FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
QUICK LINKS
When does the film take place?
Does time travel factor in to this story?
Is this in any way connected to the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon?
I thought Karl Urban was going to be in this?
Do some of those character names seem familiar?
Do the Vikings wear horns on their helmets?
How did the monster get on Kainan's ship?
When and where was Outlander filmed?
If there are any questions you feel should be on this list, please email outlander@solsector.net and let us know and well try and answer them the best we can. For now we will avoid plot specific questions where they might fall into spoiler territory, however. Also, we will try to update questions such as the release date one as new information becomes available.
Q: What is Outlander?
A: Outlander is a motion picture about a humanoid alien that crash-lands his space ship on earth in the eighth century in what would now be Norway. If that wasn't bad enough, there is also a monster on his spaceship that starts terrorizing a nearby Viking tribe. Eventually the the alien has to team up with the vikings to try and kill the monster. The movie has at times been described like a cross between braveheart, highlander, and predator. It fuses science fiction elements with a period action drama.
Q: When does the film take place?
A: It is set in 709 A.D.
Q: Does time travel factor in to this story?
A: It does not. Contrary to what you may have heard on the internet, Jim Caviezel's alien character is not from the future, merely from a more technologically advanced civilization from another planet. In fact, at the start of the film, Kainan's computer tells him that Earth is actually an abandoned Seed Colony of his people.
Q: Is this in any way connected to the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon?
A: No, it is not.
Q: Who is in this movie?
A: James Caviezel of The Passion of the Christ, and The Count of Monte Cristo fame plays the humanoid alien, Kainan, that crashes on Earth, and is the story's protagonist. The other principal cast members are Sophia Myles, John Hurt, Ron Perlman, and Jack Huston. John Hurt is the viking king Rothgar, and Sophia Myles plays Freya, his daughter. Ron Perlman is somewhat of an Antagonist playing Gunnar, the leader of a rival Viking faction. Jack Huston plays Wulfric, a Viking prince. The monster, the Moorwen, is photo-realistically computer animated. For a more complete list visit our cast page.
Q: I thought Karl Urban was going to be in this?
A: When the production was delayed, Karl Urban dropped out of the picture and went on to film Pathfinder, another period movie that involves Vikings and is available now on home video. After Karl dropped out, the studio considered various actors for the role of Kainan including Sean Bean and Thomas Jane. Ultimately though, as production finally got underway, and sets were being built, Jim Caviezel was cast in the role.
Q: Why do some of those character names seem familiar?
A: Outlander began in it's inception stages as an adaption of Beowulf with sci-fi elements with Beowulf being a humanoid alien and Grendel a monster from off world too. Many details and names were eventually changed to distance the screenplay from the epic poem, but some of the names still harken back to their origins. Keen observers will also find other similiarities to the story details.
Q: Do the Vikings wear horns on their helmets?
A: No. While elements like space ships and monsters are somewhat fantastical, Outlander tries to be fairly accurate in it's depiction of the actual Vikings and their society.
Q: Why is Kainan able to speak the Viking's language even though he's from another planet? And why are they speaking english?
A: Because this film was made with a primarily english speaking audience in mind, the director chose to have the Viking's language represented by English. We're all for subtitles here, but for a fantasy adventure I'm sure most would agree that they would rather not have to read too much at the movies. Now about Kainan, He doesn't actually understand the vikings at first. He speaks an alien dialect and has to use a universal translator type device to teach him to speak the Viking's language. To contrast Kainan with the vikings, the Viking's have european accents while Kainan speaks with an American accent.
Extra tidbit: Kainan's Alien language is in reality Old-Norse, a dead language that is the precursor to modern Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. The production brought in some professors from the region and one of the few people that can actually speak the language to translate the dialogue and to teach the actors to speak it.
Q: How did the monster get on Kainan's ship?
A: Essentially the Moorwen snuck onto Kainan's ship. A scene at the start of the film where Kainan and his crew fight the Moorwen on his ship was dropped before filming began, but it's that fight that causes the crash.
Q: Who is making this movie?
