Mickey Rourke and the late Peter Greene are among the notable stars of a forthcoming indie feature offering an updated take on a classic Edgar Allan Poe work.
Director Craig Cukrowski’s psychological drama 3 Days Rising reimagines the short story The Fall of the House of Usher and boasts a cast that includes Rourke, Greene, Ice-T, Vincent Young and Kelly Monrow. The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively debut the movie’s trailer, seen below, before its planned debut on the festival circuit later this year.
3 Days Rising marks the final lead feature role for Greene, who died last month at 60 and was known for parts in Pulp Fiction, The Mask and Training Day. Cukrowski, who helmed the film from brother Derek Cukrowski’s script, had been friends with Greene for more than 20 years and notes that the actor’s real-life personality was much different from the hardened characters he portrayed.
“He’s the exact opposite of his screen persona,” Craig Cukrowski tells THR. “He’s a very warm, caring, emotional person and very generous. That’s the side of Peter that I always knew as his friend, and then it was a privilege to get to see the professional side of him, where he immerses himself completely in a character.”
Cukrowski explains that not only was the project written as a starring vehicle for Greene, but that a character was specifically created for Rourke as well. However, the team was unsure if Rourke would appear in the movie until right before the start of principal photography, which wrapped a few years ago.
“That was a dream come true,” the filmmaker says of casting Rourke. “It’s a pinch-yourself moment because when we wrote the story, we had always envisioned Mickey Rourke playing that character. We did not cast that role because we were holding out to hopefully get Mickey. Two weeks into production, we finally got Mickey, and then we shot him a week later.”
Peter Greene in 3 Days Rising.
Courtesy of the Project
Cukrowski gets emotional when recalling Greene’s reaction to the finished version of 3 Days Rising. “After Peter screened the latest cut, he called me in tears because he was so happy with it,” the director says. “He oddly referred to it as the ultimate swan song, which I just blew off as Peter being Peter with hyperbole. He was very proud of the work.”
3 Days Rising centers on Greene’s character dealing with a diminishing grip on reality as his estranged siblings pull him back into his violent past. Cukrowski produced the film alongside Greene, Ice-T, Derek Cukrowski, Tim O’Brien and Noel Ashman.
O’Brien adds, “Peter gave himself completely to this film — creatively, emotionally and spiritually. Living on location throughout the shoot fostered a rare level of trust and intimacy that permeates every frame. 3 Days Rising is not only his final performance, but a lasting testament to who he was as an artist and as a human being.”
