Sandra Bullock: A Novelist Turned Adventurer in ‘The Lost City’

SANDRA Bullock has long been drawn to the idea of making an action-adventure film seasoned with comedy, like the classic sweeping adventures she has enjoyed as a moviegoer.

So, she decided to produce one, through her production company Fortis Films. And with that, The Lost City is born!

Sandra Bullock as Producer

As expected, the Academy Award-winning actor and respected filmmaker aimed high. Bullock recalls, “We knew we were ambitious in what we were trying to pull off… but we also knew we HAD to pull it off. This film wouldn’t work if all the tones in it didn’t intersect seamlessly. The central characters are a shut-in author and a model, neither of whom should be in a jungle or even out in nature. Jungles eat people like them. They should remain in a hermetically sealed building with air conditioning.”

In the film, brilliant but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story.

Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.

Loretta is really a historian disguised as a best-selling author of romantic historical fiction. “No one would buy her history books,” Bullock explains, “so Loretta added some sex to sell them and found great success with that.”

A widow whose beloved husband was an archaeologist, Loretta is now a recluse. She hides in a comfortable house, surrounded by artifacts and memories, finding adventure in the stories she concocts while pining for a life that has long since passed. “Loretta finds comfort in her home, books, words, and in her brain,” says Bullock. “She finds adventure in her imagination and has no need to go out there and look for it.”

Instead, Loretta seems more than satisfied to send her heroine, Dr. Angela Lovemore, into the wild in such floridly titled books as “A Year in the Bush” and, her latest release, “The Lost City of D.”

When Loretta comes down with writer’s block, her best friend and publisher/marketing guru, Beth, insists that she attend a book convention to get the ideas flowing and spice up sales. But Beth knows success at the convention will take more than a personal appearance by the author; it requires a secret weapon – Dash, the strikingly handsome model who graces the covers of Loretta’s romance novels. Then, the shenanigans begin.

Sandra Bullock closes with her hopes and thoughts for a big-scale entertainment in which she served in two key roles. “You could make a ride out of this film at Disneyland, with its scope and scale. It transports you, makes you feel like you’re flying, and makes you feel like you’re there with Loretta and Dash in the vastness of this jungle. So, if we can’t go on vacation just yet, hopefully you’ll be able to go into the movie theaters and feel like you’ve been on a vacation with us.”

In Philippine cinemas on April 20, The Lost City is distributed by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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(ROHN ROMULO)