The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)

Director:

David L. Cunningham

Writers (WGA):

John Hodge (screenplay)
Susan Cooper (novel)

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Even the smallest of light... shines in the darkness

Plot:

A boy's life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark.

Plot Keywords:

Loose Adaptation | Cat | Dog | Time Travel | Actor Playing Multiple Roles

Cast

Alexander Ludwig	...	Will Stanton / Tom Stanton
Christopher Eccleston	...	The Rider
Ian McShane	...	Merriman Lyon
Frances Conroy	...	Miss Greythorne
James Cosmo	...	Dawson
Jim Piddock	...	Old George
Amelia Warner	...	Maggie Barnes
John Benjamin Hickey	...	John Stanton
Wendy Crewson	...	Mary Stanton
Emma Lockhart	...	Gwen Stanton
Drew Tyler Bell	...	James Stanton
Edmund Entin	...	Robin Stanton
Gary Entin	...	Paul Stanton
Gregory Smith	...	Max Stanton
Jordan J. Dale	...	Stephen Stanton
Samantha Lawson	...	Saleswoman
Geoff Bell	...	Security Guard #1
Gary J. Tunnicliffe	...	Security Guard #2
Maria Miroiu	...	Rider's Mother
Sylvester Morand	...	Vicar
Mark Donovan	...	Fight Promoter
Stephen Evans	...	Trickster
Kim Kold Thomsen	...	Big Viking

Directed by
David L. Cunningham

Writing credits (WGA)
John Hodge		(screenplay)
Susan Cooper		(novel "The Dark Is Rising")

Produced by
Jared LeBoff	....	executive producer
Marc E. Platt	....	producer (as Marc Platt)
Ron Schmidt	....	executive producer
Adam Siegel	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christophe Beck

Cinematography by
Joel Ransom

Film Editing by
Geoffrey Rowland
Eric A. Sears		(as Eric Sears)

Casting by
Jina Jay		(as Jina Jay)
Amanda Mackey Johnson		(as Amanda Mackey)
Cathy Sandrich		(as Cathy Sandrich Gelfond)

Production Design by
David Lee

Art Direction by
Bill Crutcher
Julia Dehoff
Alexandru Roxana
Vlad Vieru

Set Decoration by
Liz Griffiths
Steve Oakes
Kate Venner

Costume Design by
Vin Burnham		(as Vinilla Burnham)

Makeup Department
Jana Carboni	....	makeup artist
Gabi Cretan	....	makeup artist: second unit (as Gabriela Cretan)
Elisabetta De Leonardis	....	hair stylist
Jennifer Hegarty	....	makeup artist
Catherine Heys	....	head makeup designer
Pauline Heys	....	head makeup designer
Lisa Tomblin	....	head hair designer
Clara Tudose	....	hair stylist: second unit
Gary J. Tunnicliffe	....	special makeup effects designer
Carla Vicenzino	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Charlotte Ashby	....	production manager
Dinu Calin Ionescu	....	unit production manager
Gabriel Popescu	....	unit production manager
Andreea Stanculeanu	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Booker	....	first assistant director: second unit
Matthew J. Clark	....	first assistant director
Ben Dixon	....	second assistant director
Mircea Hategan	....	first assistant director: second unit
Cristi Hulea	....	third assistant director
Pierre Ouellet	....	first assistant director: second unit
Stefan Petcu	....	additional assistant director
Stefan Petcu	....	third assistant director
Samar Pollitt	....	second second assistant director
James E. Price	....	second unit director
Ruxandra Slotea	....	second assistant director
Keith Hlady	....	co-second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Daniel Alexandru	....	sculptor: All Deco International
Oana Babes	....	art department coordinator
Cristian Baluta	....	assistant prop master
Laurel Bergman	....	set designer
Iulian Bostanaru	....	construction coordinator
Neal Callow	....	stand-by art director
Will Coubrough	....	set designer
Dean Fisher	....	stand-by props
Gordon Fitzgerald	....	property master
Rosie Goodwin	....	assistant graphic designer
Jane Harwood	....	set designer
Lee Hedges	....	dressing props daily: UK
Mark Hedges	....	prop storeman: Romania/UK
Gary Jopling	....	assistant art director
Dougie Lankston	....	dressing props daily: UK
Andrew Li	....	assistant art director: reshoots
Eduardo Lima	....	graphic designer
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor: All Deco International
Nick Milner	....	stand-by props
Kay Mitchell	....	set decorating department assistant: UK
Steve Payne	....	chargehand dressing props
Adrian Popa	....	property master
Serban Rotariu	....	assistant art director
Gina Stancu	....	assistant set decorator
Gert Stevens	....	senior concept artist
Norman Walshe	....	concept artist

