadly wave's impact.

Additional stages were renovated to replace wood flooring with concrete, and new plumbing was installed to recycle the huge volume of water back and forth among them.

Building sets upside down, or sets that would be tilted drastically, meant using a lot more steel reinforcement than is commonly used as normal structural supports and furnishings can no longer rely on gravity. The upside-down lobby, for example, was a five-story, 72-foot high interior featuring a collapsed elevator shaft that stretched across a three-story drop to the stage floor, all of it requiring a rock-solid support system. Its construction took a 100-person crew five months, using 750,000 pounds of I-beam steel and 10,000 sheets of plywood. Rust-resistant auto body paint protected portions that would be submerged for long periods.

"Working in these sets was like being in a toy shop," says Petersen, who particularly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the pre-wave ballroom set, "with all its glamour and everyone dressed for a fine evening, with the version next door, the same room upside down with everything smashed to pieces. Let's say it tapped into that little bit of anarchy and boyish fun we have inside, of making everything kaput."

Construction was a continuous, often 24-hour proposition, with sets being built and struck in succession as the nearly 100-day shoot progressed almost completely in sequence, with first and second units in sync - a process made possible largely because of Petersen's work ethic. "One of the great things about working with Wolfgang is his confidence in what's been shot," says Henderson. "When he says 'I've got it,' there's no need to revisit that set. When we finish, there's a second unit right behind us. Then we clear that set, build another, and go through the cycle again. It takes a lot of discipline." Adds Sandell with a touch of nostalgia, "They haven't built sets like this in Hollywood for years, since the 1930s or 40s. This is old-time filmmaking on a grand scale."

Cinematographer John Seale (The English Patient) helped facilitate this timetable with a system of multiple cameras, regularly employing four and adding more as various scenes warranted.

Shooting near or very often under water posed its own creative, logistical and safety challenges. Cameras were sealed in watertight soft housings and buttressed against the flow. Corrective ports (a domed glass piece fitted over the lens) helped adjust distortions in focal length caused by the way light refracts through water. Steadicam operators wrapped equipment in waterproof bags and carried on as usual, says Seale, "with water pouring on top of their cameras, they'd just walk straight through it. We got the shot every time. In fact, we only drowned one camera, which is pretty good for a movie with this much water and action."

Additionally, cameras attached to jib arms were tracked and operated by remote control, to avoid having operators and dollies alongside the actors in the confined spaces.

Reloading film was like a NASCAR pit stop with crews hauling hundred-pound housings out of the water, moving them to a dry area, doing their work, re-sealing and getting them back into position as fast as possible.

Seale opted for "reality lighting over cosmetic lighting," positioning light sources as though they were part of the ship. After Poseidon capsizes, most of this natural lighting emanates from the floor, lending an eerie luminescence he could supplement with lights hidden in the debris, mostly in the form of durable Hydroflex waterproof fluorescent tubes.

Enhancing the metaphor that the ship itself is dying, Seale used light to present the ship first as, "an opulent, ultra-modern floating hotel where everything is warm and welcoming. Then, after the wave hits, all hell breaks lose and the lighting is turned upside down. As our heroes make their way to the top, the ship is dying and lights are going out so we slowly bleed the color out of the scenes. As they move toward the bowels of the ship the atmosphere becomes industrial and cold."

Professional safety divers were always on alert. The potentially fatal mix of water with electricity was constantly monitored - and proved, fortunately, not to be a problem.

Turning it Upside Down

Creating and working in the inverted world of post-wave Poseidon presented unique challenges across all disciplines, from production design to stunts and effects, construction, cinematography, lighting, set decoration and props.

Sets were designed simultaneously in both right-side-up and upside-down versions to maintain continuity and to ensure that, as Sandell says, "nothing could exist in the normal version if it could not be subsequently executed upside down." What would realistically be nailed down on an ocean liner (heavy equipment, piano, refrigerators) and how long would that hold? Where are the basic supports and safety issues? What is climb-able? Everything was considered, right down to airborne poker chips and cutlery when rooms get tossed.

In some ways, the production team had to think like Poseidon survivors. As Henderson recalls the process, "You would imagine how things might work, then put yourself through the paces mentally or with the model only to discover that it couldn't work that way because the stairs are backwards now, that first step is much higher or that door won't open inward. So you think 'how are we going to deal with this,' and you search for an alternative."

What began with brainstorming, sketches and storyboards finally required physical models. "Although Wolfgang is one of the few directors I've worked with who can read a blueprint," says Sandell, "ultimately you need to see it in three dimensions."

Details were further refined when the final sets were tested with tilt angles and water.

To mechanically roll sets from one side to the other, they were built atop hydraulically operated two-axel platform gimbals that tilt at various degrees. Says Frazier, "We can move them fore and aft, side to side, or you can do a 'pitch and yaw' like a ship on the open sea."

With sets, water, furnishings and cast, weight is an issue. Frazier's team needed accurate totals upfront so as "not to have surprises later. One of our gimbals itself is 3,000 pounds of I-beam steel and 150 feet long. You don't want to hear at the last minute that the set is going to weigh 50,000 more pounds than you expected." The massive machinery required equally massive support, in one case a brand new concrete floor 20 feet wide and 12 feet deep.

The set representing the ship's bridge was so large it could not be rotated 180 degrees in one piece inside a soundstage without scraping the ceiling so it was built and filmed in two sections, each atop its own gimbal.

Frazier found the best way to hold large amounts of water over sets to be flooded on cue was to fill and stack seagoing cargo containers, each holding about 15,000 gallons.

Poseidon's action re-classified a large variety of objects from being set decoration (immobile, while the ship is upright) to becoming props when propelled into the air as the ship turns over. Potential projectiles from furniture to tableware and cell phones were genuine in close-ups and then switched for duplicate versions in rubber, balsa wood and breakaway glass.

A sentiment shared by many of the cast and crew was the general disorientation of working in an upside-down environment for extended periods. Sandell likened it to "stepping inside an Escher drawing, constantly having to get your bearings. It could be very unnerving."

