Barnard Tackles Mugger at Rogue Trooper Annecy Premiere
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- Aneurin Barnard told the Annecy audience he tackled a street thief who had robbed an elderly woman about an hour before his "Making Of" session on Tuesday, holding the suspect down until police arrived.
- Duncan Jones quipped from the stage, asking the front row to "confirm the blood on the knuckles" after Barnard's on-stage reveal, calling it "a very strange 24 hours."
- The Rogue Trooper film — adapted from the UK's 2000 AD comic strip that also spawned Judge Dredd — premiered at Annecy on Monday, blending motion capture, animation and Unreal technology; only Barnard's face was captured on set.
- Duncan Jones said he had spent 25 years trying to bring Rogue Trooper to the screen, recounting how he first pitched the idea to Rebellion owners Jason and Chris Kingsley in his early 20s with a mohawk before he had made any films, and was too embarrassed to return for about 20 years.
- Barnard said he was on set for just two weeks, calling the experience "a pinch yourself moment" and praising the production team as humble and invested.
- The Annecy panel also included Liberty Films Entertainment producer Stuart Fenegan, Rebellion coproducer and head of Film & TV Ben Smith, VFX supervisor Marty Waters, and Treehouse Digital Limited head of animation Thomas Saville.
Why it matters: The mugger-tackling handed Rogue Trooper an unscripted publicity moment at the moment of its long-awaited debut, after 25 years of development since Jones first pitched the 2000 AD adaptation with a mohawk in his early 20s — guaranteeing the Annecy premiere will be remembered for the actor's real-life heroics as much as for the film itself.
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