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"Reign of Fire" begins in present-day London as a young boy named Quinn watches as his mother, a construction engineer in charge of a subway excavation, accidently rouses an enormous dragon from its centuries-long slumber. The mother and her crew are killed, but the boy survives, growing up to become a leader battling for mankind's survival against the dragons, which by the year 2024 have become Earth's dominant species. Now an adult, Quinn and his group take refuge in an abandoned castle in the English countryside, where they live in near-medieval conditions. Quinn serves as a "Fire Chief" who is responsible for containing the massive firestorms caused by dragons prowling the area. By chance his group meets American dragon-slayer Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) and his motley militia, who are planning a dangerous expedition to post-apocalyptic London to destroy the dragon brood's queen, dubbed Ashley. The $95 million movie features impressive CGI effects, done by Irish special effects company Team FX, and looks to raise the standard set by "Dragonheart."
Rob Bowman (X-Files) directs with Matthew McConaughey (U-571), Christian Bale (Shaft, American Psycho) and Izabella Scorupco (Vertical Limit, Golden Eye) starring. Alexander Siddig, best known as Dr. Bashir from "Deep Space Nine," plays a half-English and half-Pakistani character named Ajay, the best friend of one of the main characters. The production company is Spyglass Entertainment and the distributor is Touchstone Pictures (Disney). "Reign of Fire" is being produced by veteran producer Richard Zanuck.
The film is set in Norfolk, a flat county of England that is no more than 100 meters above sea level, but was filmed in the Wicklow mountains of Ireland. According to set worker Shaun Hindle, the filmmakers believe that "the film would probably be seen by 200 million people across the world and only about two million would know Norfolk was flat." Norfolk resident John Birchall, a spokesman for the Norfolk County Council, hopes that the film will increase tourism in the area, telling a reporter: "If fans of the film want to come here to look for the mountains, they will be most welcome."
There has been speculation that Disney is planning a new roller coaster ride in Orlando tied to the film's storyline. The coaster would simulate the film's climax, with riders passing through the burned-out ruins of London in search of the dragon brood's queen. The ride could feature the largest audio-animatronic figure the company has ever built, a 30-foot-tall robotic version of the queen that will belch fire, while snapping its jaws and flapping its wings. The ride may finally resurrect a dormant proposal for a whole new area of the park called Beastly Kingdom, themed around imaginary creatures.
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