Two Very Different Scenes Highlight Extremes of the Survivors' Experience:

The Ballroom Implosion and Traversing the AC Duct

One of Poseidon's powerful set pieces is the implosion of the grand ballroom.

Suspended upside-down below the waterline but still airtight after the wave's initial impact, the ballroom serves as a haven for those who remain behind with the captain when Dylan and his group start their climb. But eventually the water pressure proves too much and water bursts in through the windows, flooding the room in seconds.

It was not a scene that anyone wanted to shoot twice.

For Frazier, stacking cargo containers loaded with water wasn't going to be enough. With 15 feet of clearance behind the set, he says, "We used 10 eight-foot diameter culvert pipes, the kind you see in highway construction. We stood them up, built special chutes for them with trap doors that locked right into the windows. The windows were quarter-inch tempered glass, which enabled them to bow out a little bit with some of the water behind them. Then on command we dumped the whole thing, about 90,000 gallons. The weight of it broke the glass and kept on coming and it ended up being a great look on camera because it's the real thing."

To fully capture the action, 2nd Unit director of photography Mark Vargo followed John Seale's example and set up "five cameras on each axis, some wide, some tight, so that when you cut from one to the other it gives the illusion of both sides of the ship coming in." After experimenting with Seale on frame speeds for the two-second sequence, they went with 40-speed for the main cameras and set additional cameras at speeds from 60 to 90 and 120, ensuring a range of editing options.

Regardless of all the planning, there were no guarantees. "No one knew what that mass of water would look like, let alone do," declares Vargo. "I had cameras tied off. My key grip built a cage that could have sustained a car running into it. We had a tracking shot from above, two inside panning and one behind a glass window so that at full force it's actually submerged." Camera operators worked in wet suits and goggles, with stunt people ready to pull them to safety. "We even had an ambulance standing by. It was like a NASA launch."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ship a different kind of drama plays out as the survivors face a near-vertical climb through a narrow air conditioning duct, their only passage to the next level.

"Within the structure of this larger disaster they have to crawl through this eight-minute sequence of almost pure claustrophobic tension," says Wolfgang Petersen. "It's hard to navigate or even move and they don't know what they will find at the other end."

It is here that Mia Maestro's character, Elena, reveals her extreme claustrophobia - a fear so intense it would force her to turn back if not for the tough-love persuasion of Nelson and Dylan who remain with her at the end of the single-file line. Together they talk her through it, inch by agonizing inch, while unbeknownst to them a new problem develops up ahead: the duct's exit is blocked by a grate. Their only chance for survival is for young Jimmy to fit his small fingers through the slots in the grate to turn the four screws, as water rises rapidly from below.

Says Kurt Russell, "The people at the top are controlling the destiny of the people at the bottom, who are not even fully aware what the problem is or how bad it is, and everything comes down to this 9-year-old boy being able to keep his wits about him and try to open a grate. Everyone stops moving. It's an excruciating scene."

Russell likens the experience to spending "a week and a half inside a box," and with the duct's actual dimensions of 36-by-36 inches, it's a fair assessment. "We were climbing up some sections at 45 degree angles, some straight up. It was very confining."

Getting lights and cameras into the tight space posed its own problems. Says Seale, "We ended up using anything we could get our hands on, one of which was a little right-angle snorkel lens from Panavision. It took up maybe three inches diameter of room so the actors could scrunch past us or come towards us. Most of the lighting was available." Ultimately, Seale relied upon the actors' own hand-held torches, "because with the shiny metal walls we found the torchlight bounced everywhere and did exactly what we wanted."

Water and Fire

"Not just water but fire was a major deterrent," says Frazier in regard to the survivors' upward progress. "It blocks them, turns them back, forces them to try a different route."

When the story called for a fuel tank to burst, raining down a flaming waterfall along the escape route, Frazier's team used a mixture of water and Coleman fuel set ablaze, "for a cascading effect. Then Boyd Shermis just changed the color of the water mixture a bit, gave it a proper tint so it looked like pure fuel," he explains.

For fire burning atop the water, seen straight-on, they snaked 3/4-inch electrical conduit through the water, force-filled it with liquid propane and ignited it.

The trickiest of all was to create oil-slicked water on fire from Josh Lucas' perspective as he swims underneath and looks for a safe place to emerge. Since conduit would show, Frazier's team came up something they called cookie sheets - flat pieces of metal cut into kidney shapes, treated with propane and suspended two inches above the surface. "When ignited, the fire spread underneath the cookie sheet but it couldn't escape. When you're under the water looking up it gives the illusion that there's a big oil slick burning on the water."

The effects expert also sought to "keep the set alive" with random sparks, patches of flame and smoke throughout the backgrounds, and worked closely with Seale in shooting steam over dry ice to create a density of smoke over the ruined disco.

Costumes and Makeup for Principals, Stunt Performers and 400 Extras.

Times Six… Or Twelve, or Maybe More

Respected costume designer and frequent Petersen collaborator Erica Edell Phillips (The Perfect Storm, Outbreak, Air Force One and In the Line of Fire), is most proud of "the level of detail on Poseidon and its millions of moving parts."

Leading a 45-member crew (her largest ever) with costume supervisor Bob Morgan (The Chronicles of Riddick), Phillips created wardrobe for the ship's staff and crew, plus hundreds of New Year's Eve party guests in formal attire, all coordinating with Petersen's theme of timeless elegance in the ship's design and decor. As shooting the action progressed, the clothing for each background actor had to be replaced with realistically aged duplicates. For the principals, that number increased exponentially.

"The survivors go through hellfire to get out of the ship," Phillips explains. "They're climbing and swimming, getting torn up and dirty along the way. We needed dozens of everything to accommodate two units shooting simultaneously. That meant that all of the clothing needed to be exactly duplicated at various levels of distress. A cache of pristine costumes was always on hand in case we needed to shoot anything that was earlier in the continuity."

When the ballroom turns over everything goes flying, not just passengers but anything not nailed down - furniture, tableware and food. That meant the post-wave clothing would bear not only rips and bloodstains but marks from things like coffee, red wine and chocolate.

