The Portable Door is an upcoming fantasy/comedy film directed by Jeffrey Walker (Young Rock, Modern Family) and starring Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Specter), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Patrick Gibson (The OA), and Sophie Wilde (Tom Jones).
It’s based on a series of seven fantasy novels that begins with The Portable Door, the first book in Tom Holt’s J.W. Wells & Co. series. J.W. Wells & Co. is a mysterious London firm that is actually a front for a group of sinister magicians intent on disrupting ancient magic norms. They say they are with the faeries — but it’s really goblins.
The magical organization takes its name from Gilbert & Sullivan’s two act operatic comedy, The Sorcerer.
The summary:
“The movie centers on Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Sophie Wilde), lowly, put-upon interns who begin working at the mysterious London firm J.W. Wells & Co., and become increasingly aware that their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Sam Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices.”
Set to arrive this April in the US, The Portable Door is an Australian feature film distributed by MGM+ (formerly Epix). A Jim Henson Company, Story Bridge Films, and Sky production, The Portable Door is produced by Todd Fellman from Story Bridge Films (Daybreakers, Bait 3D) and Blanca Lista (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Chris Lytton are executive producing, as are Arclight Films.
“The Portable Door ?is a charming young-adult action-adventure fantasy with a British?sensibility that is an excellent addition to our curated film library,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+.”
The Portable Door was announced to be in development by The Jim Henson Company back in 2013, and it took about seven years for the cameras to actually start rolling, with filming beginning in Gold Coast, Queensland, during May 2021. The music is by Benjamin Speed, who is best know for rescoring Metropolis and work in Australian TV. The production design looks vintage, but the story is set in present day.
The US premier is likely April 7, which is when the fantasy film will be available on Sky Cinema in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, and Italy, and on Stan in Australia.
-30-
David Raiklen wrote, directed and scored his first film at age 9. He began studying keyboard and composing at age 5. He attended, then taught at UCLA, USC and CalArts. Among his teachers are John Williams and Mel Powel.
He has worked for Fox, Disney and Sprint. David has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2004 American Music Center Award. Dr. Raiklen has composed music and sound design for theater (Death and the Maiden), dance (Russian Ballet), television (Sing Me a Story), cell phone (Spacey Movie), museums (Museum of Tolerance), concert (Violin Sonata ), and film (Appalachian Trail).
His compositions have been performed at the Hollywood Bowl and the first Disney Hall. David Raiken is also host of a successful radio program, Classical Fan Club.
