Sanctum (film)
Encyclopedia
Sanctum is a 2011 Australia
n 3D adventure drama film directed by Alister Grierson
from a screenplay by John Garvin and Andrew Wight, and story by Wight. It stars Rhys Wakefield
, Richard Roxburgh
, Ioan Gruffudd
, Alice Parkinson and Daniel Wyllie
.
), expedition bank-roller Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd
) and his girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson), travel to the Esa'ala Cave
, an underwater cave exploration
site in Papua New Guinea
. Josh's father Frank (Richard Roxburgh
), a master diver, has already established a forward base camp at a lower level inside the cave, where the team has been exploring for weeks.
While exploring a section of the cave known as Devil's Restriction, Frank and diver Judes (Allison Cratchley
) meet with an accident which results in Judes' death, fueling arguments and speculation among the group.
Unaware that a fierce storm has developed topside, it is discovered that communications with the surface have broken down. The storm causes a portion of the cave system to collapse, trapping the remaining divers below. With the water level quickly rising, the group must now attempt to find an exit route through the unexplored depths of the cave, in the hopes of finding a path that leads to the sea.
The end credit paid a tribute to Wesley C. Skiles
.
expedition in Australia that resulted in 13 cavers becoming trapped in one of the worlds largest underwater cave systems after a freak storm collapsed the entrance. James Cameron
served as executive producer.
Shot on the Gold Coast
in Queensland, Australia, Sanctum employs 3D photography techniques Cameron developed to film Avatar. All of the underwater sequences took place in a large water tank at the Village Roadshow Studios
in Queensland. Real caves were also filmed in South Australia
's cave-diving region around Mount Gambier
.
Stunt diver Agnes Milowka
, who appears as a double in the already-released film, drowned in one of these caves on 27 February 2011 when she reportedly ran out of air.
Universal Studios
and Relativity Media
paid $12 million for rights to distribute the film in the United States and Canada, and in several foreign countries.
. CinemaScore
polls indicated a C+ rating from audiences.
As of March 2011, Sanctum was the tenth-highest-grossing Australian film at the international box office. By 27 September 2011, it had taken a worldwide gross of $101,776,104.
reports that 30% of 155 critics rated the film positively with an average score of 4.5/10. The consensus states that "Sanctum is beautifully photographed, and it makes better use of 3-D technology than most, but that doesn't make up for its ham-handed script and lifeless cast." It has a Metacritic
rating of 42. However, in the rest of the world, where the major part of the gross take occurred, reviews were positive. In Australia, Jim Schembri gave it 3 1/2 stars whilst the UK's Daily Express opined 4/5.
released Sanctum on DVD, Blu-ray
, and Blu-ray 3D on 7 June 2011.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n 3D adventure drama film directed by Alister Grierson
Alister Grierson
Alister Grierson is an Australian film director and scriptwriter. Born in Canberra in 1969, he completed his secondary schooling at Canberra Grammar, graduated in Economics and Arts from the Australian National University and studied Japanese in Tokyo...
from a screenplay by John Garvin and Andrew Wight, and story by Wight. It stars Rhys Wakefield
Rhys Wakefield
Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor. He is best known for portraying the main character Thomas in the 2008 film The Black Balloon., for the 2011 film Sanctum, and portraying Lucas Holden in the long-running TV series Home and Away.-Biography:Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield...
, Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
, Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
, Alice Parkinson and Daniel Wyllie
Daniel Wyllie
Daniel Wyllie is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Wyllie has began acting on the stage and has a much lauded body of work in the theatre genre....
.
Plot
17-year-old Josh McGuire (Rhys WakefieldRhys Wakefield
Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor. He is best known for portraying the main character Thomas in the 2008 film The Black Balloon., for the 2011 film Sanctum, and portraying Lucas Holden in the long-running TV series Home and Away.-Biography:Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield...
), expedition bank-roller Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
) and his girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson), travel to the Esa'ala Cave
Esa'ala Cave
The Esa'ala Cave is a large partially unexplored cave in the Esa'ala District of Papua New Guinea.- In popular culture :The 2011 3D action thriller adventure drama film, Sanctum, directed by Alister Grierson and produced by James Cameron, was inspired by true events that occurred at a cave site...
, an underwater cave exploration
Cave diving
Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...
site in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. Josh's father Frank (Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh
Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
), a master diver, has already established a forward base camp at a lower level inside the cave, where the team has been exploring for weeks.
