Owen Wilson,
Lake Bell and
Pierce Brosnan were among the stars at the premiere of their action-packed thriller
No Escape on Monday night at L.A. Live.
The film was written, directed and produced by the filmmaker brothers Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, The Poughkeepsie Tapes). The story centers on a family that finds themselves in the middle of a violent political uprising after relocating to Thailand. The brothers told The Hollywood Reporter that their inspiration for the film came from actual events.
“I went to Thailand with my dad, and the day before we got there, a coup happened,” said John Erick Dowdle. “They threw out the prime minister and the generals took over the country, and I started thinking, ‘What if I had kids here? What if this went really badly? What would I do?’ ”
It was that mix of reality and terror that initially attracted Wilson to the project: “I just think it was a character that I could kind of imagine myself playing. He wasn’t doing unbelievable action movie stuff; it was sort of grounded in a reality. It was motivated by that primal stuff when your kids are in danger that you would feel,” Wilson said.
The thriller marked Wilson’s first no-comedic role since Behind Enemy Lines in 2001.
“I read the script, and I thought it was an exciting story,” Wilson told THR. “I met with the Dowdles, and they said, “You bring the dad from Marley & Me, and we’ll bring the turmoil in Southeast Asia.”
Bold Productions CEO Gary Michael Walters was an executive producer on the film following the success of last year’s Whiplash and Nightcrawler , both of which achieved critical acclaim and Oscar nominations.
“I believe that there’s a broader demographic out there for it,” said Walters. “It plays a little more red state; it’s a little more heartland than we usually do.”
No Escape opens Aug. 26.
