Anthony Hopkins plays a motorcycling legend in TheWorld's Fastest Indian, whichwriter/director Roger Donaldson has been shooting for three weeks on the Utahsalt flats and moves shortly to New Zealand for a further 11 weeks.
The New Zealand Film Commission and New Zealand FilmProduction Fund are the financing partners on what is the first film backed by18-month-old OLC/Rights Entertainment, which will handle sales to Korea, Taiwanand its home territory of Japan. Producers Donaldson and Gary Hannam retainNorth American rights as part of the deal and New Zealand Film will be handlingthe remainder.
The Indian of the title refers to the 1920 Indian Scoutmotorcycle on which New Zealander Burt Munro set the world land speed record in1962, and again in 1967.
The filming to date has taken place at the actual site wherethe records where broken.
Donaldson kicked off his career in NZ then headed forHollywood where he made such films as Cadillac Man, Species, Dante'sPeak, Thirteen Days and TheRecruit.
The World's Fastest Indian is his first film back in NZ for over 20 years.
The executive producers are Sydney-based Charles Hannah andTokyo-based Masaharu Inaba, a former banker who was involved in financing HowardsEnd, which also starred Hopkins. Donaldsonworked with Hopkins on the 1984 US/UK film The Bounty and with Hannam on the 1981 NZ film SmashPalace.
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