"We weren't sure how food stains would look on fabric," recalls Morgan. "So we took pots of coffee, gallons of wine and cherry sauce, everything from the ship's dinner menu, went down to the parking lot and threw it all at the clothes to see what would happen if you took a ballroom full of people having dinner and rolled it over. That was a fun day." Once captured, many of the stains were recreated in acrylic paint to prevent fading underwater and to keep them looking wet.

Phillips' team photographed, tagged and catalogued the multiple garments in various stages of deterioration daily. A studio parking lot was converted into a wardrobe holding area with two 60-by-40-foot tents. With round-the-clock filming, it was a constant stream of items being checked in and out, cleaned, touched up or replaced.

Supervising makeup, two-time Oscar nominee Edouard Henriques (The Cell, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), faced similar creative and continuity challenges.

After making hundreds of extras and stunt performers look like they had just been pummeled, burnt, drowned or electrocuted, Henriques' team scrupulously kept track of every cut, bruise and smudge picked up by the principals along the way. When they pass through high water, what washes off? What fades, what dries, what spreads or changes color? Dirt might be partially cleansed during a quick plunge underwater and wounds that have partially scabbed over might begin to ooze again, all of which fell into Henriques' purview.

Bodies, Bodies Everywhere - But Not All of Them are Real

In addition to the cast, stunt performers and hundreds of extras on board, the production engaged VFX scanning company Itronics to create approximately 150 visual clones to step in for flesh-and-blood actors at crucial moments where even the most rigorous safety precautions might fail, like the ballroom implosion.

Poseidon's passengers also included 65 state-of-the-art dummies crafted by industry mainstay KNB Efx Group, fresh from their work on The Chronicles of Narnia. Made up and costumed, their close-up-quality fiberglass bodies could be weighted for underwater scenes or fitted with floats to bob near the surface. Others, loosely jointed, could be tossed around the tilting sets like flotsam or charred by flash fires. Internal wire armature allowed their limbs to bend into credible simulations of broken bones while extra pairs of artificial arms and legs alone were used to supplement images of people trapped under wreckage or fallen atop one another.

Throughout, Petersen sought restraint, using images of the dead and injured to help set the tone for his story rather than to shock.

So realistic as to be indistinguishable from the real thing, the KNB players drew a fair amount of respect from the actors. "It was funny how we would walk around the dummies," recalls Kurt Russell with a laugh. "We wouldn't step on their legs or arms, just as if they were real people - and in some cases it was so hard to tell it was better to be on the safe side." Adds Mike Vogel, "One day I saw what I assumed was a dummy lying on the set and a few minutes later I noticed it was breathing. I literally bolted from the spot."

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ESCAPE IN IMAX

Poseidon will be released in IMAXR theatres worldwide, in addition to conventional theatres, beginning May 12, 2006. The film has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX ExperienceR with proprietary IMAX DMRR (Digital Re-mastering) technology.

Poseidon is the second IMAX DMR film release from Warner Bros. Pictures in 2006, in a series of five scheduled for the year. It represents the 10th collaboration between IMAX and Warner Bros., including the IMAX original films NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience and Deep Sea 3D: The IMAX Experience.

IMAX Theatres deliver images of unsurpassed clarity and impact, enabling audiences to experience the thrill and intensity of Poseidon on the world's largest screens, surrounded by state-of-the-art digital sound. (IMAX screens can be three times larger than the average 35mm screen, 4,500 times larger than the average TV screen, and as wide as an NFL football field.)

"Poseidon is a thrill ride," says director Wolfgang Petersen. "We want people to feel as though they're on this ship when the giant wave hits. We want to pull them under the water and bring them back up to catch their breath. The IMAX format is so immersive, it's perfectly designed to help draw audiences into the action."

The sheer size of a 15/70 film frame, combined with the unique IMAX projection technology, is key to the extraordinary sharpness and clarity of the images projected in IMAX theatres. The 15/70 film frame is ten times larger than a conventional 35mm frame and three times bigger than a standard 70mm frame. IMAX projectors are the most advanced, powerful and highest-precision projectors in the world, and the key to their superior performance is the proprietary "Rolling Loop" film movement. The Rolling Loop advances the film horizontally in a smooth, wave-like motion. During projection, each frame is positioned on fixed registration pins, and the film is held firmly against the rear element of the lens by a vacuum. As a result, the picture and focus steadiness are far above normal projection standards and provide outstanding image clarity.

To fully envelop IMAX theatre-goers, the IMAX sound system is a specially designed multi-channel stereo system that delivers superb clarity and quality for maximum impact. The IMAX Proportional Point Source loudspeaker system was specifically designed for IMAX Theatres and delivers superb sound quality to every member of the audience, regardless of where they may be seated.

The IMAXR brand is world famous and stands for the highest-quality, most immersive filmed entertainment. Visitors to IMAX theatres now number in the hundreds of millions since the technology premiered in 1970. As the number of theatres grows, so does the visibility of the IMAX brand - a name that is unique in the entertainment business. The IMAX theatre network currently consists of more than 266 IMAX theatres in 38 countries. IMAX theatres are found in some of the most prestigious educational institutions and destination entertainment centers in the world and in a steadily growing number of commercial multiplex theatres in both domestic and international markets. There are more than 200 educational and entertaining films in the Large Format film library, which have been enjoyed by more than 800 million people around the world.

ABOUT THE CAST

KURT RUSSELL (Robert Ramsey) most recently starred with Dakota Fanning in the family drama Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story.

In 2004, Russell starred as coach Herb Brooks in the real-life drama Miracle, which chronicled the inspiring story of the underdog U.S. ice hockey team's gold medal victory in the 1980 Olympic Games. His recent film credits also include Sky High, with Kelly Preston; Ron Shelton's Dark Blue; Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, with Tom Cruise; and 3000 Miles to Graceland, with Kevin Costner.

Russell made his film debut at the age of ten in the Elvis Presley film It Happened at the World's Fair, marking the beginning of a career that now spans more than four decades. During his successful career as a child star, he appeared in ten Disney movies, including Follow Me Boys!, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Barefoot Executive and The Strongest Man in the World.

