CASTING

As Hyams explains, A Sound of Thunder features not one hero but two: Dr. Travis Ryer, "who ends up leading a life-and-death struggle for the entire planet, and Dr. Sonia Rand, the first to sound the alarm and the one they turn to when her worst fears are realized. She’s the only person who can figure out how to fix the mess they have made."

For Ryer, "we needed someone with a kind of instinctive heroism," says Hyams. A tall order, but easily met by acclaimed actor and filmmaker Edward Burns, who made a formidable industry debut in 1995 with the romantic comedy The Brothers McMullen, an award-winning film he not only starred in but wrote, directed and produced. Burns followed that success by writing, directing, co-producing and starring in the romantic comedy She’s the One, with Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz, which earned him a Grand Special Prize nomination at the Deauville Film Festival, before going on to share the screen with Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan.

"There’s a natural openness and honesty about Ed Burns, a core decency," says Hyams. "Combine that with an unquestionable intellect and a strong physical presence and you have the perfect Travis Ryer. You don’t know what’s coming but whatever it is, you know he can take care of business."

To Burns, Ryer is a scientist so consumed with passion for his work that he doesn’t fully examine the danger of what he’s doing. "Travis thinks time traveling is safe enough. He doesn’t like Hatton and he has reservations about the operation but they pale in comparison to the valuable research it enables him to do, and that’s his real focus. It’s not until he speaks with Dr. Rand that he begins to question the larger issues."

In casting the Rand role, the filmmakers needed someone not only at ease with the character but equal to the physical rigors it requires – a combination they found in internationally renowned actress Catherine McCormack, a Lawrence Olivier Theatre Award nominee with a wealth of stage and screen experience across a range of genres, including Kathryn Bigelow’s The Weight of Water and John Boorman’s The Tailor of Panama. "Her character has to justify the ground rules with dialogue that explains things in a scientific sense up front, and she has to deliver it in a way that makes you believe the outcome," Hyams emphasizes. "She has to project the level of depth and intelligence that is absolutely vital for this movie to work."

At the same time, the director acknowledges, "Dr. Rand is a person who would not flinch over swimming through a dirty, dangerous, flooded subway if necessary."

"Sonia Rand is not at all happy with the way in which her invention is being used," says McCormack. "She developed it purely for research and educational applications and is outraged that Hatton stole it from her and is using it for financial gain. As if that’s not bad enough, he clearly does not appreciate its power. So she’s like a voice in the wilderness. It’s very frustrating."

Meanwhile, the man most responsible for unleashing this global catastrophe is the one least capable of setting it right: Charles Hatton, played by Oscar winner and three-time Oscar nominee Ben Kingsley, whom Hyams enthusiastically acknowledges as "one of the most versatile and fascinating actors on screen." Recalling Kingsley’s accomplishments, "from Gandhi to Schindler’s List to Sexy Beast – I cannot think of a color missing from his palette," the director proclaims. "He simply has no limits."

While Travis and the others risk their lives to correct the company’s fatal error, Hatton remains typically in the background, awaiting the outcome of their efforts.

"Charles Hatton is a survivor," says Kingsley, capturing his character’s true and basic nature, in contrast to the carefully refined public image the Time Safari owner cultivates. "It’s difficult to judge him. He’s not a creative individual; rather, he makes money from the creativity of other people. Perhaps in the 19th or early 20th century he would have managed an elaborate fairground but instead he’s in charge of this very sophisticated amusement park for elite clientele."

Although he has mastered enough of the terminology to deliver an effective sales pitch, "Hatton’s grasp of the actual technology he controls and its implications are minimal," Kingsley explains. "Hatton knows he is essentially a showman – a showman in a very expensive suit. Let the scientists and technicians in his employ get their hands dirty. Let them do the actual time traveling and take all the risks. He owns the business. He’s the front man."

British actor of stage and screen David Oyelowo (Spooks), currently wrapping production on Kenneth Branagh’s As You Like It for 2006, stars as tech officer Payne, one of the time-jumping regulars who joins the search party for Time Safari’s last passengers with Sonia and Travis in the ruined city. Jemima Rooper, of the acclaimed UK mini-series Love in a Cold Climate and the recent Sky series Hex, stars as Jenny Krase, the Safari crew member responsible for shooting each trips’ holographic record who ultimately finds herself swimming alongside Travis and Sonia in an eel-infested flooded tunnel.

Rounding out the Time Safari Inc. crew are award-winning German-born star of stage, screen and television Wilfried Hochholdinger, as medical officer Dr. Andrew Lucas and internationally known veteran actor August Zirner is the ever-anxious civil servant Clay Derris, assigned to monitor the agency’s trips so that nothing goes wrong. Cast as the clients on that last, unlucky time jump are Hellboy’s Corey Johnson as the arrogant and short-tempered Christian Middleton and William Armstrong as his anxious colleague.