Sound Department
Michael Axinn	....	adr editor
Cristian Deliu	....	additional sound mixer: second unit
Keith A. Garcia	....	production sound mixer
David Giammarco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Gomillion	....	sound recordist
Warren Hendriks	....	sound effects editor
Craig Henighan	....	supervising sound editor
R.J. Kizer	....	adr editor
John A. Larsen	....	supervising sound editor
Ai-Ling Lee	....	sound effects editor
Liviu Lupsa	....	boom operator
Paul Massey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chuck Michael	....	sound effects editor
Peter Murphy	....	boom operator
Erin Michael Rettig	....	sound engineer
Dennis Rogers	....	sound recordist
William Stein	....	re-recording engineer
Jason Tuttle	....	assistant sound editor

Special Effects by
Nick Allder	....	special effects supervisor
Florin Bivolaru	....	special effects technician
Jonathan Bullock	....	special effects technician
Kevin Carter	....	special effects contact lenses
Sorin Griscau	....	special effects technician
Peter Haran	....	special effects technician
Clive R. Kay	....	special effects contact lenses
Liviu Lungu	....	special effects technician
Florin Mihailescu	....	special effects technician
Luke Murphy	....	senior special effects technician
Adrian Nica	....	special effects technician
Ceri Nicholls	....	special effects technician
Gheorghe Papa	....	special effects technician
Adrian Popescu	....	special effects supervisor
Andreea Tanase	....	special effects coordinator
George Tudoran	....	special effects technician
Mihai Tudoran	....	special effects technician
Attila Vaski	....	special effects reshoots

