Set in the 14th century, SOTW is produced by Charles Roven and Alex Gartner with screenplay by Bragi Schut. The film stars Nicolas Cage , Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Claire Foy, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Robert Sheehan and Christopher Lee.
The film is releasing in India with 250 plus screens in English,Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Season of the Witch is a researched and reproduced image of life in the Middle Ages. It is about a medieval knight Behmen, who undertakes a mission pitting him against a devious witch and making him the last hope for the world against an ancient and dark force. His faith broken by years of battle as a crusader, Behmen returns to central Europe to find his homeland decimated by the Black Plague. While searching for food and supplies at the Palace at Marburg, Behmen and his trusted companion, Felson, are apprehended and ordered by the dying Cardinal to deliver a young peasant girl believed to be the witch responsible for the Plague to a remote abbey where her powers can be destroyed. Behmen agrees to the assignment but only if the peasant girl is granted a fair trial. As he and five others set off on this dangerous journey, they realize with mounting dread that the cunning girl is no ordinary human and that their mission will pit them against an evil that even in these dark times they never could have imagined.
Multivision Multimedia India director Amit Jethani says, “Calling it a supernatural thriller set in the 14th century’ is saying it all in terms of the genre pitch, but there’s so much more going on. It will terrify audiences, but because it has great characters, it feels completely real. 2011 is going to be an explosive year for us. More than 6 big Hollywood movies in the next 4 months, we’re bringing the audiences back to back entertainment.”
Cage says, “The movie is complicated and beautiful,” he says. “Dominic Sena did a remarkable job conceiving and photographing a film as original and exciting as this one. When the movie comes to the climax, you’re as surprised as the characters are by what you’re seeing. I think it makes for a great ride.”
He further adds, “I’ve wanted to make a picture in this period for a long time. I feel deeply connected to it. When I was five or six, my father built a wooden castle for me in our backyard. I would spend whole days in there, imagining the heroic exploits I would have. I was on my own in that castle, exploring my imagination, and I became interested in knights and dragons and the history of the time. I’ve also always wanted to make a movie that would allow me to experience beautiful, mountainous terrain. When I got this script and realized I would be in the Austrian Alps on a horse, I just wanted to get out there.”
Sena says, “This is about six people on a dangerous journey through rough territory, and we get to know the characters along the way. The story is told on a very human scale, and it touches on issues of good and evil, of religion and redemption. It takes place in a time when people believed that supernatural events were commonplace. And yet, it’s filled with relatable elements in terms of what is happening in our world. The characters are questioning things that many people question today. As a filmmaker, I always want the story to resonate with today’s audience and a lot of things are going on in the world today that have shaken our foundation of beliefs. When we question our beliefs and we don’t have answers for things, we still have a tendency to look for scapegoats.”
