STACK August 2016 Issue 142

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D exter Fletcher has been friends with
Matthew Vaughn ever since appearing
in the latter’s first movie as a producer
– the cult hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels. Vaughn has since gone on to become
one of Hollywood’s A-list directors, thanks to
hits such as Kingsman: The Secret Service
and X-Men: First Class , while his
mate Fletcher has also carved out
a career behind the camera as
director of films such as Wild
Bill and Sunshine on Leith .
So when Vaughn decided
to reactivate a project about
the great British underdog,
skier Eddie ‘The Eagle’
Edwards (he had first pitched
the idea 15 years ago) he asked
his old pal if he would be interested in
directing.
Fletcher takes up the story. “I got a call from
Matthew and he said, ‘Do you remember Eddie
the Eagle?’ I said, ‘Do you think I’ve been living
under a rock for the last 30 years – of course I
do’. So I read the script for this one and I really
liked it. Matthew was very enthusiastic to get it
going, which is always good, and just a couple
of months later I was in Germany looking at
ski jumps. So it’s literally come together in six
months or so.”
Eddie the Eagle tells the uplifting true story
of the plucky Edwards, who won the hearts
of sports fans around the world for
his improbable ski-jumping feats
at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Eddie is played by rising star
Taron Egerton, who received
his first big break in Vaughn’s
most recent hit Kingsman,
while Hugh Jackman plays his
maverick coach.
Fletcher’s first two films
were relatively low budget affairs
– certainly compared with Vaughn’s
more recent productions – but the producer
encouraged his director to think big with Eddie
the Eagle, particularly in regards to casting.
“OK, we’re a British independent film, but
in typical Matthew Vaughn style he was like,
‘Why does that mean we can’t aim as high as
the A-list?’ Hugh was top of the list already,
and he responded in the most positive way.
Immediately that made me realise we were
doing a movie-movie. In a way it echoed
Eddie’s story – this is a film that came together
from humble beginnings, but as soon as Hugh
Jackman signs on, it’s elevated to the big
show.”
Similarly, Fletcher believes the story and
backdrop called for a larger-than-life visual style.
“Eddie is a legend in his own way, and for me
it was about what is the story behind that and
how do we give it grandeur and spectacle and
scale? And then when you have people like
Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, and some of
the other luminaries we have involved, it kind
of elevates it.
“But the backdrops – the mountains –
immediately demand that you deliver something
of an equal magnitude in the foreground. We’ve
got to make it the heroic story of a legendary
figure. So of course we played hard and fast
with the truth. We make it a dramatic retelling
of this man’s journey, but the hero’s
journey is his journey. He’s a man
from humble beginnings who
went on this extraordinary
adventure.”
visit DVD&BD FEATURE
38 AUGUST 2016
DVD
&
BD
Like the hero of Eddie the Eagle, director Dexter Fletcher was encouraged
to think big when it came to bringing his story to the screen. Words: Adam Colby
FLY LIKE
ANEAGLE
Cool Runnings
The hilarious exploits of a
Jamaican bobsleigh team first
gave Matthew Vaughn the idea
for Eddie the Eagle.
The Mighty DuckS
This one’s fictional but as well
as spawning two sequels, it did
lead to the formation of real life
ice hockey team.
INVINCIBLE
Mark Wahlberg is great as a
30-year-old bartender with no
real sporting experience, who
ends up playing in the NFL.
• Eddie the
Eagle
is out Aug 3
We’ve got to
make it the
heroic story of a
legendary figure
ULTIMATE UNDERDOGS