On May 6, 2011, «Igor Tolstunov's Production Company» («PROFIT») began filming the disaster movie «Metro» (based on Dmitry Safonov's novel «Metro»). The film is directed by Anton Megerdichev («Shadow Boxing 2: Revenge», «The Dark World»), with cinematography by Sergei Astakhov («Brother», «Brother 2», «Of Freaks and Men»). The leading roles are played by Sergei Puskepalis, Anatoly Bely, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Ekaterina Shpitsa, Alexey Bardukov and Elena Panova.
«The film's budget is $9 million, which by today's standards is an impressive sum for Russian cinema. The picture is partly funded by the Russian Cinematography Support Fund,» says PROFIT's general producer Igor Tolstunov.
Monumental sets are being built for the shoot: a full-scale metro tunnel 117 metres long matching the real height and width, as well as 1:3 scale models of the tunnel and train carriages. In addition, an underground bunker was constructed in a special shooting pool for one of the sets. The picture also includes many complex stunt scenes.
Pre-production lasted almost a year – the filmmakers studied the intricacies of how the metro systems work, developed their own shooting technologies and unique sets, and searched for non-standard special equipment and locations. Audiences will be able to judge the outcome of this experiment in 2012.
The first presentation of the project will take place at the 85th International Film Market in Sochi on June 7. The picture will be presented by general producer Igor Tolstunov.