Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future and sets out to prevent them from coming true. Rose Byrne (Troy, "Damages"), Chandler Canterbury (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Repossession Mambo) and Lara Robinson ("Saved") also star in director Alex Proyas' (I, Robot) riveting feature about a father's desperate battle to save his child--and the world.
In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures of what they think the future will look like. Their drawings will be sealed into a time capsule and stored for 50 years. But one mysterious girl fills her paper with rows of apparently random numbers, which she says are being whispered to her by unseen people. 
A half-century later, a new generation of students examines the capsule's contents and the girl's cryptic message ends up in the hands of young Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), but it's Caleb's father, astrophysics professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), who makes a startling discovery: the encoded message predicts the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years with pinpoint accuracy. As he further unravels the document's secrets, John discovers that it foretells three additional catastrophes--the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale.  John's efforts to alert the authorities about the impending catastrophes fall on deaf ears and his fears intensify with the realization that Caleb is somehow connected to the mystery. Enlisting the help of Diana Whelan (Rose Byrne) and  Abby (Lara Robinson), the daughter and granddaughter of the prophetic message's author, he embarks on a heart-pounding race against time to prevent the ultimate disaster.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
A single father desperately trying to defend his only child and a half-century old encoded message written by a young schoolgirl may be all that stand in the  way of impending global disaster in the captivating sci-fi thriller Knowing.
From the moment they heard Ryne Douglas Pearson's (Mercury Rising) idea for the screenplay, producing partners Jason Blumenthal and Todd Black knew they had an unforgettable story to tell. 
"We spent eight years developing the script," recalls Blumenthal. "We bought it as an original pitch. Ryne had an idea that started with a time capsule that was buried in the 1950s and unearthed in the present day. The capsule contains a series of predictions that would come true. We knew immediately we had something very special."
For the last five years, the partners have been working with Alex Proyas, the acclaimed director of I, Robot, to develop the idea into a feature film. "With a pitch, you never know how the final screenplay is going to turn out," says Blumenthal. "The story has changed in small places, but the larger overall themes have always remained the same. The idea of the time capsule and the predictions was such an intriguing and unique idea that we knew we had something to build on. It's as exciting to us today as it was eight years ago. And seeing it come to life is amazing."
Proyas was chosen to direct Knowing based on the singular filmmaking style he has honed since his 1994 breakthrough film, The Crow. "We knew we found the right director in Alex," says Blumenthal. "His vision for this picture far surpassed anything that we could ever realize on the page. He brought in a whole host of scientific, spiritual and philosophical ideas that helped bring the script together."
For Blumenthal, real-life events of the past eight years have caused a shift in what he sees as the most compelling aspects of the film. Initially he was intrigued by the concept of the time capsule: "I remember hearing about them as a kid. It sounded so sci-fi and out there, and when I realized that it was something that was going to be opened many years from that date, I was hooked. When I'm looking at ideas I want to develop, I look for things that have an emotional connection for me, and that one did it for me." 
Then during the development period, Blumenthal's life changed dramatically. "Eight years ago I was not a father. I have two young children now.
And at its core, the movie has become a parent and child story. That central family issue is very important to me and many other people on this film. 
"Knowing is an edge-of-the-seat psychological thriller with special effects that are going to blow your mind," he says. "But it's more than that. This movie poses the ultimate question: How far would you go to protect your child? Would you be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice? That's an intense idea. 
"It's an emotional rollercoaster that leaves you guessing at every turn. It's a story that people will want to talk about because it poses many questions that will stay with them when they leave the theater. And for me, those are the best stories to tell."
For Proyas, that meant finding a balance between the over-the-top action and visual effects of a top-flight thriller and the nuanced emotional journey of his characters. "For me, every film is a big film," he says. "I, Robot was a hugely complex technical exercise, but every film has its own levels of complexity. The great thing about Knowing is that is it has this bedrock of emotions and human interaction. Reality is what this story is all about what. We don't ask you to suspend disbelief. Everything that we've addressed in this could possibly happen."
Actor Nicolas Cage, who plays Professor John Koestler, compares the script to an enduring American icon. "The script reminded me of one of Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" teleplays, and the powerful feeling that those shows had," he says. "It's a science fiction-mystery-thriller, but there are also some intensely dramatic moments." 
Rose Byrne, the actress who plays Diana, agrees that it is hard to place Knowing in a single genre, a quality she sees as one of the film's strengths.
"The storyline unfolds really cleverly and the time capsule is fascinating. This is not just a straight thriller or a straight horror or a straight science fiction film. It's a dead-even combination of those things." 
