Roger Christian
Having come full circle, Christian recently again worked alongside his old colleague George Lucas, this time as Lucas' second unit director on the Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. After 20 years, Christian returned not only to the world of Star Wars but to location shooting in the North African deserts of Tunisia, where he had helped bring the first Star Wars film to life. From studios to wilderness locations, the experience has stood Christian in good stead, and he is now bringing it all to bear on the creation of a new screen epic.
Christian's latest project is the film adaptation of the science fiction adventure Battlefield Earth, starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker. Bringing a strong sense of vision of Battlefield Earth, Christian is crafting a film version that remains true to the spirit of the book while creating an innovative look and a new approach not seen before in science fiction cinema.
It was George Lucas who suggested Christian as the right person to bring Battlefield Earth to the screen, as years ago it was Lucas who encouraged Christian's first directorial effort.
Christian got his start as a director, he says, after his distinctive work on Star Wars: A New Hope and Aliens. Following art direction on those two films he went back to film school to broaden his skills. He then wrote the medieval fantasy, Black Angel, which was too expensive to produce at the time. Chance and opportunity merged, however, when Christian met a 20th Century Fox film executive and told him about the script. George Lucas got hold of and read the screenplay and gave Fox his endorsement, at which point Fox financed the production and Christian directed his first feature film. Black Angel was shown in England as an advance feature with The Empire Strikes Back
Roger Christian Facts
Occupation | Director |
Selected Filmography
Not available. |