While exploring a section of the cave known as Devil's Restriction, Frank and diver Judes (Allison Cratchley
Allison Cratchley
Allison Cratchley in sydney's northern beaches to parents Kathryn and Noel Cratchley. The oldest of 3 children brother Noel jnr and sister sallyanne....
) meet with an accident which results in Judes' death, fueling arguments and speculation among the group.
Unaware that a fierce storm has developed topside, it is discovered that communications with the surface have broken down. The storm causes a portion of the cave system to collapse, trapping the remaining divers below. With the water level quickly rising, the group must now attempt to find an exit route through the unexplored depths of the cave, in the hopes of finding a path that leads to the sea.
The end credit paid a tribute to Wesley C. Skiles
Wesley C. Skiles
Wesley C. Skiles was an American cave diving pioneer, explorer, and underwater cinematographer. Skiles lived in High Springs, Florida.-Background:...
.
Cast
- Rhys WakefieldRhys WakefieldRhys Wakefield is an Australian actor. He is best known for portraying the main character Thomas in the 2008 film The Black Balloon., for the 2011 film Sanctum, and portraying Lucas Holden in the long-running TV series Home and Away.-Biography:Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield...
as Joshua "Josh" McGuire - Richard RoxburghRichard RoxburghRichard Roxburgh is an Australian actor who has starred in many Australian films and has appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hollywood productions, usually as villains.-Early life:...
as Frank McGuyre - Ioan GruffuddIoan GruffuddIoan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
as Carl Hurley - Alice Parkinson as Victoria "Vic" Elaine
- Daniel WyllieDaniel WyllieDaniel Wyllie is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Wyllie has began acting on the stage and has a much lauded body of work in the theatre genre....
as George - Christopher Baker as J.D.
- Nicole Downs as Liz
- Allison CratchleyAllison CratchleyAllison Cratchley in sydney's northern beaches to parents Kathryn and Noel Cratchley. The oldest of 3 children brother Noel jnr and sister sallyanne....
as Judes - Cramer Cain as Luko
- Andrew HansenAndrew HansenAndrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
as Dex - John Garvin as Jim Sergeant
Production
Sanctum was inspired by the film's co-writer Andrew Wight's experience with a cave divingCave diving
Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...
expedition in Australia that resulted in 13 cavers becoming trapped in one of the worlds largest underwater cave systems after a freak storm collapsed the entrance. James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
served as executive producer.
Shot on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
in Queensland, Australia, Sanctum employs 3D photography techniques Cameron developed to film Avatar. All of the underwater sequences took place in a large water tank at the Village Roadshow Studios
Warner roadshow studios
Village Roadshow Studios are a set of film production facilities location in Oxenford, Queensland, on Australia's Gold Coast. The complex is made up of 8 sound stages accompanied by a range of other production facilities. The Studios have been home to countless feature films, telemovies, TV series...
in Queensland. Real caves were also filmed in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
's cave-diving region around Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
.
Stunt diver Agnes Milowka
Agnes Milowka
Agnes Milowka was an Australian technical diver, underwater photographer, author, and cave explorer.She gained the international recognition for extending the cave systems across Australia and Florida, and as a public speaker and the author on subject of diving and maritime...
, who appears as a double in the already-released film, drowned in one of these caves on 27 February 2011 when she reportedly ran out of air.
Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and Relativity Media
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American independent motion picture production and investment company based in West Hollywood, California.- Company :...
paid $12 million for rights to distribute the film in the United States and Canada, and in several foreign countries.
Box office
Sanctum opened with $9.2 million in its first weekend, coming in second behind The RoommateThe Roommate
The Roommate is a 2011 thriller film directed by Christian E. Christiansen and starring Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Danneel Harris, Matt Lanter, and Aly Michalka. It was theatrically released on February 4, 2011. The film is a unofficial remake of the 1992 film Single White...
. CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...
polls indicated a C+ rating from audiences.
As of March 2011, Sanctum was the tenth-highest-grossing Australian film at the international box office. By 27 September 2011, it had taken a worldwide gross of $101,776,104.
Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews in the USA. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 30% of 155 critics rated the film positively with an average score of 4.5/10. The consensus states that "Sanctum is beautifully photographed, and it makes better use of 3-D technology than most, but that doesn't make up for its ham-handed script and lifeless cast." It has a Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
rating of 42. However, in the rest of the world, where the major part of the gross take occurred, reviews were positive. In Australia, Jim Schembri gave it 3 1/2 stars whilst the UK's Daily Express opined 4/5.
Home video
Universal Studios Home EntertainmentUniversal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
released Sanctum on DVD, Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, and Blu-ray 3D on 7 June 2011.