If you’re a fan of creature features but decided to bypass Touchstone’s Primeval at the multiplex, you’re not alone. Loosely based in reality, the pic about a 25-foot crocodile was in and out of theaters faster than you could say ‘Crikey!,’ but it should bite off a bigger hunk of dough on home video. Buena Vista Home Entertainment will release the title on DVD on June 12 and is including a featurette on how the filmmakers created its computer-animated star.
Directed by TV veteran Michale Katleman, Primeval stars Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell as a disgraced television reporter who takes a camera crew to South Africa in hopes of capturing the legendary Gustave, a 20-foot crocodile that has been credited with killing at least 300 humans. In addition to attacks by the one-ton reptile, the team also has to deal with the threat of a local dictator. The cast also includes Orlando Jones (Evolution), Brooke Langton (Benchwarmers) and Jurgen Prochnow (The Da Vinci Code).
Luma Pictures handled the lion’s share of the digital creature effects work for the production, which is actually filmed in the area the attacks allegedly took place in real life. Luma’s previous credits include animating fierce werewolves for the Underworld films and blood-thirsty subterranean dwellers for The Cave.
DVD viewers will be able to see how Luma went primeval in a featurette titled Croc-umentary: Bringing Gustave to Life. Other bonus features will include lost footage, deleted scenes with an optional director commentary and optional feature-length commentary with Katleman and actor Orlando Jones.
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