Boardwalk Empire set visit
By Tribute on August 12, 2013 | 1 Comment
Fans of the hit HBO television series Boardwalk Empire will be thrilled to know that the 4th season will begin airing on Sunday September 8th, but for those of you who need to catch up or refresh your memories, the complete third season is out on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on Tuesday August 20th. The third season of Terence Winter and Timothy Van Patten’s epic Prohibition crime saga picks up 16 months after the Season 2 finale. Steve Buscemi reprises his lead role as bootlegging big boss Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson (a fictionalized take on real-life county treasurer Enoch L. Johnson), the charismatic and cool-headed kingpin in control of Atlantic City’s criminal underworld. A vibrant portrait of East Coast life during the Roaring Twenties, Boardwalk has, arguably, never been better.
Spoiler alert: Despite his position of power, things are starting to go against the beleaguered Thompson. His relationship with ‘old country’ wife Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) is restricted to public niceties following a dispute over money (now donated to the church). He also faces a new threat in the guise of Italian mobster Gyp Rosetti (Emmy Award nominee Bobby Cannavale), who’s looking to secure a new strategic bulkhead between New York and Atlantic City in order to drain Nucky’s booze business dry. With allies dwindling at an alarming rate and his relationship with younger brother Eli (Shea Whigham) non-existent, Thompson is forced to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty to protect his business and those he loves most.
During a set visit to New York, a number of journalists were treated to a tour of some of the new sets viewers will get to see in Season 4. Gone are all the sets you’re familiar with. Most of the action will now take place in the Onyx Club – a new Boardwalk jazz club run by Nucky and Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams). We also had the chance to sit down with show writer Howard Korder and director Timothy Van Patten who promise an “exciting new season, chalk full of new and interesting characters.”
Both Howard and Timothy had the privilege of directing several episodes during Season 3 and say it was a tough season to get through, which made every day of coming to work more exciting. Having been with Boardwalk from the first episode, Timothy (who has also worked on directed episodes of the Sopranos, The Pacific and The Wire, to name a few) has become extremely close to the cast and the crew. He told me that it’s always difficult when you have to kill off a character because everyone has become like family. He went on to say that the actors never know too far in advance of their demise since it might mess with their performance. Timothy was extremely proud of the Season 3 finale saying, “People expect and deserve certain payoffs. After all, this is a gangster show!” Boardwalk Empire writer Korder agrees — and refers to a character’s death in Episode 10, saying, “If you didn’t know what was in that box, then that makes us very happy.”
Tribute.ca is giving away FIVE (5) copies of Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season. Click here to enter.
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season is jam packed with exclusive bonus material, including:
Blu-ray features:
American Empires: Prohibition did little to quench the country’s thirst for alcohol, and proved to be a boon to the era’s gangsters. Learn more about these gangsters, their influence, and their systems of distribution in this interactive compendium.
Boardwalk Chronicle: Track the major players and locations within each episode, and learn more about the historical threads woven into the season three storyline with this interactive, in-feature guide.
Newsreels: Explore some of the real-world events and historical figures that inspiredBoardwalk Empire season three with these 24 exclusive featurettes.
DVD features:
Distilling Season 2: Look back at season two with this 14-minute recap featuring creator/executive producer Terence Winter.
New Characters: An introduction to Gyp Rosetti, Billie Kent, Gaston Means, Dean O’Banion, and Benny Siegel.
Boardwalk Empire – Director’s Chair: Hear directors Tim Van Patten and Allen Coulter break down key scenes from season three, and how they approach taking the series from the script to the screen.
Scorsese on Season 3: Award-winning director and executive producer Martin Scorsese provides a unique and detailed perspective on the third season of Boardwalk Empire
Audio Commentaries: six audio commentaries with cast and crew including creator Terence Winter, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Gretchen Mol and more.
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