In 1979, Russell was cast as Elvis Presley in director John Carpenter's acclaimed television biopic Elvis, earning an Emmy nomination for his remarkable portrayal of "the King." Russell later re-teamed with Carpenter on four films: Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from L.A., the last of which Russell also co-wrote and co-produced.

Russell earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Mike Nichols' true-life drama Silkwood, opposite Meryl Streep and Cher. He subsequently starred in such films as Jonathan Demme's Swing Shift, with Goldie Hawn; The Mean Season; The Best of Times, with Robin Williams; Garry Marshall's Overboard, also opposite Goldie Hawn; Robert Towne's Tequila Sunrise, with Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer; Tango & Cash; Ron Howard's Backdraft, with Robert De Niro; Jonathan Kaplan's Unlawful Entry; Captain Ron; Tombstone; Roland Emmerich's Stargate; Executive Decision, with Halle Berry; Breakdown and Soldier.

After displaying exceptional range, diversity and intensity for more than a decade, JOSH LUCAS (Dylan Johns) continues his emergence as one of Hollywood's most engaging talents. Whether in small parts in independent films or lead roles in Hollywood blockbusters, Lucas has maintained presence both on the stage and in film.

Lucas most recently starred in the film Glory Road. He portrayed legendary NCAA basketball coach, Don Haskins, who won the 1966 Final Four championship with an all-African American starting line up. The film was released on January 13, 2006 and Lucas' performance garnered rave reviews.

This past summer Lucas starred on Broadway in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, opposite Jessica Lange, Christian Slater and Sarah Paulson. He played the pivotal role of the Gentleman Caller in this famous play directed by David Leveaux.

In 2005, he starred in the action film Stealth, opposite Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel and Sam Shepard. Lucas also appeared opposite Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez and Morgan Freeman in An Unfinished Life, which was released in September.

Two of his most recent roles demonstrate the range of Lucas' talent. Opposite Christopher Walken, he was seen as a mild-mannered single father in the Warner Independent film Around the Bend. In stark contrast, he was also seen as the dangerous escaped convict who terrorized his estranged family in the Terrence Malick- produced, David Gordon Green-directed Undertow. Both films were released to substantial critical acclaim. Around the Bend won Grand Jury Prizes at both the Montreal and San Diego film festivals.

In 2003, Lucas co-starred opposite Val Kilmer in the controversial crime thriller Wonderland, which tells the true story of the events that led to the infamous Wonderland Murders in Los Angeles in July, 1981, as well as an account of the police investigation. Lucas played the pivotal role of Ron Launius, the leader of the gang of drug lords that was viciously murdered. In that same year, Lucas also starred opposite Jennifer Connelly in Ang Lee's Hulk.

In the summer of 2002, Lucas starred in Andy Tennant's box office smash Sweet Home Alabama, opposite Reese Whitherspoon. He also co-starred that year in the Oscar- winning Ron Howard and Jonathan Glazer film, A Beautiful Mind.

Lucas' additional film credits include The Deep End, American Psycho, Session 9 and the Academy Award-nominated You Can Count On Me. His film debut was in Alive (1993), directed by Frank Marshall. His theater credits include Corpus Christi at the Manhattan Theatre Club, What Didn't Happen by Chris Shinn at the Mark Taper Forum and The Picture of Dorian Grey at the Los Angeles Theatre Club.

Lucas currently resides in New York City.

RICHARD DREYFUSS (Richard Nelson) began his career in the 1960s with bit parts in the feature films The Graduate and Valley of the Dolls in 1967. His performance as Baby Face Nelson in Dillinger in 1973 led to major roles in George Lucas' American Graffiti later that year and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in 1974.

In 1975, Dreyfuss starred in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster thriller Jaws, working again with Spielberg two years later in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That same year, he starred in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Subsequent movie credits include The Big Fix (1978), The Competition (1980) and Whose Life Is It, Anyway? (1981).

In 1986, Dreyfuss starred with Nick Nolte and Bette Midler in the box office hit Down and Out in Beverly Hills, directed by Paul Mazursky. The following year, he starred with Barbra Streisand in Martin Ritt's Nuts, with Emilio Estevez in John Badham's Stakeout and with Danny DeVito in Barry Levinson's Tin Men.

Dreyfuss was reunited with directors Paul Mazursky, for Moon Over Parador in 1988, and Steven Spielberg for Always in 1989. He appeared in featured roles the following year in Mike Nichols' Postcards From the Edge and in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He starred in two films in 1991, Lasse Hallestrom's Once Around and Frank Oz's What About Bob?.

Dreyfuss' other film credits include Lost in Yonkers, Another Stakeout, Silent Fall, The American President and Mr. Holland's Opus. He is currently a senior advisory member at St. Anthony's College at Oxford University in England.

In a relatively short span of time, JACINDA BARRETT (Maggie James) has burst upon the scene and left an indelible mark as a beautiful and extremely talented performer. This year, Barrett can be seen in four very different roles that will showcase her range.

Following the release of Poseidon, she stars in two films out this fall. First is the romantic comedy Last Kiss, which is written by Paul Haggis and stars Zach Braff. The film will be released on September 29th. Barrett will then be seen in the Todd Phillips-directed comedy School for Scoundrels, starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder. The film will be released in October.

In addition, she will be seen in Mira Nair's drama The Namesake, an adaptation of the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, scheduled for release this winter.

Barrett most recently appeared opposite Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta in Ladder 49 and in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, starring Renee Zellweger. In 2003, she received critical acclaim for her performance in Robert Benton's The Human Stain, which co-starred Nicole Kidman, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris.

Barrett got her start in her hometown of Brisbane, Australia. She studied acting at the British Academy of Dramatic Art in Oxford, England, an experience she used in her first film project, Dave Semel's Campfire Tales. Additional film credits include Immaculate Springs, Dominique Faix and Art House. Her television credits include Dick Wolf's WB series DC and John Wells' series Citizen Baines for CBS.

Barrett has her private pilot's license.

