The old-fashioned action-adventure is about to get a shot in the arm. Guy Ritchie's Fountain of Youth stars John Krasinski as treasure hunter Luke Purdue. Joining him on a search for the mythical Fountain, said to bestow eternal life on those that imbibe its waters, is his sister Charlotte, played by Natalie Portman. This joyful adventure comes scripted by James Vanderbilt, who previously wrote The Amazing Spider-Man. "It was different," says Ritchie, when he meets GamesRadar+ on the set at Warner Bros. Studios outside of London. "I thought we could give a new take on this genre."
With the director known for contemporary crime yarns like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, RocknRolla and The Gentleman, this is certainly different. The closest he's come is the live-action remake of Disney animation Aladdin. "I honestly made up my mind I was going to try genres that I haven't tried before," he says. "So subsequently, we're quite busy because there's quite a lot of genres! The truth is it's more fun making movies than not. So if you can fill your dance card up and keep yourself challenged…it's more fun than not working."
From a rollicking opening chase that includes a huge fight on a moving train to a sequence that involves the exploration of the wreck of the Titanic's sister ship, Fountain of Youth one has action in spades. But at its heart is a sibling story. While Luke remains an adventurer, like his late father, Charlotte took a different path, raising a young son and working for a museum. Now Luke needs her to help with his search. "We have a little yin-yang thing of me trying to inject a little adventure into her life when she's a bit more bookish," says Krasinski.
Adventurous spirit
The film's costume designer, Loulou Bontemps, calls Purdue "an Indiana Jones-like" leading man, a comment that excites Krasinski. "Boy, I hope so," he exclaims. "I mean, that would be the goal. I can just retire after that. Just having Indiana Jones and me in the same line is pretty great to hear." The film's "adventurous spirit" is what enticed him to sign on. "I gotta be honest, I feel like this movie has such a nostalgia about it. It brings back so many movies that I grew up on, that truest sense of adventure…so the idea of Indiana Jones, definitely, I get where that comes from."
The likeable American star now joins the likes of Jason Statham, Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal as a Guy Ritchie leading man. "John has a unique charisma," says Ritchie, who feels there is a "direct correlation" between the "man you get on stage" and the actor when he is off-camera. "So he's very easy to work with, very talented, very experienced, because he's a rather good director too. He understands how difficult it is on this side of the camera. So I'm very fond of John."
Krasinski is certainly no stranger to action, whether it's directing/co-starring in horror-thriller A Quiet Place and its sequel or headlining the recent Jack Ryan TV series, based on Tom Clancey's CIA analyst. "For me, the exciting part is trying to do different things," he says. "That you never know where the frontier is. You just keep pushing it and trying new things. I've done some action stuff before, but not like this, and not with someone like Guy at the helm. And so you just say this is such an exciting way to try something new, and also such an exciting thing to be a part of."
On location
With Fountain of Youth shot in Bangkok, Vienna and Cairo, as well as London, the film has an old-school Hollywood feel. Even the soundstage work eschewed the now-common digital backdrops. "This is one of the only ones that has practical sets that I've ever been on," says Portman, surprisingly. "Usually when I've done Thor or Star Wars, it's green screen. And to actually have a physical environment to engage with is really extraordinary. It also means that sometimes you're cold, wet, or all of the above. But yeah, it's been really fun to get to have that, because you can lose yourself in the wonder of the world that we're filming in."
She and Krasinski are joined by an impressive support cast. Among them, Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson (as Owen Carver, the ailing tycoon who is bankrolling the search for Fountain, and Eiza González as Esme, a highly capable operative who has her own reasons to keep tabs on Luke and his crew. "The whole cast, I must say, are all rather lovely," says Ritchie. "If I say so myself, they've all had a nice time." Finding actors that not only have good on-screen chemistry, but also get on well when Ritchie yells 'cut' is crucial, it seems. "We're quite snotty about that," he says, "because otherwise, life's too short."
It's why you will find that actors frequently reunite with the British-born director. Take Mexican actress González. The Baby Driver star has swiftly become an integral cog in the Ritchie-verse. After featuring in 2024's World War Two-set The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, playing S.O.E. agent Marjorie Stewart, she's also just wrapped In The Grey, Ritchie's forthcoming hostage negotiator drama. "I'm just honored that Guy has thought of me for other stuff," she says, modestly. Not that she was expecting to shoot three movies in a row with him; she was on the set of Ministry… when she first had a casual conversation with Ritchie about Fountain of Youth.
"I remember sitting with Guy and being like, 'Who should you cast for this movie?' And you never get to do that with a director…and they're mentioning all these people, and I wasn't even part of the conversation. It wasn't like I was going to be part of a movie. I even thought of names for Esme! And I remember being on my way back to set with Loulou, our costume designer, and she's like, 'You'd be great for Esme.'" Clearly the thought struck Ritchie too. Before long, she got the call that he wanted her to play a character who is more than a match for Krasinski's Purdue (and, yes, the campaign for an Esme spin-off starts here).
Leading light
Certainly, the cast all seem to be looking to Ritchie for inspiration. Especially Krasinski, who has directed four features of his own, "I will say – please don't tell him – I'm stealing things from him all the time. I have more of a spy mentality on set, and I'm watching every single thing that he's using, and every toy that he has, but also how he uses it. He's using things like I've never seen. We've all seen drone shots, for instance, but I have never seen a drone fly through the national library in Vienna. It blew my mind! And the confidence that he has with the shot choices is also something that's really interesting."
Likewise Portman has also been taken by Ritchie's ability to turn on a dime, often expanding what's on the page and improvising on the day. "He kind of draws inspiration from the moment that is happening and it's magic in the bottle, I think, when that happens," she says. "Especially [with] movies like this…you want to chase that, because this movie is that. It's excitement and good energy and positivity, and that's what we're trying to convey. So it makes every scene special, versus just going through the motions."
Portman's not wrong, with Fountain of Youth offering audiences a globe-trotting yarn that prides itself on drawing from its exotic locations. Take the Vienna leg. "Normally you have background noise of ambulances going by or something," Portman says. "And there, there was just classical music playing. Streets were full of music." The production was even granted permission to shoot the climactic scene at the Pyramids, a rarity for a Hollywood movie. "You get quite casual about that," grins Ritchie, "to be in the Pyramids for a long period of time," grins Ritchie. To borrow from Indiana Jones, adventure has a name again.
Fountain of Youth is on Apple TV+ from May 23. For more, check out our guides to the best Apple TV shows and the best Apple TV movies.
