‘Big Miracle’ is set to open in cinemas around the US on February 3. Playing out in 1988, with the absence of smart phones, online social networks and instant wireless, three California gray whales were trapped off the coast of Barrow, Alaska, during their annual migration in October of that year, but still managed to find their way to the news.

One onlooker of the unfolding rescue was journalist Thomas Rose, whose book “Freeing the Whales” was published in 1989. Rose’s story, originally released as an article in the now defunct Spy magazine and later lengthened into book form, chronicled the events surrounding the tremendous rescue effort on behalf of the three ice-locked gray whales off the shores of Barrow.

When a local news photographer sent video coverage of the animals breaching in a small breathing hole hewn from thick ice, footage found its way from the bureau desk in Anchorage all the way to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s national evening newscast.

Soon, the plight of the whales captured international interest and resulted in a media frenzy that overtook the small city. The residents of the northernmost — and perhaps coldest — town in America were inundated with press. For a sleepy whaling town coming to grips with a changing way of life, this would be one of the biggest mixed blessings to present itself all century.

But it wasn’t just the Fourth Estate that had a vested interest in this human-interest tale. The story caught the attention of the Reagan White House, then focused upon the upcoming November election campaign of Vice President George H.W. Bush. Looking to position Bush as a pro-environment candidate and engage the federal government in the humanitarian effort, the Reagan team enlisted the aid of staffer Bonnie Mersinger, the executive assistant for cabinet affairs, in its efforts.

“President Reagan stopped by my office in the West Wing that night,” recalls Bonnie Mersinger Carroll, technical advisor for ‘Big Miracle’. “He had seen that the National Guard was involved, and he wondered what the White House could do to help. Since I was also a Guardsman, he asked that I extend his offer of help to the Alaska National Guard. And that’s how I met Tom Carroll.”

Col. Tom Carroll was serving as commander of one of the major battalions of the Alaska National Guard when he received a barrage of phone calls from Mersinger. Although initially put in charge of moving a behemoth hover barge across the ice, Carroll soon found his mission to be impossible and suggested the use of a Soviet icebreaker for the rescue of the pod of whales.

“This was before the Berlin Wall came down,” says Mersinger Carroll, “so this contact between America and the Soviet Union would prove extraordinary. It was a step toward world peace at the time.” It wasn’t until 1992 that Rose’s story of sensationalism, camaraderie and humanity caught the attention of fledgling television writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler.

Though curious about the story in ’88, their attentions were then elsewhere. “My sister, Andrea, was working for Dan Rather at CBS News,” recalls Amiel. “She thought the story would spark our interest as the basis for a film, although Michael and I were focused on writing for television at the time.” The screenwriters kept Rose’s story on the back burner and revisited it in 2001, when they were establishing themselves as feature-film writers.

They purchased the rights to his book and renewed them for nearly a decade as they wrote drafts of the script. “Our source material was Rose’s book and the news footage of the time,” adds Begler. “But a lot of what we wrote was very real. We had to embellish and create new characters to form the story, but we wanted to stay consistent with what really happened for two long weeks out on the ice in 1988.”

The fact that two of the whales were eventually freed and returned to the open ocean made the story an overwhelming media favorite. Topping it off was the fact that — in an unprecedented thaw in the Cold War above the Arctic Circle — two superpowers put aside their differences and worked together for the good of the mission.

“The American icebreakers had all been waylaid or placed in dry dock by October,” explains Begler, “so the Soviet ship was the only one available. The use of the Soviet ship was a big gesture from the Reagan administration and the Gorbachev government. Cooperation also made them both look good to a watching and waiting world.”

The writers took the screenplay to the principals of their management company Anonymous Content, Steve Golin and Michael Sugar, who helped to shape it. Eventually, both came onto the project as producers, alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, co-chairmen of the feature’s production company, Working Title Films.

“Michael brought the script to my attention,” recalls Golin. “I felt like this could be a movie about people working for common goals, even if they did not agree philosophically. Ken (Kwapis, director) understood that tone of the film. He brought a sense of humor and an everyman touch, while also seeing it as a moving, emotional and inspirational story.”

