Jude Law Lends Support to Teen-Led Jules Verne Movie Adaptation

When teenagers Adrian Bliss, Ben Robbins and Toby Stubbs discovered a forgotten 1896 Jules Verne novel in a British library, they knew they wanted to transform the story into a film. The only problem: How were these young people going to get their hands on the $2 million it would take to make the dream a reality? Enter a little bit of luck, some celebrity names and a whole lot of gumption on the guys’ part.

Fortunately for the pals, they live in the age of social networking—and they made the most of it. With their site, BuyACredit.com, supporters can donate at least $10 to the cause and buy themselves a spot on the end credits of the film. Using this method, the aspiring filmmakers have already brought in around $150,000.

And the support doesn’t end there. Actor Jude Law became involved in the project after 19-year-old Bliss waited outside a stage door in London, hoping to catch Law after a performance of Hamlet. “I met him there and I told him about the project…and he was really interested and that’s how we sort of got his support from the start,” Bliss told the Associated Press.

Before long, Law was a key player in the project, offering the guys script advice and hiring a camera crew to shoot, all the while lending his high-profile influence to the movie’s publicity campaign.

Along with Law, Bliss, Robbins and Stubbs have attracted British actor Stephen Fry (who portrays the Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland) via Twitter. After bombarding the actor’s Twitter account with information about their project, Fry visited the friends’ site and was intrigued. “[I] admired in an amused manner the chutzpah, determination and the charm of these three young fellows in their determination to get into the movie business this way,” Fry told the AP. He’s so involved, in fact, that Fry agreed to take on the lead role of Mr. Eustache in the film, entitled Clovis Dardentor.

If successful, this style of movie-making could change the way newcomers break into the notoriously competitive industry. The trio is still currently working to reach its $2 million goal.

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