Tales of the South

2008 year. Since the nuclear explosion in Texas, several years have passed. All over the world, military madness reigns. US society is in a state of total surveillance and paranoia. Futuristic Los Angeles suffers from the effects of socio-economic and environmental disasters. The country is on the verge of new elections. The Republican party, striving to maintain power, and the neo-Marxists, eager to undermine the existing system, are fighting for power. Several stories intertwine with each other, the heroes of which are: Boxer Santaros, aka Jericho Kane ( Dwayne Johnson ), movie star and author of a mysterious prophetic script, able to see the future, suffering from amnesia, senator's son-in-law; Krista Now ( Sarah Michelle Gellar ), a pornstar with her own reality television show and Boxer's lover, and officer Roland Taverner ( Sean William Scott ) helping neo-Marxists and looking for twin brother Ronald Taverner.

While the Republican Party, led by a California senator, is trying to hold onto power with the Amerident global mental reservoir, and neo-Marxist groups are organizing front killings, blackmail and terrorist acts, scientist inventor Baron Westfalen “gives” America alternative fuel, which is as a potent drug and with a high probability having an extremely destructive effect on the Earth and people. Boxer Santaros and Ronald Taverner, both unaware of their past, are trying to figure out this chaos.

• Dwayne Johnson - Boxer Santaros.
• Sean William Scott - Roland Taverner / Ronald Taverner.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar - Krista Now.
• Christopher Lambert - Walter Mung, a gun dealer in an ice cream van.
• Mandy Moore - Madeline Frost Santaros.
• Justin Timberlake - Pilot Abilen, narrator. Veteran of the war in Iraq. The film performs a musical number, accompanied by a clip.
• Nora Dunn - Cindy Pinjiki. Director of porn films and a member of the neo-Marxist community.
• John Larrockett - Over Smallhouse. Assistant Bobby Frost.
• John Lovitz - Bart Bookman. UPU officer covertly working for neo-Marxists.
• Miranda Richardson - Nana May Frost. The wife of Senator Bobby Frost and the head of Amerident.
• Wallace Shawn - Baron Westfalen. A scientist who invented an alternative fuel called liquid karma.
• Kevin Smith - Simon Theory. A legless Iraqi war veteran working for Baron Westfalen.
• Bai Lin - Serpentine. Assistant and lover of Baron Westfalen.
• Holmes Osbourne - Bobby Frost, California Senator, Boxer Santaros' father-in-law.
• Wood Harris - Dion Element, theater actor, activist of the neo-Marxist movement.
• Chery Oteri - Zora Carmichael.
• Amy Poehler - Veronica Mung, nicknamed Dream, a theater actress, activist of the neo-Marxist movement, wife of Dion.
• Low Taylor Pucci - Martin Kefover.
• Janine Garofalo - Tina MacArthur, lieutenant general (this hero is not available in the version for movie theaters).
• Beth Grant - Inga von Westfalen.
• Zelda Rubinstein - Katarina Kunzler.
• Will Sasso - Fortunio Balducci.

Richard Kelly wrote the script for the film shortly before the September 11, 2001 attack . It was attended by a blackmailer, a pornstar, and two police officers. After the attacks, Kelly revised it.

In March 2004, Richard Kelly and Cherry Road Films began making the film. Filmmakers entered negotiations with actors Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gallar, Jason Lee, J, Kevin Smith and Ali Larter. Moby agreed to work on the film's soundtrack. Richard Kelly deliberately searched for actors whom he felt, understood and would like to reveal their “undiscovered talents”.

Filming was scheduled for July 2004, but they did not begin. Dwayne Johnson joined the project in April 2005, and the main shootings were scheduled for August 1, 2005 in Los Angeles ^[1] . Filming of "Tales of the South" began on August 15, 2005, with an approximate budget of $ 15-17 million.

Richard Kelly sent a shortened version of the film to DVD to the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, suggesting that the film would not be accepted. However, to his surprise, the film was liked by the commission, which proposed making him a nominee for the Golden Palm Branch . However, Kelly did not manage to edit the film and complete the visual effects for the premiere. A 160-minute film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006. After the festival release of The Tales of the South, Sony Pictures was purchased. Universal Pictures had the original American rental rights, but after the Cannes Film Festival the rights were sold to Sony, although Universal Pictures retained some international rights.

Richard Kelly sought additional funding to complete the visual effects for the film, and negotiated it with Sony in exchange for shortening the length of the film. Kelly edited the film, reducing it to the main storylines associated with the characters portrayed by Scott, Gellar, and Johnson. He also tried to keep Justin Timberlake's musical number based on the song “All These Things That I've Done” by The Killers , because he felt that it was the heart and soul of the film.

The film was released in the United States on November 14, 2007, in the UK on December 7, 2007. In the USA, the film was shown in 63 cinemas, raising $ 275,380. In total, the film raised $ 374,743. With a budget of $ 17 million, the film can be considered a box office failure, but the number of cinemas that rented the film must be taken into account.

The film received a wary reception. On Rotten Tomatoes 36% based on 91 reviews, ^[2] on the Metacritic film received 44 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. ^[3]

1. “Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf Version)” - Pixies
2. Oh My Angel - Bertha Tillman
3. Howl (Extended Version) - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
4. Look Back In - Moby
5. Me & Bobby McGee - Waylon Jennings
6. Chord Sounds - Moby
7. Lucky Me - Roger Webb
8. 3 Steps - Moby
9. " Broken Hearted Savior " - Big Head Todd & The Monsters
10. “Teen Horniness is Not a Crime” - Sarah Michelle Gellar , Abbey McBride and ClarKent
11. Tiny Elephants - Moby
12. "Forget Myself" - Elbow
13. “ The Star Spangled Banner ” - Rebekah Del Rio & the Section Quartet
14. Three Days (Live Version) - Jane's Addiction
15. “Memory Gospel” - Moby
16. Blackout - Muse