The story of the Charles Band-produced sci-fi/fantasy film The Primevals dates all the way back to 1978, when director David Allen began production on a project he had spent many years trying to get off the ground. Long story short, financing fell through and the film was never made in ’78, but production picked back up many, many years later, in 1994.
From there, well, the stop motion epic just never saw completion.
Ever since Allen’s death nearly 20 years ago, The Primevals has remained unfinished, but we learned earlier this year that Full Moon Features is completing the infamous film, with a planned release sometime in 2019… 40 years after production began! This week, a fundraiser to complete the project launched on Indiegogo, seeking $175,000 to make it happen.
The campaign details, “Finishing The Primevals exactly how David had envisioned it to look and feel, would require – by today’s standards – a Herculean post-production budget that we simply do not have access to. And while completing the picture will require some compromises, we nevertheless plan to deliver a version that is as close to David’s ambitious, grandiose design as possible, based on the resources that have and will become available to us. You NEED to see what has been filmed. And you WILL.”
It continues, “When released, The Primevals Special Edition Blu-ray set will feature two alternate edits of the film. The first will be the new, completed cut overseen by producer Charles Band. The second will be the “director’s cut”– faithfully assembled as David Allen intended and containing special animatic storyboards representing the unrealized shots. Both films will make for a fascinating comparative study, creating the definitive The Primevals experience. A third disc will premiere a feature-length documentary from Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures loaded with never before available behind the scenes and archival footage from the many years of this film’s amazing journey.”
If you want to help out, head over to The Primevals campaign on Indiegogo to pitch in. And check out the launch trailer below, along with an exclusive gallery of production images!