Visual Effects by
Robert Adams	....	digital effects artist
Ted Andre	....	senior compositor: Digital Domain
Michael Angelo	....	Inferno artist: R!OT
Austen Armus	....	digital production administrator
Oliver Arnold	....	lighting lead
Jarrod Avalos	....	matchmove artist
Jennifer Avery	....	visual effects production assistant
Janice Barlow	....	dustbuster: Digital Domain
Joel Behrens	....	lead compositor: Digital Domain
Barb Benoit	....	digital compositor
Dennis Berardi	....	Visual Effects Producer: Mr. X Inc.
Niki Bern	....	digital compositor
John Berri	....	visual effects editor
Kristy Blackwell	....	digital compositor
John Bozzalla	....	manager of production services
Jeff Briant	....	visual effects production assistant: Mr X Inc.
Jared Brient	....	lighter: Hydraulx
Shannan Burkley	....	matte painter
Lindsay Burnett	....	visual effects executive producer: R!OT
Ben Campbell	....	lighting technical director
Jeff Capogreco	....	digital effects artist
Dan Carnegie	....	visual effects animator: Mr. X Inc.
Erik Charlebois	....	visual effects artist: Mr. X
Daniel Chavez	....	visual effects coordinator
Ovidiu Cinazan	....	digital compositor
Patrick Clancey	....	digital opticals
Chad E. Collier	....	scanning and recording operator: Digital Domain
Andrew M. Collins	....	matchmove artist
Matthew Collorafice	....	digital compositor
Cameron Coombs	....	digital compositor
Daniel Craemer	....	digital artist
Shad Davis	....	visual effects studio coordinator
Rob Del Ciancio	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc
Michael Dillon	....	digital intermediate assistant producer
Laura Dittmann	....	visual effects production assistant
Peter Dydo	....	animator
Mark Edwards	....	digital production manager: R!OT
Sam Edwards	....	Inferno artist
Nicholas Elwell	....	production assistant
Stephen Evans	....	lighting techical director
Antonio Freire	....	production accountant
Rand Geiger	....	visual effects production assistant
Navjit Singh Gill	....	render coordinator
Matt Glover	....	visual effects production assistant
Jason Gougeon	....	digital artist: Mr. X Inc.
Leonard F.W. Green	....	animator
Omar Gudjonsson	....	digital compositor
Annu Gulati	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Jamie Hallett	....	digital effects supervisor: R!OT
Sam Hancock	....	technical director
Ian A. Harris	....	digital artist: Digital Domain
Tulio Hernandez	....	sequence lighter
Jeff Heusser	....	visual effects
Richard Hirst	....	paint and rotoscope artist
Sam Hodge	....	digital artist: Rising Sun Pictures
Victoria Holt	....	visual effects coordinator: Mr. X Inc
Timo Huber	....	digital compositor
Chia-Chi Hu	....	digital compositor
Atsushi Imamura	....	visual effects
Aruna Inversin	....	digital compositor: Digital Domain
Marco Iozzi	....	senior lighting artist
Yasamin Ismaili	....	visual effects coordinator: Hydraulx
David Jones	....	visual effects supervisor: R!OT
Dennis Jones	....	digital compositor
Zack Judson	....	digital artist
Nikos Kalaitzidis	....	digital effects lead
Evan Kantor	....	visual effects coordinator: R!OT
Jason Knight	....	digital compositor
Anthony Kramer	....	digital compositor: R!OT
Daniel Kruse	....	tracker
Chris LeDoux	....	digital compositor: R!OT
Mai-Ling Lee	....	digital artist
Shun Sing Edward Lee	....	digital compositor
Didier Levy	....	senior lighter
Erik Liles	....	visual effects supervisor: Hydraulx
Adam Lisagor	....	compositor: Hydraulx
Jo Lockman	....	dustbuster
Jo Lockman	....	scanning and recording operator: Digital Domain
Laurence Lok	....	compositor: R!OT
Sean Looper	....	pipeline architect: R!OT
Ryan Lorie	....	supervising matchmoving artist
Justin Louis	....	3D camera tracking
Erika A. McKee	....	visual effects producer: R!OT-SM
Alex Meddick	....	visual effects editor: Rising Sun Pictures
Scott Michelson	....	visual effects executive producer
Alison Middaugh	....	3D lead: R!OT
Jaideep Mohan	....	digital compositor
Young Joon Mok	....	digital compositor
Marc Morissette	....	digital compositor
Vinh Nguyen	....	digital compositor
Jonathan O'Brien	....	visual effects production assistant
Hiroyuki Okubo	....	effects lead: R!OT
Andrew A. Paules	....	digital artist
Chris Payne	....	digital compositor
Russell Pearsall	....	lead character technical director
Nicolas Petit	....	effects technical director
Nicolas Petit	....	pipeline engineer
Tom Piedmont	....	digital artist
Tom Piedmont	....	dustbusting lead
Kelly Port	....	visual effects supervisor
James E. Price	....	visual effects supervisor
David Pritchard	....	visual effects
Chris Radcliffe	....	CG artist
Matt Ralph	....	digital artist
Lance Ranzer	....	paint/roto artist: Digital Domain
Dominic Remane	....	lighting lead: Mr X Inc
Thomas Reppen	....	digital artist
Ben Roberts	....	lead compositor: Rising Sun Pictures
Karl Rogovin	....	3D coordinator: Hydraulx
Paul Runyan	....	visual effects
Olivier Sarda	....	senior compositor
Matt Schofield	....	matte painter
Carolyn Shelby	....	digital effects artist
Ben Simons	....	head of technical production: Mr. X Inc.
Danita Slaughter	....	digital opticals editor
Brad Smith	....	render I/O administrator
John C. Sparks	....	visual effects: hydraulx
Jamie Stevenson	....	visual effects producer
Max Stummer	....	digital compositor: Rising Sun Pictures
Åsa Svedberg	....	digital artist: R!OT
Åsa Svedberg	....	lighting artist
James Sweeney	....	digital artist
David Thompson	....	digital compositor
Alexander Tirasongkran	....	matchmove technical director
Shigeharu Tomotoshi	....	CG artist
Jean Phillipe Traore	....	Flame artist: Mr. X Inc
Les Turner	....	animator
Beck Veitch	....	digital compositor: Rising Sun Pictures
Armando Velazquez	....	digital compositor
Brian Ward	....	animator
Ben Warner	....	digital compositor: Rising Sun Pictures
Aaron Weintraub	....	visual effects supervisor: Mr. X Inc.
Chris Wells	....	CG supervisor
Fiona Campbell Westgate	....	visual effects producer: Mr. X Inc
James Whitlam	....	visual effects executive producer: Rising Sun Pictures
Andy Wilkoff	....	CG supervisor: R!OT
Jonathan Wiseman	....	digital coordinator
Martin Wiseman	....	visual effects producer
Yoshiya Yamada	....	visual effects
Gregory Yepes	....	visual effects supervisor: Rising Sun Pictures
Kyle Yoneda	....	effects animator: Mr.X Inc.
Amanda Hampton	....	pipeline engineer (uncredited)

