Anton Yelchin would have turned 30 today. The young star was burning so bright when he tragically passed away in 2016 following a freak accident with his Jeep that resulted in the actor being ripped from this world far too soon. Now, filmmakers Garret Price and Drake Doremus, in honor of Yelchin's 30th birthday, have unveiled details about their upcoming documentary Love, Antosha.
Love, Antosha was directed by Garret Price, who makes his directorial debut, and produced by Drake Doremus, who worked with Anton Yelchin in Like Crazy. Yelchin's parents, Viktor and Irina, initially approached Doremus to direct it. However, he opted to stay on as a producer, since he felt far too close to the material, and recommended Price instead. Here's what he had to say about it.
"There's a whole audience that needs to learn more about Anton. I met with Viktor and Irina, and they started telling me stories about Anton, and I was hooked from day one. I knew the story needed to be told."
Starting as a child actor in movies like Hearts of Atlantis, Anton Yelchin asserted himself as a star rather early. He would go on to prove that time and time again in movies like Alpha Dog, Green Room and as Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. For Drake Doremus, Yelchin wasn't just an actor he worked with.
"He was one of my favorite people I ever met in my life. I loved him so much, and we had such a special, life-changing experience together, so obviously I really wanted to be a part of the film and really wanted to help bring this movie to life."
Drake Doremus isn't the only one who feels this way. More than 60 people were interviewed for Love, Antosha, including J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart, Chris Pine, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana, Frank Langella, Ben Foster, Bryce Dallas Howard and Simon Pegg. Garrett Price says it wasn't hard to get anyone on board, as they were all eager and happy to talk about the later actor. According to Doremus, this is the kind of movie Yelchin would have made himself.
If he would have made the film, I feel like he would have made something that feels like this. He wouldn't have made a straight-ahead movie, [and] Garret made a more kaleidoscopic, sort of emotional journey in his head, the chaotic harvest of finding, and searching. It's not your standard documentary at all."
Love, Antosha debuted at Sundance earlier this year and, thus far, it has been met with a very warm response from critics. It currently boasts a 100 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As it stands, there is no word on when the movie will be released for the rest of the world to see, but we would expect that it will arrive in theaters or on a streaming service near you sometime in 2019. This news was first reported by Entertainment Weekly.