EMMY ROSSUM (Jennifer Ramsey) began her theatrical career at the age of seven when she was chosen to join the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center as a member of the Children's Chorus. She studied classical vocal technique and stagecraft there while performing in over twenty different operas in five languages.

Rossum made her television debut in 1999 as a recurring character in the long-running daytime drama As the World Turns. Her other television credits include guest starring appearances on Law and Order and The Practice, and in the telefilms Genius, Grace and Glorie, and The Audrey Hepburn Story, for which she received considerable critical acclaim.

Rossum made her first feature film when she was 13, playing an Appalachian orphan in Songcatcher. The movie won the Special Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000 and her performance earned Rossum an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the category of Best Debut Performance.

Director Clint Eastwood cast her as Sean Penn's daughter in the 2003 film Mystic River. The following year, Rossum starred opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Roland Emmerich's box office hit The Day After Tomorrow.

She is perhaps best known for her performance as Christine in director Joel Schumacher's feature film adaptation of the stage phenomenon The Phantom of the Opera. The musical's creator, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, personally selected Rossum, who was only 16 at the time, to star as the opera singer who becomes the object of the Phantom's obsession. Her performance earned Rossum a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy in 2004, the National Board of Review's award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance of 2004 and the Broadcast Film Critics' Association Award for Best Young Actress of 2004.

She is currently recording an album for Geffen Records.

MIKE VOGEL (Christian) has quickly become one of the most sought-after young actors in Hollywood. Vogel was most recently seen in Rumor Has It, the Rob Reiner-helmed comedy starring Jennifer Aniston. In addition, he will be seen as a scruffy, British slacker in the upcoming edgy independent comedy Caffeine.

Earlier this year, Vogel received raves for his starring roles in Supercross and the young adult ensemble drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, opposite Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn.

Vogel won critical praise for his break-through performance in MTV's musical adaptation of Wuthering Heights and, in 2003, starred opposite Jessica Biel in the box office hit The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Vogel's notable television performances include a memorable recurring role on the Fox hit series Grounded For Life.

Actress MIA MAESTRO (Elena) made her feature film debut in 1998 in Carlos Saura's Tango, which received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Film. She subsequently appeared in two films for director Mike Figgis, Timecode (2000) and Hotel (2001).

In 2002, Maestro played Cristina Kahlo in director Julie Taymor's acclaimed biopic Frida. She is best known for her performance in The Motorcycle Diaries, which was based on the diaries of Che Guevera. Directed by Walter Salles, this 2004 release was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. That same year, Maestro also appeared in Lucrecia Martel's Argentine drama The Holy Girl.

More recently, she starred in Secuestro Express, a film by first-time director Jonathan Jakubowicz. Last summer, she also starred in the off-Broadway play My Life as a Fairytale, which was performed during the Lincoln Center Theater Festival.

In 2004, Maestro joined the cast of the popular television series Alias. She also starred with Andy Garcia and her Poseidon co-star Freddy Rodriguez in the Emmy Award nominated HBO telefilm For Love or County: The Arturo Sandoval Story.

Maestro was born and raised in Argentina and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Hailing from Huntington Beach, California, JIMMY BENNETT (Conor James) has racked up a number of impressive credits that have put him in the forefront as one of the industry's leading child actors. Making his feature film debut alongside Eddie Murphy in the box office hit Daddy Day Care, Bennett quickly followed up that success with an emotionally powerful turn in Asia Argento's The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, the harrowing coming-of-age narrative by J.T. Leroy that was an official selection at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Bennett has held his own working with the biggest names in the industry, co-starring with Bruce Willis in Hostage and Ryan Reynolds in Michael Bay's remake of the 1979 horror classic, The Amityville Horror. Most recently he was seen in Firewall with Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen.

Bennett's stage presence has also transcended the big screen to the small screen and even off-screen. He lent his vocal talents to Robert Zemeckis for The Polar Express and to Disney's Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo. His television credits include appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Judging Amy, The Guardian, Strong Medicine, Everwood and the television movie, The Detective.

Bennett is currently working on the production of Evan Almighty, the sequel to the hit movie Bruce Almighty, starring opposite Steve Carell.

ANDRE BRAUGHER (Captain Bradford) has long established himself as a distinguished yet versatile actor in roles encompassing film, television and theatre. He is perhaps best known for his Emmy Award winning portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton on the hit series Homicide: Life on the Street. Additionally, Braugher received three Emmy nominations for his performances in Gideon's Crossing, The Tuskegee Airmen, and a second nomination for Homicide: Life on the Street.

Currently, Braugher stars in the new series Thief, this time on the other side of the law as a professional bank robber. Other notable television credits include the A Soldier's Girl, Salem's Lot, Hack, and 10,000 Black Men Named George for which he received an NAACP Award nomination in 2001.

In addition to Braugher's success on the small screen, audiences have seen him star in a variety of feature film roles. Most recently he starred in Duets (2000) opposite Gwyneth Paltrow; in the independent feature A Better Way to Die (2000); and alongside Dennis Quaid in the critically praised film Frequency (2000). Before that he starred with Alec Baldwin in the independent film Thick As Thieves (1999).

Just prior to that, Braugher graced the screen with an ensemble cast including Jeff Daniels, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen and Anna Paquin in Jim Stern's All The Rage (1999); and starred in City of Angels (1998) with Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, and Dennis Franz.

A most versatile performer, Braugher has appeared on stage with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night and most recently, in the title role of Henry V, which earned him an Obie Award. At Joseph Papp's Public Theater, Braugher preformed in The Way of the World, and Shakespeare's Richard II and Coriolanus. He played Iago in the Folger Shakespeare Festival production of Othello and performed the title role in Macbeth for the Philadelphia Drama Guild.

Braugher, who was born and raised in Chicago, earned a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from Juilliard.

FREDDY RODRIGUEZ (Valentin) has quickly emerged as one of Hollywood's most versatile young actors, garnering an Emmy nomination and two SAG Awards for his role on Six Feet Under as the artful and ambitious mortician, Federico Diaz.

