Few filmmakers in the industry have an astute visual eye like Robert Zemeckis. With the likes of Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Flight cramming up his impressive and long-running résumé, the 62-year old director is one of the best in the business when it comes to special effects. So, it’s no wonder he was eager to step up to the plate to helm The Walk, the ambitious tale of Philippe Peti’st daring, death-defying stunt that would see the French wire artist walk the tightrope between the Twin Towers.
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the renown daredevil, The Walk will see the actor walk across the skyline of Manhattan from an eye-watering 1,350 feet. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Zemeckis touched upon the emotional impact of rendering the Twin Towers on screen and how he wants to instil a palpable sense of vertigo for moviegoers.
“Re-creating the Twin Towers in a photo-real way—only movies can do that. The towers are definitely characters in the movie, and Philippe loved them and spoke to them as if they were partners, accomplices, as if they were living, breathing things.”
Much like the award-winning documentary Man on Wire from 2008, the majority of Zemeckis’ film will be built around Petit’s magnificent feat, and his emotional journey that culminated in him taking to the tallest building on earth at the time — the movie takes place in 1974, in and around the same date that the French artist pulled off this most remarkable feat.
The Walk will see Gordon-Levitt take to dizzying heights when Zemeckis’ ambitious film arrives in theaters on October 2, 2015.
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.