Minutes to Midnight Wraps

On April 9, Minutes to Midnight screenwriter Christopher Don reached out to let me know that filming had wrapped on the film. I know I've been remiss in getting this news out to you, but I have a very good excuse--that very same day, my little town was hit by a tornado.

Having missed the "big reveal" moment, I thought today would be a good day to share the news, since it's Don's birthday. (I won't tell you how old he is because I don't want you to feel as old as I do.)

There have been some changes since I first talked to Don about Minutes to Midnight in 2013. But, we'll get to the details a little later. I know what you really want to hear about is Richard's role, and I think you're going to love what you hear.

Richard Grieco in Minutes to Midnight

Don told me that he was pretty confident this would be Richard's best role in 20 years. If that sounds ambitious coming from a guy who is just seeing his first feature film come to life, consider the history. First, as you may recall, Don is something of a Richard Grieco fan. In fact, I've heard a rumor (okay, I heard it from him) that in those pre-show-biz days when Don was parking cars on the graveyard shift, he'd watch 21 Jump Street on his laptop and think about working with Grieco one day.

M2M Screenwriter Christopher Don with Richard Grieco

He's also called Richard "the ultimate bad-ass" for his ability to both be tough and show an emotional side; in other words, he has a solid understanding of and appreciation for Richard's strengths as an actor. And, the role was beefed up and adapted to take advantage of those strengths after Richard came on board. I'm very interested to see where that takes us.

But, Richard isn't the only reason to watch out for this movie.

Other Reasons You May Want to See Minutes to Midnight

1. The production brings Richard back together with director Christopher Olen Ray, producer Gerald Webb and writer Victoria Dadi, who previously collaborated on A House is Not a Home--"Best Horror Feature" winner at the 2014 Burbank International Film Festival.

2. William Baldwin has joined the cast. The Baldwin boys have never been my type, but they can act. And, as an added bonus (in case you're one of the many who has trouble keeping them straight), this is the one I've recently heard referred to as "the Baldwin who's still pretty." He's the one who played Serena's dad on Gossip Girl.

3. John Hennigan is still in the cast. Okay, that's not new information, but have you seen this guy? If you're not a WWE fan, take a moment to Google him. I promise you're going to like it.

There's more, of course, but Minutes to Midnight is just days into post-production at this point and we'll have plenty of time to talk about it between now and the day we get to see the finished film. Stay tuned!