In The Duel, Dylan Sprouse and Callan McAuliffe are friends-turned-enemies. This is thanks to Colin (Sprouse) hooking up with his best friend Woody's (McAuliffe) girlfriend.
While the two's bitter rivalry concludes with a duel, the two are close friends. They helped get The Duel off the ground thanks to mutual friends, the filmmaking duo of Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts.
“We've all been longtime friends,” Sprouse said. “He sent the script to me and Callan — we're his two history buddies, I guess we could say, as well as his friend. He wanted some advice and some thought behind [the script].”
Immediately, Sprouse was engulfed in the script. After speeding through it, Sprouse told Roberts, “I want to talk to you guys and see how we can get this thing made.”
An actor's hat and a producer's hat
Previously, Sprouse was credited as an executive producer of The Suite Life Movie. However, The Duel is the first project Sprouse has been heavily involved with as an executive producer.
He warned Roberts and Matthews that he would be wearing several hats during the production. “In pre and post-production of this movie, I'm going to be wearing an executive producer hat,” Sprouse recalled telling them. “During the actual production, I'm going to be wearing exclusively an actor hat.”
The Duel is now gearing up for its limited release thanks to Lionsgate and Iconic Events (not to be confused with Lionsgate's 2016 movie, The Duel). Sprouse detailed his duties as a producer, which are filled with “a lot of sleepless nights.”
“Now that we're in the post[-production] phase, it's been a lot more active. It's a lot of meetings, and it's a lot of making sure it's placed where it needs to be placed and setting up everything that needs to be set up,” he explained.
While it's tough, Dylan Sprouse is happy with the end result. “I don't think I could have chosen a better project to do this with for my first time,” he said.
Acting in front of friends in The Duel
For Callan McAuliffe, he thought acting as friends-turned-enemies was easy thanks to how “comfortable” he was with his co-stars. They were put up in a house together ahead of the production, which furthered their bond.
However, he conceded that acting in front of friends is “quite nerve-wracking.” This is something that Sprouse has a differing opinion on.
“I don't know why that is,” Callan McAuliffe claimed. “But there's also a safety to it. And maybe the fact that I'm feeling nervous is an expression of that comfort, somehow, paradoxically.”
He further theorizes that his fear stemmed from putting his friendship with Roberts and Matthews on the line. In the end, “it only made it stronger. And we've made a beautiful thing together.”
Sprouse detailed how he attempted to create a “good on-set environment” as an executive producer. Having a good vibe is something he has been striving for his entire career.
“I'm almost [the] opposite of Callan,” Sprouse weighed in. “I'm much more comfortable acting in front of friends than [with] strangers.
“But, I will say, part of my effort during this movie was to try and make sure that we surrounded ourselves with people that we trusted and knew,” Sprouse continued. “Honestly, having friendship as the base of chemistry on set allows you to have a much better performance in any scene. And that, in general, [is] something I've tried to chase for a lot of my career.”
Who would be their seconds?
In The Duel, both Woody and Colin have seconds. The former has Kevin (Hart Denton), while the latter has Sam (Denny Love).
Should Callan McAuliffe or Dylan Sprouse find themselves in a duel, they know who they would choose as their seconds. McAuliffe would pick Roberts or Sprouse.
“I've known Luke for a very long time now, and he and I share many passions, and I would have a hard time thinking of someone better,” he explained. “Also, he dresses very, very well. I think he'd be a great representative on the field of battle.”
A laughing Sprouse interrupted, “That's true. He might have a dueling cloak in his closet.”
Obviously, Sprouse would choose his twin brother, Cole. This could create confusion for their opponents as they would have double the trouble to worry about.
“If I wanted to have the most dramatic death [in] a duel possible, I would probably choose my twin brother,” Sprouse said. “Just because it would be pretty funny to see.
“You're like, ‘Did I get him?' And Cole is just behind me. You have to get through both of us,” he added.
Why Indiana is the place to shoot
Most of The Duel takes place in a beautiful mansion. While it looks exotic, the movie was largely shot in Indiana (the world premiere was held there, too). “All of these locations were opened up to us because we shot it in Indiana. This could have never taken place in California,” Sprouse said.
Executive producer Sprouse explained his relationship with the city, who were “so excited” about it being made there. This resulted in the cast and crew also being excited to make the movie.
“I think we could not have had a better location to shoot in,” Sprouse claimed. “On top of the fact that Indiana has this untapped reserve of very interesting locations, insofar as we shot the entire villa at the old Simon Estate.”
Callan McAuliffe added that he was “surprised” by Indiana's diversity. Dylan Sprouse recalled finding a military tunnel that had cheese stored in it.
The future of Zack and Cody
From 2005 to 2011, Dylan and Cole Sprouse starred as Zack and Cody for Disney Channel. The first series, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, ran from 2005-08. Almost immediately after it concluded, a sequel series, The Suite Life on Deck, premiered.
It has been over a decade since the series ended, and the Sprouse twins have been long removed from the project. However, shows like iCarly have since come back. Could Zack and Cody get the same treatment?
“The funny thing is, Cole and I actually talked about it for a long time,” Sprouse revealed. “And we talked about it with our writers. Originally, we were planning on potentially doing one more season where we went back to the [Tipton] Hotel and raised a kid in our image who also lived there with his dad.
“That way, we could depart from the show, and [it] could still be running while we went to college,” Sprouse continued.
That never happened. But as for what Zack and Cody are up to now, the twins theorize that the former is a used car salesman, while the latter has a “great job in a scientific community.”
If a revival were to happen, Zack and Cody would have kids. “They would have two twin boys and two twin girls independently who would be cousins,” Sprouse concluded.
The Duel will be released for one night only by Iconic Events on July 31.
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