"It's a movie that has the ability to change people's minds," says Cage. "I remember seeing The China Syndrome as a boy and it made me very aware that nuclear energy was a power to be respected. This calls people's attention to issues that we can all affect in some way.   
"The end of the world is on people's minds," he goes on. "We have the power to do it ourselves. The question is, what do you do with that responsibility?"   
  Movies with apocalyptic themes are particularly resonant with audiences because of the environmental issues the world is dealing with, says Byrne. "It's a constant human desire to want to understand as much as we can about how long we're going to be around," she says. "People have been trying to figure it out forever. And whether it's Mayans or Muslims or Hindus, everyone has a theory on what's going to happen."
The filmmakers hope that Knowing will be the kind of film that starts conversations that continue long after audiences have left the theater. "People go to movies to see something big, something fun, something kind of special that they haven't seen before," says Blumenthal. "And we think we're giving them that. 
"I believe audiences want to be challenged to come to their own conclusions," he adds. "This movie has a definitive ending, but it leaves a lot open for debate. A movie that ends when the credits roll is not as important to me as one that keeps you talking when you get in the car. I want people to talk about this movie, and ask themselves, 'Would I have done that?' This is a story that I believe people are going to want to talk about. And that's the kind of movie that I want to make."

ABOUT THE CASTING
With their ideal director lined up, a finished script in hand and a studio ready to finance the project, the filmmakers set out in search of their lead actor.
"At that point, the most important part became finding our hero," says Blumenthal. "Who's the guy who will carry us through?" 
Academy Award winner and international superstar Nicolas Cage brings the air of an event to every project he tackles. His commitment and dedication have made him one of the most sought-after actors in the world. "We always knew that Nic Cage was the perfect person to play this part," says Blumenthal.
"Nic brings an intensity, but at the same time an accessibility, to this character that most actors couldn't deliver. I also think Nic believes in many of the themes we address in this movie. 
"I also believe there's something about the role and the story that speaks to him emotionally because he's the father of a young son," continues Blumenthal. "He has a solid understanding of what a father would have to go through and the kind of decisions a father would have to make in this situation.   
"Plus, he's an amazing person, he's an amazing actor and he brings real humanity to every role he takes on," adds Blumenthal, who produced The Weather Man, which also starred Cage. "It was also perfect because Nic was a fan of Alex's and Alex was a giant fan of Nic's. Sometimes the planets align properly and everything seems to come together. That's what happened on this film."
Cage and Proyas both jumped at the chance to collaborate on the project.
"I had wanted to work with Nicolas for a long time," says the director. "It is always exciting to finally get to work with someone you've always wanted to work with."
For Cage, the combination of the unique and provocative script and Proyas in the director's chair made Knowing an irresistible opportunity. "It can be a challenge to find original stories and outlooks. Alex is an original, an artist with a different point of view."  The Oscar-winning actor found the role of John Koestler particularly satisfying from an emotional standpoint. "He's remarkably devoted to his son and he has the added pressure of raising him alone. We don't see the concern that fathers have for their children often enough in movies. That's another one of the  reasons I wanted to do this film. 
"John's only priority is keeping his son safe," says Cage. "There's a very emotional moment in the movie when Caleb asks, 'Am I gonna die now?' And my character says, 'That will not happen. I will not let that happen to you.' He will stop at nothing to fulfill that promise. At that point, the film becomes largely about what John can do to keep his promise."   
Australian actress Rose Byrne's career has included big-budget blockbusters such as Troy as well as acclaimed small-scale projects such as I Capture the Castle. She was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her role opposite Glenn Close in the award-winning television series "Damages." 
"Rose and I had wanted to work together for a while," says Proyas. "She brings such depth to everything she does on screen. That's especially important in this film because much of what people are thinking and feeling is not always expressed with words." 
  Long an admirer of Proyas' work, Byrne says the chance to work with the director was "a huge draw." "I've really enjoyed working with Alex. He knows exactly what he wants, and he's very compassionate towards his actors. He's very much about the story and the characters."
"Also, the fact that it's a very intimate story between these four characters in this larger-than-life situation makes it very attractive to me as a performer," says the actress.  "My character, Diana, is in such a complicated position. She has a really dark personal history and it all comes crashing down on her. She tried to run away from this thing her whole life and it ends up right in her face. It was quite a challenging part. It's a big responsibility to make it as real and as powerful as possible."