Stunts
Roxana Andronescu	....	stunt performer
Troy Brown	....	stunt coordinator
Gabi Burlacu	....	stunts
Philip Burthem	....	fight coordinator
Mihai Danciu	....	stunts
Razvan Gheorghiu	....	stunts
Vlad Iacob	....	stunts
Mihai Iliescu	....	stunts
Mihai Ionita	....	stunts
Kevin L. Jackson	....	utility stunts
John Kearney	....	horse master
Ralf Koch	....	stunt double
J.J. Makaro	....	stunt coordinator
Mihaela Elena Oros	....	stunt double
Carmen Preda	....	stunt double
Florea Sebastian	....	stunt double
Nicolae Stoica	....	stunts
Gary J. Tunnicliffe	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
David Appleby	....	still photographer
Dragos Badea	....	assistant camera
Andrei Badescu	....	grip
Iain Baird	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Peter Battistone	....	first assistant camera
Sandu Constantin	....	electrician
Andrei Cretan	....	assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Cojanu Daniel	....	camera operator
Alexandru Durac	....	camera operator
Sean Elliott	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Leonardo Fanone	....	gaffer
Keith Hlady	....	director of photography: second unit
Marius Ivascu	....	camera operator
James Lewis	....	underwater camera loader
Ionut Lupulescu	....	first assistant camera
Juliana Malucelli	....	second still photographer
John Marzano	....	aerial director of photography
Christopher Newman	....	first assistant camera: aerial unit, Flying Pictures Ltd
Florin Nicolae	....	gaffer
Gabriel Nita	....	assistant camera
Sasha Proctor	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Dany Racine	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Andrei Radulescu	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Octavian Sotir	....	assistant camera
Bogdan Stanciu	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Bogdan Stanciu	....	steadicam operator
Nicolae Vasile	....	electrician
Peter Wilke	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Peter Wilke	....	steadicam operator
J. Glyn Williams	....	first assistant camera: aerial unit

Animation Department
Simon Clarke	....	animator
Bradley McLaughlin	....	animator

Casting Department
Heike Brandstatter	....	additional casting
Coreen Mayrs	....	additional casting
Bogdan Pop	....	extras casting scout
Jocelyn E. Thomas	....	casting associate
Liliana Toma	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laurentiu Alexe	....	key costumer
Simon Brindle	....	principal costume props
Samantha Cousins	....	costume buyer
Louise Egan	....	assistant costume designer
Cristina Ghergheli	....	key costumer: second unit
Gordon Harmer	....	costume supervisor
Bujoi Mariana	....	costume breakdown artist
Joanna Weaving	....	costume breakdown artist

Editorial Department
Roger Barton	....	additional editor
Jacqueline F. Bisbano	....	first assistant editor
Conrad Buff IV	....	additional editor (as Conrad Buff)
George Chavez	....	color timer
Michael Hatzer	....	digital intermediate colorist: Efilm (as Mike Hatzer)
Bryan M. Horne	....	additional editor (as Bryan Horne)
Steve Sahagun	....	first assistant editor
Megan A. Sears	....	apprentice editor
Christian Stoica	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Fernand Bos	....	music editor
Patrick Houlihan	....	music supervisor
Kevin Kliesch	....	orchestrator
Larry Mah	....	digital score recordist
Jake Monaco	....	score coordinator
Michael Nowak	....	conductor (as Mike Nowak)
Peter Rotter	....	orchestra contractor
Casey Stone	....	music scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Dragos Barbacioru	....	transportation captain
Sorin Dinu	....	transport coordinator
Simon Jones	....	transport coordinator: UK
Nicu Kasza	....	picture vehicle

