It’s been an awful long time since Roger Christian’s fantasy short Black Angel debuted alongside Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – 35 years, in fact – but now the filmmaker is turning to crowdfunding website Indiegogo to transform his dormant dream into a reality.
Interest in the so-called “lost” feature was piqued a fortnight ago when the 25-minute short reared its head on YouTube. A time capsule in every sense of the word, the recovered Black Angel soon went viral as fans and newcomers where once again whisked away to the rolling hills of Scotland. In 1980, the medieval film was shot on a budget of £25,000; now, Christian is hoping for a $15 million allowance to spin out his passion project into a fully-fledged feature.
According to the official Indiegogo funding page, Rutger Hauer and John Rhys-Davies are set to star, and the project is currently seeking $100,000 in total, with various tiers offering bonuses to backers in the form of exclusive posters, DVD bundles and earning a credit in the finished product.
In describing the modern telling of Black Angel, Christian – who is attached to direct and write the project – surmised it as so:
Think Game of Thrones meets Valhalla Rising, Excalibur meets Lord of the Rings. A powerful tale of ancient Celtic magic and Nordic Paganism, it’ll be gritty, dirty and heroic – everything great fantasy should be.
The story follows a knight as he journeys deep into the dark underworld with the daughter of a rival king, to meet the face of evil itself and fight the Black Angel in combat. Full of drama, action and heroism, pure light is pitted against eternal darkness and damnation.
Once though to be a lost gem after opening as a Star Wars companion piece, Black Angel is hoping to make a triumphant return in the form of a feature film. But it needs your help. For more information about the campaign and all of the perks on offer, you can head on over to to the official Indiegogo page.
