HanWay, Lionsgate board Fassbender Western

Principal photography gets underway today in New Zealand on John Maclean’s western Slow West.

Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Ben Mendelsohn and Caren Pistorius star in British director Maclean’s debut, which will be sold internationally by HanWay and distributed in the UK by Lionsgate.

Set at the end of the 19th Century, Slow West follows the story of 17-year-old Jay Cavendish (Smit-McPhee) as he journeys across the American Frontier in search of the woman he loves, accompanied by a mysterious traveller named Silas (Fassbender).

Set in Colorado and the Scottish highlands, the Western will film on location in New Zealand and Scotland.       

The project, lauded within industry circles at script stage, is being produced by The King’s Speech producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films (Shame, Tracks); Michael Fassbender and Conor McCaughan of DMC Film; and Rachel Gardner of Rachel Gardner Films.

The film marks Prometheus, Shame and 12 Years A Slave star Fassbender’s first feature as a producer.

Other members of the creative team include Wuthering Heights and Philomena cinematographer Robbie Ryan; Oscar-winning art-director Kim Sinclair (Avatar, Man Of Steel) who is on board as production designer; costume designer Kirsty Cameron (Whale Rider) and make-up designer Dannelle Satherley (The Hobbit).

The film was developed by Film4 and is co-financed by Film4, the BFI, the New Zealand Film Commission and Fulcrum Media Finance.

Maclean’s acclaimed 2012 BAFTA-winning short, Pitch Black Heist, also starred Fassbender.

Smit-McPhee is the young actor best known for his performances in The Road and Let Me In. He will also star in the upcoming Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Pistorius stars in Australian TV series Offspring.

Formed in 2010, DMC Film is the production company of Michael Fassbender and his agent Conor McCaughan of Troika.

The company’s first production was Pitch Black Heist. Other projects include videogame adaptation Assassin’s Creed with Ubisoft and New Regency Pictures and Garagistas, a feature set in the 1950s about Formula One racing, with BBC Films.