Tim Kennedy on 'Range 15': The most non-PC zombie movie ever
Tim Kennedy knew when he signed on to be part of a new film called "Range 15" that this movie wasn't going to be the typical theater going experience for most viewers.
Kennedy was part of the ensemble cast of a new film that was funded via Indiegogo with one idea in mind -- make a movie with military veterans, about military veterans.
Now there are plenty of serious dramas that focus on the military but "Range 15" wasn't going to be anything but crazy, adrenaline fueled hilarity that would ultimately feature some of the most famous faces from Hollywood alongside a cast filled with real life veterans.
"The making of the movie was something special in and of itself," Kennedy told FOX Sports. "The people that were involved with this movie, everybody had a similar dark humor that we do, which is either going to be our demise or our success. Everything we did, we approached it as a bunch of veterans that self-funded this movie. This wasn't a studio that came in and said 'we're going to do this'. This is truly 100-percent an independent movie done by and for veterans. That culture permeated everything that we did.
"Every aspect of that movie making process was deeply seeded within the military community so it was special."
While "Range 15" was funded independently, the film does star some recognizable names including William Shatner, Sean Astin, Keith David and Danny Trejo. Of course the well known actors from Hollywood got a big shock when working alongside the best and brightest from the U.S. military because that's an exclusive club that isn't exactly known for glitz and glam.
"It was fun and it was hilarious to see these two cultures that could not be more polar opposites come together to make this film," Kennedy said. "I think that's going to come through. You're going to see the style of Hollywood, you're going to see the clever humor of Ross Patterson and then you're going to see Nick (Palmisciano) and me and Randy Couture and Matt Best and a huge list of UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator fighters and all of them were selected because they have some kind of cool tie to the military. It was so cool to be a part of it."
Maybe the craziest part about "Range 15" is the response the first trailer for the movie has after being released on Tuesday. Thus far, "Range 15" has over 3 million views already on Facebook alone.
View the trailer for "Range 15" below -- WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.
Range 15 Official Redband TrailerAfter two years, we are proud to release the Official Range 15 Trailer. Nick Palmisciano and I set out to show how powerful the Veteran Community can be when we work together. So here's to a lot of hard work and not giving a fuck about the Hollywood "Rules".
Posted by Mat Best MBest11x on Tuesday, January 26, 2016
"Range 15" is a lot of things but politically correct isn't one of them and Kennedy knows that there are going to be plenty of people who could easily be offended by a movie like this one but that was also part of the reason they made it in the first place.
Kennedy said this movie was about veterans and not following Hollywood's 'rules' for filmmaking and what resulted was a non-stop action flick with tons of zombies, a lot of laughter and more than a few bad words.
"Somewhere between "Super Troopers", "Zombieland", "Team America" and "The Hangover". There are some parallels between "Zombieland" and "Range 15" except "Zombieland" with Woody Harrelson there's this pleasurable fun in every scene. We don't necessarily have that," Kennedy said.
"There's going to be some people in the theater and they're not going to know if they're allowed to laugh. Everybody should know we laughed while we were making it and it's OK to laugh, but it will definitely push everybody's limits of what they're comfortable with humor wise. This is absolutely a non-PC movie."
Because "Range 15" was made with the military and for the military, the movie will first be released for the soldiers currently in active service with the filmmakers planning trips to places like Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Hood in Texas to debut the feature.
There are also plans in place to take "Range 15" to some festivals but ultimately according to Kennedy, the people who are most important to this movie's success are the men and women protecting America each and everyday and this film is dedicated to them.
"Range 15" is expected to have a summer 2016 release in theaters nationwide.