Currently, Rodriguez is working on the Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino project Grind House, and has just wrapped Bobby, a feature film written and directed by Emilio Estevez. This Summer, Rodriguez can be seen in M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, opposite Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jeffery Wright. Other notable film credits include Harsh Times, Dreamer, Havoc, A Walk in the Clouds, Dead Presidents, The Pest, Chasing Papi, Payback, and For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story.

Born and raised in Chicago, Rodriguez began acting in his teens. He received a two-year scholarship to the summer arts program at Chicago Center for the Gifted and went on to star in more than 20 theater productions in his home town. Between acting projects he enjoys helping a variety of organizations dedicated to keeping the arts in public schools.

A New York native, KEVIN DILLON (Lucky Larry) garnered attention for his roles in Oliver Stone's Platoon and The Doors. He also starred in the cult classic The Blob, and the poignant film Immediate Family, opposite James Woods and Glenn Close.

Dillon then landed a series regular role on That's Life, and recurring roles on the critically acclaimed series NYPD Blue and 24. He is currently receiving accolades for his portrayal of Johnny Drama in the hit HBO comedy series, Entourage.

He resides in Los Angeles with his fiancee, Jane, and frequents New York whenever possible.

Actress / composer / performer STACY FERGUSON (Gloria) started her career when she was eight years old, providing the voice of Sally on several Charlie Brown television specials and as a member of the cast of the Kids Incorporated series in 1984.

Ferguson hasn't stopped performing in one capacity or another since then. She eventually fronted the R&B band Wild Orchid with her fellow Kids Incorporated star Renee Sands along with Stefanie Ride. She sang back-up vocals for various artists before joining the popular hip-hop group The BLACK EYED PEAS in 2003.

Ferguson made her feature film debut in the 1987 spoof horror Monster in the Closet. She further graced the silver screen in a wide array of projects; including Outside Ozona, Along Came Polly, 50 First Dates, and Be Cool.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Born in Emden, Germany, WOLFGANG PETERSEN (Director / Producer) began directing stage productions at age 21 while still an acting student at Hamburg's Ernst Deutsch Theatre. Eventually deciding to focus his efforts solely on directing, Petersen entered the Berlin Film and Television Academy, where he trained for four years.

In 1970, Petersen made his television directorial debut with I Will Kill You, Wolf which he followed with 6 two-hour telefeatures for the series Tatort ("Crime Scene"). Reifezeugnis ("Final Grades"), one of his shows in this series, turned newcomer Nastassja Kinski literally overnight into a star and to this day it is the most successful TV movie in the history of German television.

Among his other early successes were Smog, which won the 1975 Silver Prix Futura in Berlin, and Black and White Like Day and Night, for which he earned the award as Best Director at the Paris Film Festival in 1978.

Petersen started his feature film career winning the German National Film Prize of Best New Director for The One or the Other in 1973. He soon gained international recognition with the controversial 1977 drama The Consequence; the WWII nautical adventure Das Boot (1981), still the most successful German post-war movie today, garnering two Oscar nominations (Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation); The NeverEnding Story (1984), his first English-language film; the space fantasy Enemy Mine (1985), starring Louis Gossett Jr. and Dennis Quaid; and - after taking permanent residence in the United States - the suspense thriller Shattered (1991), starring Tom Berenger.

In 1993, Petersen directed the critically acclaimed suspense thriller, In the Line of Fire, starring Clint Eastwood, which was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Editing). This triumph was followed by the box office hits Outbreak (1995), starring Dustin Hoffman; and Air Force One (1997), starring Harrison Ford. In 2000, Petersen returned to the water with the seafaring drama The Perfect Storm, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. His next screen adventure took the audience 3000 years back in history to the Late Bronze Age with Troy (2004), written by David Benioff and inspired by The Iliad, Homer's timeless poem about love and war, starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom.

Petersen's last five films have grossed a total of $1.5 billion at the box office worldwide.

MARK PROTOSEVICH (Screenwriter) wrote the screenplay for the science fiction thriller The Cell, in which a psychotherapist (played by Jennifer Lopez) journeys inside the mind of a comatose serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio) in the hopes of saving his latest victim. A well-reviewed box office success, The Cell was released in 2000 and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup. Protosevich also co-produced the film.

Protosevich has also written the screenplay for John Carter of Mars, an ambitious, big-budget project that is currently in pre-production. Based on A Princess of Mars, the first in a series of 11 books written in 1912 by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes) known as The Martian Series, the film deals with the plight of a Civil War veteran who is transported to Mars and finds himself a captive of the savage green men from Thark. Eventually he rises to become the greatest warrior of all time. Jon Favreau (Elf) will direct John Carter of Mars, which will be released later this year.

Additionally, Protosevich has written the screenplay I am Legend, an updated version of Richard Matheson's novel of the same name. Francis Lawrence (Constantine) will direct the film, which is set to be released in 2007.

Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated filmmaker DUNCAN HENDERSON (Producer) first collaborated with Wolfgang Petersen in 1995, when he was the executive producer and second unit director on Outbreak. They collaborated again on The Perfect Storm in 2000 before reuniting for Poseidon.

A graduate of the Directors Guild of America Training Program, Henderson began his career in 1980 as an assistant director on American Gigolo. He went on to be the assistant director on more than 20 films, including Cobra, Rocky IV, Racing With the Moon, My Favorite Year, Staying Alive, True Confessions and Heaven's Gate.

Henderson ultimately executive produced a number of films, including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Deep Blue Sea, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and The Program. He has also collaborated frequently with director Peter Weir, beginning in 1989 when he co-produced Dead Poets Society. He later co-produced Green Card for Weir and, most recently, produced Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, for which he shared Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture of the Year in 2003.

From 1995 until 1997, Henderson was the executive vice president of feature film production at 20th Century Fox, where he oversaw the filming of Independence Day, Titanic, Alien: Resurrection and The Crucible, among many others.

MIKE FLEISS (Producer) is a producer-writer-director who produced the 2003 remake of Tobe Hooper's classic horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Fleiss most recently produced the horror film Hostel.

Fleiss is perhaps best known for his pioneering work in the increasingly stylish arena of reality-based television programming, starting in 1989 when he was a writer for Totally Hidden Video. He was the executive producer of the enormously popular (and controversial) television special Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?, as well as Are You Hot?.

