The sinopsis for THE BELKO EXPERIMENT does an excellent job as describing this thriller, with touches of horror and comedy: “In a twisted social experiment, 80 Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company’s intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.”

I was fortunate enough to attend a special event in Beverly Hills, where after seeing the movie, members of the press could mingle with some of its cast and filmmakers. Here are some of the most interesting things that James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) and Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) shared with us.


James Gunn (Writer, Producer)

It wasn’t always Colombia. It changed many times. It was São Paulo, Brazil, at one point, but it ended up being Bogota. I went to the Cartagena Film Festival and had a great time there. I met some of the people in the filming industry, they have good incentives there, so I said ‘Let’s do it here!’

I don’t feel like the movie is anti-corporation in any way. It’s about this need to compete that we have in our nature. Competition it’s fun, but sometimes it eats you alive. It’s about that and the idea of being forced to fight, and us of an audience, being interested in seeing that. It’s like a reality show gone wrong.

I think of characters as people, and parts of myself. I thought about the conversation that would take place in my head if I was put in this position. All of the characters have a different point of view.

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT
Tony Goldwyn (Barry Norris)

It’s fun to play a dark character and put their point of view forward. At the beginning he is a good boss, and looks like a decent guy. He has a very valid perspective, and tries to be practical about this situation. He was a military guy so he wants to minimize the damage. Then he just loses his mind and get carried away.

Because my character has a special forces background, I told our stunt coordinator that he had to make sure that I looked like someone that knew what he was doing. I hope that someone that was in the military doesn’t look at my character and say ‘Give me a break!’

Socially, our cast really bonded. There were some of James’ best friends, including his brother Sean. They created a fun environment that really helped us deal with all the dark stuff in the story. Otherwise, it would have been a tough movie to do.

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT
Michael Rooker (Bud Melks)

There is a lot of killing in this movie. Tons of gore and violence. There is probably one death without blood in here.

We had a beautiful time in Bogota. There were many great restaurants and clubs nearby where we were shooting. We would go out every single night with the entire cast.

I have done a lot of big and small movies. I always put the same amount of energy into every role.

The film, directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek), stars Michael Rooker, Adria Arjona, Tony Goldwyn, Melonie Diaz, and John C. McGinley.

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT will be released in theaters on March 17.