A: The production company is called Ascendant Pictures and is responsible for movies such as Lord of War and Lucky Number Slevin. The Film is written by Howard McCain and Dirk Blackman, and is also directed by Howard McCain. Producers are Chris Roberts and Barry Osbourne. The CG work was completed by Spin Productions in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, who have since completed the effects for the Max Payne feature film. For a more complete list of credits please visit out crew page.
Q: When and where was Outlander filmed?
A: Outlander was shot mainly in and around Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from October 16th 2006 to January 5th 2007 with about a week at the begining of the shoot in in Newfoundland. Some additional effects footage was shot on soundstages in LA in may/june 2007 and some aerial reference shots were done in Norway, and Washington State, USA.
Q: Wasn't this movie supposed to film in New Zealand?
A: At one point in 2005 when Ninth Ray Studios was completing pre-production art work on the film, including concept art, story boards, and animatics the movie was planning to begin shooting in New Zealand with Karl Urban in the lead. When some of the movie’s financing fell through, the production was moved to Eastern Canada. The production also considered filming in Norway itself but it was just too expensive to do so.
Q: When and where can I see Outlander?
A: Outlander had it's North American Debut on January 23rd. 2009. The Weinstein Company is distributing the film theatrically through their Third Rail Releasing arm in the US.
Outside of North America, the film has already been shown at a number of film festivals and has played in a number of Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
The following table is a list of known regional distributors for OUTLANDER and any tentative release dates for the film. Please keep in mind that theatrical releases are fluid affairs and all future dates are subject to possible change.
| REGION | DISTRIBUTOR | RELEASE DATE | ALTERNATE TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia: | Acme Film | July 11th, 2008 | Atnācējs (Alien) |
| Kuwait: | ??? | Oct. 1st, 2008 | |
| Lithuania: | Acme Film | Oct. 24th, 2008 | Svetimšalis (foreigner) |
| United Arab Emirates: | ??? | November 27th, 2008 | |
| Spain: | DeAPlaneta | November 28th, 2008 ; March 11th, 2009 (DVD, Blu-Ray) | |
| Taiwan | Deep Joy Pictures/ Le Hai Pictures(?) | December 5th, 2008 | |
| Qatar | ??? | Dec. 19th, 2008 | |
| Malaysia: | Suraya / GSC(?) | January 1st, 2009 | |
| USA: | The Weinstein Company / Third Rail Releasing | January 23rd, 2009 | |
| India (English and Hindi): | Behind the Scene | February 6th, 2009 | Kurukshetra |
| South India (English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam): | Sun Pictures | February 13th, 2009 | Bhoothala Veerudu |
| Signapore: | Festive Films | February 19th, 2009 | |
| Lebanon: | Empire | February 19th, 2009 | |
| Russia: | Central Partnership | February 19th, 2009 | BИКИHГИ (Vikings) |
| Brazil: | Imagem Filmes | February 19th, 2009(DVD, Blu-Ray) | Outlander - Guerreiro vs.Predador |
| Portugal: | Zon Lusomundo | February 19th, 2009 | |
| Kazakhstan: | February 19th, 2009 | ||
| Thailand: | Mongkol Major | February 26th, 2009 | |
| Egypt: | March 25th, 2009 | ||
| France: | Pan Europeene (AKA wild bunch Distribution)/ Wild Side | April 2nd, 2009 (DVD, Blu-Ray) | Outlander - Le Dernier Viking |
| Turkey | Umut Sanat/Ozen Film | April 10th, 2009 | Yabanci |
| United Kingdom | Momentum Pictures | April 24th, 2009 | |
| Sweden | Atlantic Films | May 8th, 2009 | |
| Hong Kong | Deltamac Company Limited | May 21st, 2009 | |
| Canada: | Alliance Films/ Universal Studios Home Video Canada | May 26th, 2009 (DVD, Blu-Ray) | |
| Argentina | Pachamama Cine | June 18th, 2009 | |
| Italy: | Eagle Pictures | July 3rd, 2009 | |
| Belgium: | Paradiso | January, 2010 | |
| Norway: | Euforia | ||
| Canada - Quebec: | Alliance Vivafilm | Outlander - Le dernier Viking | |
| Netherlands: | Paradiso | ||
| East Europe: | Monolith | ||
| Germany | Telepool | ||
| Switzerland: | Frenetic | ||
| Korea: | J-Net | ||
| Philippines | Pioneer Films |
