LOS ANGELES — With the online release of Michael Ninn's "The Four," the adult filmmaker is trying to find an audience of a larger scale that maybe missed the epic adult saga the first time around.
The veteran director and producer, who announced yesterday that he's re-releasing the full-length film in a series format for members of MichaelNinn.com beginning Sept. 1, says fans won't be disappointed because the movie is rich in cinematic detail that overshadows anything ever seen in adult filmmaking.
And the movie, first released in 2011, will stream online in high-definition, with two episodes release each month.
All nine scenes, running a total of more than three hours in length, will be published throughout the remainder of this year, wrapping on Christmas day.
XBIZ chatted with Ninn on Tuesday to learn more about why he has high expectations for the online release of "The Four."
XBIZ: You employed incredible cinematic technology when it was produced. How does that translate for viewers watching the high-def movie on a computer screen?
Michael Ninn: I would hope the technology used to create the movie was somewhat transparent. My goal in releasing the movie in hi-def on my site is to let the end-user, the viewer, see the movie the way I see it in postproduction — the richness in color, skin detail and the detail in general.
The avenues available to the end user for viewing the movie surpasses simply watching it on their computer screens. They can also watch it stream to their big screen in their home via smart devices. I have never been very happy with the quality of DVDs.
XBIZ: Let's review the storyline of "The Four."
Ninn: The power and the passion of the feminine heart in a fantasy battle of four women sworn to revenge following the desiccation of the Spartans after The Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. It is 480 BC and the 300 elite soldiers of Leonidas have been destroyed by the Persian army.
As the Grecian forces invade Sparta, four surviving Spartan widows of the 300 swear revenge for their husbands and unite to assassinate Persian God-King Xerxes.
The Oracle, unable to stop the impending demise of Greece, grants each of these four women the strength, power and courage of the 300 brave warriors who died in battle, allowing these few brave souls to strike a final blow in the name of their lovers and their land.
XBIZ: How long did you take to complete the movie?
Ninn: The postproduction of "The Four" took nearly a year to edit and composite all the shots. You need to remember that, almost 80 percent of the movie was shot on blue screen therefore all the background and foreground elements had to be computer generated. This was a very time-consuming task.
XBIZ: Is "The Four" your proudest production?
Ninn: I am content with the thought that the movie was finally completed and that the public can see it. Something I was not sure would ever happen. I am not sure I have a movie that I am most proud of. There are moments in all of my films that I would like to think I sometimes get it right.