Difficult to get films made in current studio theatrical system: Charlie Hunnam

Actor Charlie Hunnam says it is difficult and costly for original films to see the light of day under the traditional studio-dominated system of cinema.

The actor, whose upcoming film "Triple Frontier" is being released by Netflix, says though the movie went through almost a decade-long gestation process, that never dampened his spirits.

"The period of time, sort of evolving incarnations of this film, didn't diminish its attractiveness for me. It's just an inherent part of filmmaking. It's difficult to get films made in the current studio theatrical system. Getting original films like this made is very expensive.

"We were all very excited when this landed at Netflix. So when it came to our desks, (it was) a film where we could chase the calibre and story. It was original, exciting and had some action-oriented stuff. It was substantial in terms of themes it was dealing with," Hunnam told PTI in a group interview here.

"Triple Frontier" went through development hell as the film was in the making since 2010 with Kathryn Bigelow attached to direct from Mark Boal's script.

In terms of cast, names such as Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Channing Tatum, Tom Hardy, Mahershala Ali, Casey Affleck and Mark Walhberg were attached to star at one point in the film.

Finally, the project landed at streaming giant Netflix and JC Chandor came on board as the director.

Hunnam stars as one of the five former Special Forces operatives in the action thriller alongside a powerhouse cast of Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund.

Set in South America, the film sees war veterans pull off a seemingly successful heist at an infamous drug lord's house, at the end of which they ironically end up losing more than the spoils.

Affleck said that if people keep coming back to a story, it is usually a sign that "there's something worthwhile in it and they want it to get made".

"If it falls out of favour or not conceived, it's easier to let go. People walk away, nobody ever talks about it again. Whereas with this, someone kept hitting the ball in the air because at the root of it, it's the story about soldiers who do come home and face this very difficult challenge. It's dramatically interesting and kind of sociologically valuable it to explore," he said.

Affleck, who has over 20 years of filmmaking experience as an actor and a director in Hollywood, says he cannot remember any of his films that followed a "perfectly linear path from inception to production".

"It's as a function of this business. You very often go through different iterations and casting. The only difference is that it becomes part of the publicity story. Some movies they go 'Oh it took so long to get made', since this information is not out there so they don't ask about it. But it's a very common process," he said.

Hedlund added the team has had this discussion a lot of times.

"I kind of had to remind myself that Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow wrote this script quite a long time ago. And Kathryn was gonna direct this film before she did 'Hurt Locker'," he said.

"Triple Frontier" was released by Netflix in select theatres in the US on March 6. It starts streaming worldwide on March 13.