House of Wax actor speaks out about fire

Chad Michael Murray, who stars as Nick in the remake of House of Wax, told SciFi Wire that he was in mid-scene when fire broke out and destroyed an Australian soundstage last month, temporarily halting production. "I was a foot and a half away from it," Murray said in an interview. "I was lying on the ground, and they called 'Action!' It's a climactic part of the movie. I started to get water blisters on my hand [from the heat], and I jumped up and said 'What?' I got out of there in the middle of a take, and I turned around and, whoosh, everything was gone."

Murray added that producers acted swiftly. "Everyone got out all right, [and] they made sure they did a headcount immediately. That was the most important thing. Yeah, you lose equipment, You lose the stage. You lose everything else. But the fact of the matter is everyone got out OK. That's all we cared about. Everything else can be replaced."

House of Wax was seven weeks into its 11-week shoot for Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow Pictures when fire erupted when molten wax figures came into contact with gas burners, Variety reported last month. There were no injuries, and the Warner Roadshow Studios soundstage in Queensland will be rebuilt as soon as possible, Village Roadshow told Variety. The movie, a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price horror movie, delayed production when several sets were destroyed. House of Wax, which was originally slated to premiere this year, has been bumped back to early 2005.

Source: SciFi Wire