Red Dwarf the film

[DB7]

Red Dwarf main man Doug Naylor told IGN FilmForce why he’s been in Australia.

“Well, the original reason to go to Australia was because I was told there was money in place to make the movie. So we came over to look at some facilities and do an Australian budget, which we did. And then the money from the UK fell through – and then I'm back there now because I was told for the second time that the money was going to be forthcoming, and again it fell through. So now I'm waiting, being promised that money for the budget will materialize… But if there's anyone out there with $13 million, please give me a ring and I can put good use to it”, says Naylor.

So what’s been the problem? “Literally, this time I arrived on December 14th and told there was going to be money in the bank on December 15th, and then on December 15th I was told, "Sorry, it wasn't going to be”, says Naylor. “It's money promised – "It's coming in, it's coming in, it's all there"… The guy who said he was going to give us the money, he won't return our calls…”

“The only thing is, you can have pay-or-play – which is generally what happens – but they've got no money to pay or play. So you have to trust people, and trusting people is pretty much the dumbest thing you can do, because they all turn out to be lying, eventually. Or just plain incompetent.”

What about putting the series back on TV for the meantime? “Well, yeah… The difficulty of the situation is the other damaging thing – I've been constantly told I have to ready to go for when the money hits. To make matters even more complicated, making movies in the UK is really, really hard. Outside of the studio system, if you've got any kind of budget at all, is next to impossible. One of the other things I've been attacked by is Section 42 and Section 48. Section 42 has just been closed because the government doesn't agree with it, and thank god we weren't involved in that. We are Section 48, but the downside of Section 48 is that you have to deliver in a particular year, no matter when you start. In other words, we have got to deliver a movie by March of next year – but we haven't started yet. Now, because there are a lot of tricky things to do in this film – it's not just people sitting in sleeping quarters and talking…”

Is the revamped movie script different quite different now? “Yeah, I would say it was. Having said that, I think even the first draft that I handed in would have been a hit film, and the Red Dwarf fans – I shouldn't say the Red Dwarf fans would like it, because the Red Dwarf fans will like it, but also people who don't know Red Dwarf. I think it would have gone well. For a variety of reasons at the time, I was told that we could do certain things, and then it became apparent we couldn't – and the budget went down from $23 million at one stage all the way down to 10.7, and now it's gone back up to 13. Because of that, certain cuts had to be made because we just weren't able to afford certain sequences…”

“It's very much, I feel, a movie that deserves to be made. And when I read the script, I think, "God, if this never gets made, it will be such a crying shame because it will make people laugh so much, they will like it so much." It'll be a great evening's entertainment. And also to know that there's an audience out there – it's not an unknown or, "God, I wonder if anyone will go and see it." We know there are people that will go see it. So I don't know if that then turns into an obligation or an obsession… Maybe both. But in the end, just walking away from it… It's not even like, "Oh, I spent all the time and it didn't get made." It's sort of like, "But it would be so good. It would be so good." It doesn't make any financial sense not to make it, because people who put money into it, it will make them money.”

Naylor says some stunt-casting for support roles – a few years back everyone from Sarah Michelle Gellar to Jackie Chan was mentioned – is still a possibility, as it would drag investors in.