The Sun: What is Legion M’s involvement in the upcoming film Mandy starring Nicolas Cage?
Paul Scanlan, co-founder and CEO of Legion M: We’re one of the investors, partnering with SpectreVision, Elijah Wood’s production company, and RLJ, who is distributing the film in the United States.
Sun: What can we expect from Mandy?
PS: Have you seen the trailer?
Sun: Yes.
PS: Yeah, so we’ve been saying that if you like the trailer, you would be pleasantly surprised by the movie. But if not, it probably isn’t for you. So watch the trailer before going to the movie for sure. It’s like a double black diamond ski trail, you know — it’s an action horror with a lot of blood and violence. We don’t expect the film to have a mass market but rather a passionate and energized following.
Nicolas Cage, whether you like him or not, gives a performance of a lifetime. We also think that Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow) could be the next Stanley Kubrick of our generation. I mean, the film premiered at Sundance, then received a four-minute standing ovation at Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes this year, so I think he [Cosmatos] is on his way. [The late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s] score adds so much to it. We are actually planning to release the soundtrack with the movie on September 14th.
Sun: You briefly touched upon this, but what are the risks of producing a more “niche” film like Mandy?
PS: I think “mass market” does not necessarily mean “large market,” like a niche and specific audience does not have to be a small audience. In fact, heavy metal is the most listened to genre around the world and there’s a huge market. You wouldn’t expect that, now would you? So yes, we do have reasonable expectations for the film.