Although Rose’s book dates back to the late ’80s, Sugar believed that Amiel and Begler’s script could have been drawn from today’s headlines. “We thought that given what was happening in the world at the time, this story would resonate well in the present,” says Sugar. “Even though it is several years old, it is relevant as a story of modern humanity and shows the spirit of change.

In 1988, information was not as free-flowing; except for CNN, we didn’t have 24-hour newscasts like we do today. This story was like a rumor spread around the world and helped by the emerging use of satellite transmission.”

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In the upcoming graphic and violent, post-apocalyptic thriller ‘The Divide’, nine strangers — all tenants of a New York high rise apartment — escape a nuclear attack by hiding out in the building’s bunker-like basement. Trapped for days underground with no hope for rescue, and only unspeakable horrors awaiting them on the other side of the bunker door, the group begins to descend into madness, each turning on one another with physical and psychotic torment.

As supplies dwindle, and tensions flare, and they grow increasingly unhinged by their close quarters and hopelessness, each act against one another becomes more depraved than the next. While everyone in the bunker allows themselves to be overcome by desperation and lose their humanity, one survivor holds onto a thin chance for escape even with no promise of salvation on the outside.

The director, French Xavier Gens, who directed the feature version of the game ‘Hitman’, explained his choice to direct ‘The Divide’, starring Michael Biehn, Lauren German and TV ‘Heroes’ ‘s Milo Ventimiglia.

What originally drew you to the project? 

I received the script (previously named Shelter) written by Karl Mueller and the concept of the basement shelter really attracted me. I spoke with producers, Ross M. Dinerstein and Darryn Welch about giving the movie a larger scope by opening the film with a nuclear explosion as the catalyst. We hired Eron Sheean to help rewrite the script and weave in that element throughout the film.

How do you the feel the film fits in with your previous work? 

For me, The Divide is like my first real feature. Frontier(s) was a film with a lot of influence and Hitman was a studio movie. The Divide was a true indie film with a crew and cast of passionate people working on the film. It was a dream to do that film in that environment and made it easy for me to give the best I had to make the film. Filming The Divide has been my best experience as a filmmaker and I have met great friends on that set. From the crew to the producers and Anchor Bay Films, everyone has been really amazing and really supportive.

Were there any other films or filmmakers you drew inspiration from while making the film? 

Not really, but there is a subtle tribute to John Carpenter in The Divide. One of the characters is named Sam Carpenter and there is a piece of music by Jean Pierre Taieb, which was inspired by the score of Ennio Morricone for The Thing.

Can you tell us how you assembled such a diverse cast? 

It was a long casting process, but once we found everyone, it was fantastic working with such an amazing cast. It was very important to find actors who were ready to take risks and willing to embrace the extreme situations and also ready to improvise.

Sometimes there was some tension between the actors because they were all on diets to lose weight for their roles and there are several scenes in the film showing the escalating conflict. Instead of calming down the tension, it was very interesting to play with the natural emotions to push the performances and to catch that tension on camera instead.

How do you feel the film speaks about human nature? 

The film is speaking about the end of humanity and shows how you can easily lose your humanity in extreme situations. I don’t want the film to give a lesson but just show the audience what happens when a small group of people are trapped in an extreme situation; like seeing a laboratory experiment with white mice.

How was the experience of making the film independently different from your studio work? 

It was the best experience, I had total freedom. The version that is being released in theaters this January is the director’s cut and I want to thank my producers and Anchor Bay Films again for supporting me in that adventure. I’ve had a situation where I lost control of a film with the studio and it was very tough for me, and I almost decided to stop making movies. With The Divide, it’s like a rebirth for me. There is a place where you can express yourself and work with total freedom, and I want to work only in that environment.

What do you hope audiences take away from the film? 

I hope the audience will leave the theater reminded that life is beautiful. I feel the last scene of the film is like Baudelaire poetry, it’s dark, bleak and a little depressing, but beautiful.

The Divide will be in theaters this January 13.

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