No, not that Broken Arrow from John Woo; this is a British indie comedy, and we have a trailer.
I caught myself giggling a couple of times in that; it looks like fun. They didn’t show him, but there’s the iconic voice of Alan Ford as well.
Broken Arrow stars Ste Johnston, Chris Simmons, Elena Pitsiaeli, Paul Wils, Zoe Brough, Sue Johnston and Alan Ford. Pablo Raybould and Simmons direct, with Steve Holbrook and Raybould writing. The story:
Local darts champion Barry Barnes loses an arm after a spiral of booze and self-destruction. Now Barry faces his demons and takes on his arch-rival, “Darts Vader,” for one last shot at glory.
The following is Simmons statement from the press release. Whilst working on a TV show, playing the villain for a year in a city I wasn’t familiar with, I found I had time on my hands. I would come into the show on my days off because I’m a complete nerd, sit with the directors, pick their brains, question their shot choices, watch, learn, ask question after question after question. Within a few weeks, I was hooked. I was going to direct something. I didn’t know what, but it was going to happen.
Fast forward 6 months, I’m having a pint in my local with a friend, and he tells me he has a story in his head for a comedy feature film. And he did. I listened; we drank; I laughed lots. I was going to direct. Pablo came on board to write the script and co-direct. It had heart, pathos, and deftness, told through a working-class anti-hero.
Build the Cast
Now we needed money and talent. I teamed up with Charles Ledigo, our executive producer, to help raise the money and oversee the business side. One evening, he mentioned that Sue Johnston lived up the road. I jumped out of my chair, printed a copy of our script, knocked on Sue’s door, gave her our script and said she would be perfect to play Mrs Barnes. My number’s on the script, and I apologised for knocking on your door.
Three days later, I get a call from Sue saying, “Your script’s wonderful and very funny. I’m in.” Boom! We had our first bit of talent attached.
It got me excited, and we never looked back. Friends, family, Cliffe (the village I live in where we shot most of the film), cast, crew — all turned up and out for us in a way I could never have expected.
This movie has a big heart and is a 90-minute escape from the norm. Strap yaself in. I hope you enjoy!
Broken Arrow will have a UK theatrical release on 13th Nov. I’ve already asked for a screener.