  Byrne was selected after an audition process that spanned several continents. "There was just something about Rose," says Blumenthal. "She has a freshness. From day one, Alex was sure she was the right choice. As he says, she has a real humanity. You can feel the pain and emotion that she's going through as she is discovering that these predictions that have set this story in motion started with her mother years ago."   
Working with Cage, Byrne says, always carried the promise of the unexpected. "It was a blast. Nic is incredibly passionate about what he's doing.
You don't really know what to expect. He really threw a curveball at me in our first scene. We rehearsed it and discussed it, and then he came at it another way, which was really thrilling to figure out. It turned the scene from being quite gentle and subtle into something that was really his character losing it a little bit.
It's exciting to work with Nic because his mind is always one step ahead."
For his part, Cage was impressed by his leading lady's onscreen authenticity. "Rose is tremendously real," says the actor. "She has the emotions required to make the situations in the film so palpable that people in the audience have to go with it. Rose has that ability to draw it as though it's actually happening." 
Two very young actors, Chandler Canterbury and Lara Robinson, shouldered critical roles in Knowing. 
The filmmakers went on a major talent hunt for the young actor who would play Caleb Koestler. Chandler Canterbury was nine years old when he shot Knowing. He had already won a Young Artist Award for his appearance on the television drama "Criminal Minds" and worked with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Jude Law and Forest Whitaker  in Repossession Mambo. "I did my first audition on video and my mom sent it on the Internet like every other audition that I have done," he says. "Then they asked me to read the whole script so I could learn more about my character. Caleb is very sad because his mom is dead. He can't see eye-to-eye with his dad, but he really loves him. He's smart and he's obsessed with animals."
The challenge, says producer Blumenthal, was finding a child actor who didn't come off on screen like a child actor. "He had to be real. There was just something special about Chandler. It was something that we hadn't seen before. It's not that precociousness that you get with a lot of kid actors in Hollywood.
Chandler lives in Texas and there's something about not growing up in Hollywood that translates to who he is as an actor." 
Ten-year-old Lara Robinson took on two challenging roles in Knowing.
She plays both Lucinda, the little girl who starts everything, as well as Abby, who is Lucinda's granddaughter and one of the keys to the mystery. "I liked playing two characters in the movie," the Aussie youngster says. "They were totally different. Lucinda was fun because she's scary and sad and weird. And Abby's fun because she's normal."
About her co-star, she says, "I would describe Chandler as a good actor.
But he's definitely a boy. He would ask me things like, would I shave my head for a movie? Or would I want to take my eyebrows off for a movie? Would I want to get rid of an eye for a movie? And I would say no to all those questions."
"Lara and Chandler both were amazing in the way they understood what it takes to make a movie," says Blumenthal. "They're great because they're real kids. The minute we yell cut, they're back to just being kids. They're playing and having a good time and they enjoy it. And there's something so exciting about watching these kids enjoy what they do."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ALEX PROYAS (writer, director, producer) was born in Egypt to Greek- Egyptian parents, and moved to Australia at age two.  An only child, he grew up in the low-rent government housing tenements of inner-city Sydney.  Showing a passion for art and film from an early age, he was given his first Super-8 camera for his 10th birthday. He was accepted into film school in Sydney at the unprecedented age of 17.
During his three year graduate course, his student short, Groping, received international acclaim, including the award for Most Outstanding Short Film at London International Film Festival, 1982. 
Proyas wrote, co-produced and directed his first feature film, Spirits, in 1989. The film won awards at festivals around the world and received critical and art-house success. 
In 1994, he wrote and directed the short film Welcome to Crateland, which screened in competition at Cannes '94. That same year he completed work on The Crow, starring Brandon Lee. The film was a major critical and commercial success. Soon after, he established his production company, Mystery Clock Cinema to develop and produce feature films.
In 1998 he completed work on his third feature film as writer/director/producer - Dark City for New Line Cinema. Starring Rufus Sewell, Keifer Sutherland, Richard O'Brien, Jennifer Connelly, Ian Richardson and William Hurt, the film has since earned its place as a long-standing cult-classic. 
In 2002 he completed Garage Days starring Kick Gurry, Pia Miranda and Maya Stange for Fox Searchlight. The film was invited to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival January 2003.
2004 saw the completion of I, Robot starring Will Smith which became Proyas' greatest commercial success to date with a world-wide box office hit earning nearly 400 million dollars.
Proyas lives and works in Sydney, Australia

READ MORE: MAKING KNOWING--STEP BY STEP /  WHAT WOULD YOU PUT IN A TIME CAPSULE?

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