''Zero Contact'' is a 2021 American thriller film directed by Rick Dugdale and starring

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

. It was the first feature film to be released via Vuele, a non-fungible token platform. ''Zero Contact'' was released internationally on September 24, 2021, and was released in the United States on May 27, 2022, by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

Cast

Production

In May 2020, it was announced Enderby Entertainment would commence production on a thriller titled ''92''. The film was shot in 17 countries. It was filmed entirely virtually via Zoom and during the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In September 2021, the film's first official trailer officially revealed production details including: Peter Toumasis and Cam Cannon, served as producers alongside Dugdale; Edd Lukas served as cinematographer; and Håkan Karlsson served as editor. It also stated that People in the Park Productions is credited in post-production.

Release

The film was released as an NFT via CurrencyWorks Inc.'s platform Vuele. In January 2022, it was announced that

Lions Gate Entertainment Starz Entertainment Corp, formerly known officially as Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation and commonly as Lions Gate and/or Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment industry, entertainment company currently headquartered in Santa Monica ...

had acquired distribution rights via its subsidiary Grindstone Entertainment, with a scheduled release date in May 2022. ''Zero Contact'' was released on May 27, 2022.

Marketing

The first trailer was released online, in September 2021. It notably announced many of the production details on-screen. In May 2021, following

's purchase of distribution rights, a new poster and trailer was released alongside the official announcement of the movie's official release date.

Reception

The film has a 10% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 10 reviews. Rich Cross of '' Starburst'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "High-concept techno-thriller ''Zero Contact'' is the latest mainstream movie determined to make a virtue out of the necessity of the Covid lockdown."

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor ''Th ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Let’s just say that 'The machine runs on dark matter reactor' is one of the script’s more coherent lines." Dennis Harvey of '' Variety'' gave the film a negative review, calling it "a steaming pile of nada."

Future

In January 2022, it was announced that two sequels will be filmed back-to-back.

will reprise his role from the first movie, which was filmed remotely via Zoom. Director Rick Dugdale revealed that principal photography had already commenced, with the projects in various degrees of production. The collaborative development with

is noted as being the first feature film to be produced on-location in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The production crew worked alongside

Sebastian Copeland Sebastian Copeland (born 3 April 1964) is a British-American-French photographer, polar explorer, author, lecturer, and environmental advocate. He has led numerous expeditions in the polar regions to photograph and film endangered environments. In ...

and David Hatcher Childress to ensure safety in the extreme conditions of the frozen

Tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

. The production will also take place in 14 other geographical locations.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 12359080 American thriller films 2021 thriller films 2021 films 2020s English-language films 2021 directorial debut films 2020s American films English-language thriller films