LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Cinema Society's Filmland: Arkansas 2024 is underway now at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts with a goal to showcase some of the great works of Arkansas filmmakers.
On Thursday, the ACS hosted a panel showcasing a newly released film titled, "The Duel" which was directed by Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts. It stars big names such as Dylan Sprouse, Callan McAuliffe, Patrick Warburton, and Arkansas native, Hart Denton.
The overall theme of the movie is that of friendship— where a pair of best friends have a falling out and they decide that the best form of revenge would be to challenge each other with a gentlemanly duel to the death.
Friendship is something that both Sprouse and Denton explained has made working with not just each other easier, but with the rest of the crew as well.
The pair shared that they met years ago while at an event in New York, and have grown very close since then especially since filming for the movie took place during the COVID pandemic.
"It's the best experience I've ever had in my entire life," said Denton. "I had gone into projects before maybe knowing somebody, being acquaintances, but not being super close."
Sprouse also explained how when you get to make movies with people you really like then you essentially have a shorthand for everything.
"Whether it's from the crew perspective, cast perspective, or as actors, we talk a lot about the chemistry of it all and [if] you have a friendship/brother chemistry, with people on set even the anger looks better, the sadness looks better," said Sprouse. "All the emotions you're trying to channel in a scene look better because you're just more comfortable."
They explained how getting to the heart of real emotions in any film is easier when there's genuine friendship involved.
"That's why I think this movie is really special for me because I look on screen and it feels really easy for everybody when I watch it," Sprouse described. "Working with someone like Hart [Denton] makes it really easy to get there."
Denton went on to describe that when they wrapped filming this project there was a different feeling about it.
"It's a feeling that we want to continue to have," he added.
When asked about any future projects Denton, whose family lives in Conway, shared that he wants to bring more movies to Arkansas.
"I have a script based on Arkansas that we're hoping to get made," he said.
"The Duel" is available to watch on Amazon on August 15. For more information, please click here.