Other crew
Heather Banta	....	assistant: Mr. Schmidt
Andra Barbuica	....	script supervisor
Ota Bares	....	animal handler
Liana Barsan	....	stand-in
Mauricio Carneiro	....	assistant graphic designer
Kate Clark	....	assistant accountant
Andrew Dalmahoy	....	location manager: UK
Clifford De Spenser	....	dialect coach
Ruxandra Ghitescu	....	script supervisor: second unit
Pamela B. Green	....	main title producer
Wendy Herron	....	studio teacher
Moira Houlihan	....	publicist
Margret H. Huddleston	....	production supervisor
Irina Iancius	....	assistant script supervisor
Irina Iancius	....	continuity
Irina Iancius	....	script supervisor: insert unit
Andreea Iordache	....	key set production assistant
Dan Kuzmenko	....	assistant location manager
Avi Levy	....	production accountant
Joey Levy	....	assistant: Mr. Platt
Rose Lister	....	assistant accountant
Andrew Magarian	....	acting coach
Razvan Marin	....	assistant location manager
Mihai Mitrea	....	location manager
Gabriela Cristina Nesterov	....	assistant accountant
Nikki Nietz	....	assistant: Mr. Cunningham
Alina Petrini	....	travel and accommodation coordinator
Sanda Popescu	....	production coordinator
Kimberly Rach	....	production executive
Alexandrescu Razvan	....	production assistant
Kevin Rosenberg	....	assistant: Mr. Platt
Catherine Russell	....	production coordinator
Barsan Sergiu	....	assistant to director (as Sergiu Barsan)
Elizabeth Speckman	....	first assistant accountant
Andy Stephens	....	aerial operations manager: Flying Pictures Ltd.
Iulian Timofte	....	key set production assistant: second unit
Fleur Western	....	key office production assistant: reshoots
Barney Wrightson	....	aerial operations assistant: Flying Pictures Ltd

Production Companies

• Marc Platt Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Walden Media

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Fox-Walden (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2007) (Russia) (all media)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Warner/Fox (2007) (Peru) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Two Hours in the Dark (make-up effects)
• Rising Sun Pictures (visual effects)
• Digital Domain (visual effects)
• Hydraulx (visual effects) (as Hy*drau"lx)
• Riot (visual effects)
• Mr. X (visual effects)
• Rhythm and Hues (additional visual effects) (as Rhythm & Hues Studios)
• Illusion Arts (additional visual effects) (as Illusion Arts Digital)
• Pixel Magic (additional visual effects)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio (additional visual effects)

Other Companies

• All Deco International  set decoration and sculptures
• Audiolink Radio Communications  walkie talkies
• Bald Sound  sound equipment provided by
• Behind the Scenes Freight  shipping by
• CE VideoAssist Rental  VideoAssist equipment provided by
• Central Casting Romania  casting
• FedEx  trademark used by permission
• Flying Pictures  aerial filming services provided by
• Mediapro Studios  production facilities
• PIC Agency  titles
• Panavision UK  camera equipment provided by
• Translux  facilities

MPAA:

Rated PG for fantasy action and some scary images.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS | Dolby

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | New Zealand:PG | Ireland:12A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:12 | Malaysia:U | USA:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:Livre | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Marc Platt Productions

Quotes:

Will Stanton: You know, when I was little, you never told me not to be afraid of the dark.

Movie Connections:

References Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Seeker

Appalling

That should just about sum it up, but I'll continue. There were about 3 things about Susan Cooper's magnificent book that were preserved in this movie: a couple of names (but certainly not all of them--where was the difficulty in letting his father be named "Roger" rather than changing it to "John"??), a rook feather in the snow, and... that's about it. Sorry, couldn't think of a third. From the color of the Rider's horse to the number (AND AGE) of Will's siblings, from the abilities of the Old Ones (Swords and crossbows? Really?) to the utter importance of the Walker (I wanted to scream)... nothing nothing nothing was safe from being altered, disregarded, obliterated, and out-and-out ignored. I wasted $7.50, but had to be sure that it was as awful as I feared. It was worse. The last time a superb book-turned-rubbish-movie angered me this much was when I was forced to see Jim Carrey prance around as Count Olaf, who should've been one of the greatest villains to scare the wits out of little kids everywhere.

I'd like to say I'm done with adaptations, but The Golden Compass is coming out, and that one looks like more than the gaffer actually read the bloody book.