His biggest success came in 2002, when he created the hit series The Bachelor, serving as the show's writer and executive producer. Some of his reality TV credits since that time include High School Reunion (2003), The Bachelorette (2003), The Real Gilligan's Island (2004) and, most recently, The Starlet series and The Will, a TV series documentary.

AKIVA GOLDSMAN (Producer) received the 2001 Academy Award, Golden Globe and Writers Guild Award for A Beautiful Mind which also won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Goldsman's credits include The Client, Batman Forever, A Time to Kill, Practical Magic, I, Robot, Cinderella Man and The Da Vinci Code.

His Weed Road Pictures has produced such films as Deep Blue Sea, Starsky & Hutch, Constantine, and Mr. and Mr. Smith.

Born in Brooklyn Heights, New York, Goldsman graduated from Wesleyan University and attended the graduate program in creative writing at New York University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Rebecca and their dog Fizz.

KEVIN BURNS (Executive Producer) began his career as an independent filmmaker and teacher in Boston. In 1988 he moved to Los Angeles, where he was hired as a television executive at 20th Century Fox. While there, he co-founded Foxstar Productions and developed a series of highly rated and critically acclaimed Alien Nation movies for television.

At Fox, Burns met Jon Jashni, a film executive who shared his interest in the works of legendary Hollywood producer Irwin Allen. In 1999, the pair formed Synthesis Entertainment and began developing and producing dynamic re-interpretations of several Irwin Allen properties, including The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

As a writer, producer and director, Kevin Burns' name has appeared on more than 400 hours of widely praised and award-winning television series and specials. In 2003, he won the first of two Emmy Awards as executive producer of A&E Networks' groundbreaking Biography series. In 2004, George Lucas engaged Burns to produce and direct an ambitious 150-minute documentary, Empire of Dreams: the Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy.

He is currently partnered with filmmaker Bryan Singer on the production of a feature-length film on the history of Superman entitled Look,Up in the Sky! to be released in June, 2006.

JON JASHNI (Executive Producer) is currently Chief Creative Officer of Legendary Pictures, a feature film co-production and co-financing company based at Warner Bros. Pictures. The company's projects include Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Lady in the Water, Frank Miller's 300 and The Ant Bully.

Prior to joining Legendary, Jashni was President of Hyde Park Entertainment - a production, financing and international sales company with a first-look deal at 20th Century Fox and a second-look deal at Disney. While there, he was a producer on the company's Shopgirl, starring Steve Martin and Claire Danes; Dreamer, starring Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell; and Premonition, a psychological thriller starring Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck), upcoming for 2007.

Additional projects, in partnership with filmmaker Kevin Burns, include new versions of Irwin Allen's classic properties Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, a two hour backdoor pilot of The Time Tunnel for the Sci-Fi Channel and a four-hour Land of the Giants for NBC.

Prior to joining Hyde Park in 2002, Jashni was a producer of the phenomenally successful romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas. The film set the record for the biggest-grossing September opening ever and went on to gross $140 million domestically.

Jashni has also co-produced two films that have garnered three Academy Award nominations. The first, the critically acclaimed The Hurricane, was directed by Norman Jewison and garnered a Best Actor nomination for its star, Denzel Washington. The second, Anna and the King, starred Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat, received two nominations and grossed over $125 million worldwide.

His involvement in Anna and the King stemmed from his collaboration with director Andy Tennant on the $100 million-grossing Ever After, starring Drew Barrymore. Jashni oversaw the development and production of that film as a senior 20th Century Fox production executive. Prior to that, Jashni was partnered with industry powerbroker Irving Azoff in the Warner Bros. Pictures' based production company Giant Pictures. Their association resulted in the production of the aforementioned The Hurricane (1999), Jack Frost (1998) and The Ink Well (1994).

Jashni partnered with Azoff after a stint as a Columbia Pictures production executive where he was involved in the development and production of such films as Groundhog Day, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mo' Money, Stephen King's Sleepwalkers and Fools Rush In.

Jashni began his career at Daniel Melnick's The IndieProd Company, where he was involved in the production of Air America, Mountains of the Moon, Roxanne and Punchline.

As the wife of producer / director Irwin Allen, SHEILA ALLEN (Executive Producer) is a familiar face to science fiction and fantasy fans around the world. Under her professional name, Sheila Mathews, the actress appeared in dozens of film and television roles, including that of Nurse Gina Rowe in the original version of The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

Since her husband's death in 1991, Mrs. Allen has skillfully made the transition from actress and wife to producer. Dedicated to keeping her husband's name and legacy alive for future generations, she was instrumental in the development and production of the big-budget Lost in Space motion picture, which was released by New Line Cinema in 1998.

In 1999, Mrs. Allen began a partnership with producers Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni of Synthesis Entertainment. Working as a team, the trio oversees all aspects of production, including licensing and merchandising, for remakes and sequels of the Irwin Allen properties including The Towering Inferno, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, When Time Ran Out and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Mrs. Allen is also active in numerous philanthropic enterprises, including the American Film Institute, the Society of Singers, and the Los Angeles Opera.

She makes her home in Malibu, California.

BENJAMIN WAISBREN (Executive Producer) most recently executive produced the action thriller V for Vendetta. His professional career has included law, investment banking and alternative asset class investing, as well as the motion picture industry.

Waisbren is the founder and Managing Director of Virtual Studios, a business that invests in the production and distribution of major motion pictures. He is also on the Board of Directors of Wild Bunch, S.A., a motion picture distributor and sales company based in Paris. He is the executive producer on the upcoming films The Good German, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Blood Diamond, 300, First Born, Gardener of Eden, Nancy Drew, Duane Hopwood and The Woody Allen Summer Project 2006 (working title).

He is also a Managing Director at Stark Investments, a multi-strategy hedge fund with approximately $8 billion of equity capital under management, where he co-manages the structured finance strategies at the firm.

Prior to joining Stark Investments, he was a Managing Director of Salomon Brothers Inc. in New York, where he headed the restructuring group in the Investment Banking Department. Prior to that, he was a partner at the Chicago Law Firm of Lord, Bissell & Brook, where he led the corporate reorganizations and bankruptcy practice.

Academy Award-winning cinematographer JOHN SEALE, A.C.S., A.S.C., (Director of Photography) has enjoyed a long and busy career, characterized by his forging relationships with filmmakers who later want to work with him again. Poseidon marks Seale's second collaboration with Wolfgang Petersen, after his work on The Perfect Storm in 2000 earned him a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography from the American Society of Cinematographers.

Seale's association with director Anthony Minghella has been particularly rewarding, resulting in three feature films, beginning in 1996 with The English Patient, for which Seale won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, in addition to winning the American Society of Cinematographers Award. They next collaborated in 1999 on The Talented Mr. Ripley, followed by Cold Mountain in 2003, for which Seale received Oscar and ASC nominations.

Seale worked twice with director Rob Reiner, in 1995 on The American President and again in 1996 on Ghosts of Mississippi. He also worked with director Randa Haines on two projects, Children of a Lesser God in 1986 and The Doctor in 1991.

But Seale's longest and most productive collaborations have been with fellow Australian director Peter Weir, dating back to 1975, when Seale was the camera operator on Picnic at Hanging Rock. Seale was the camera operator on Weir's next two films, The Last Wave and Gallipoli. In 1980, he became a director of photography, and was the second unit photographer on Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously in 1982. During this period, Seale worked constantly in Australia's thriving film industry, winning the Australian Cinematographers Award in 1983 for Careful, He Might Hear You.

Seale was Weir's director of photography on three more films: Witness (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination; The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Dead Poets Society (1989).

Seale's other credits as a cinematographer include Michael Apted's Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Barry Levinson's Rain Man (1988) for which, again, Seale was honored with Academy Award and ASC nominations, Sydney Pollack's The Firm (1993), Ron Howard's The Paper (1994) and John Boorman's Beyond Rangoon (1995). More recently, Seale was director of photography on Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), Lawrence Kasdan's Dreamcatcher (2003) and James L. Brooks's Spanglish (2004). Seale also directed the feature film Till There Was You in 1990.

WILLIAM SANDELL (Production Designer) has collaborated with Wolfgang Petersen on three films before Poseidon: Outbreak (1995), Air Force One (1997) and The Perfect Storm (2000). Originally an artist who created kinetic sculptures, Sandell began his filmmaking career in 1973 as a set dresser, but was in demand as a production designer within ten years.

Sandell's credits include RoboCop (1987), Big Business (1988), Total Recall (1990), The Flintstones (1994), Deep Blue Sea (1999) and, more recently, Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), for which Sandell earned a BAFTA Award as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction and Set Decoration shared with his set decorator Robert Gould.

In 2003, Sandell served as production designer for John Woo's Paycheck.

PETER HONESS, A.C.E. (Editor) previously worked with Wolfgang Petersen, editing the epic Troy in 2004. He began his motion picture career editing low-budget films and documentaries, earning an American Cinema Editors Eddie nomination in 1974 for his editing of the documentary Following the Tundra Wolf. Honess briefly turned to feature film sound editing before becoming an assistant film editor on John Irvin's Dogs of War in 1981.

The list of films edited by Peter Honess suggests he is receptive to the collaborative nature of filmmaking, forming bonds with certain directors who seem to seek his services whenever possible. He edited four films directed by John Schlesinger: The Believers (1987), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Eye For an Eye (1996) and his final picture, The Next Best Thing (2000). Honess also collaborated with director Fred Schepisi on four projects, starting with his feature film adaptation of David Hare's stage hit Plenty (1985), followed by The Russia House (1990), Mr. Baseball (1992) and his film adaptation of John Guare's acclaimed play Six Degrees of Separation (1993).

Russell Mulcahy is another director for whom Peter Honess edited four movies: Highlander (1986), Ricochet (1991), The Real McCoy (1993) and The Shadow (1994). Honess also worked on two more films with John Irvin, Champions (1984) and Next of Kin (1989); and edited two for director Harold Becker: Mercury Rising (1998) and Domestic Disturbance (2001).

Honess' other credits include Curtis Hanson's critically acclaimed L.A. Confidential in 1997, which garnered him an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA for Best Editing. More recently, he worked with director Jon Turteltaub on The Kid (2000), with Rob Cohen on The Fast and the Furious (2001), Chris Columbus on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and director Karyn Kusama on Aeon Flux (2005).

With credits on box office blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean and over 25 other major Hollywood films, KLAUS BADELT (Composer) has established himself as one of the most sought-after composers in Hollywood.

Badelt's approach generates original scores with an authentic production value while maintaining the integrity of a film score. His devoted team spirit in combination with his personal drive to explore new ideas and push the creative envelope makes Badelt, a filmmaker who has distinctive music and an intimate style, unique within the industry.

Badelt first came to Hollywood's attention through his collaborations with composers like Hans Zimmer and Michael Kamen. He has worked on scores including the Oscar-nominated Gladiator (which he also produced), The Thin Red Line, Mission: Impossible 2 and X-Men.

His composer credits include Richard Donner's 16 Blocks, Constantine, Chen Kaige's The Promise, The Recruit, The Time Machine, K-19: The Widowmaker, Ned Kelly, Basic, Catwoman and Werner Herzog's Invincible.

ERICA EDELL PHILLIPS (Costume Designer) has collaborated with Wolfgang Petersen on five films prior to Poseidon: The Perfect Storm (2000), Air Force One (1997), Outbreak (1995), In the Line of Fire (1993) and Shattered (1991).

Since moving to Los Angeles from New York over 20 years ago, Phillips has accumulated an imposing roster of feature film and television credits as costume designer. She has provided the wardrobe for a wide variety of movies, including RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), A Perfect World (1993), Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), The Cable Guy (1996) and Soldier (1998), which marked the first time Phillips had designed costumes for Kurt Russell, with whom she is reunited for Poseidon.

Most recently, Phillips worked on The Tuxedo (2002) and Paycheck (2003).

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