REEL DEAL: “THE HOBBIT'S” Richard Armitage - Out Of the Shadows, “INTO THE STORM”

Richard Armitage stands at the eye of the storm in New Line Cinema's tornado-disaster thriller, “Into the Storm.” The British actor who gained international attention as “The Hobbit Trilogy”’s Dwarven warrior Thorin Oakenshield, literally flew to Michigan directly from the Trilogy’s set in Wellington, New Zealand to shoot the twister film. “Yes, I came straight from The Hobbit movies to do this—the flight was my break,” Armitage laughs.

“It’s difficult to prepare for a film like this,” Armitage says. “Even after studying the script and doing your work, you walk on set and run into an unpredictable set of circumstances. The tornadoes in this film are extreme and the way they are creating the effects is extreme too. Just trying to stay on your feet and keep your eyes open isn’t easy. But I like that! I like walking into a scene thinking it’s going to be one thing and then seeing how it gets turned on its head. It becomes a bit of an endurance test, which is great.”

REEL DEAL: Realistic FX Brings Viewers Inside Tornadoes In “INTO THE STORM”

Towering over and around the human characters of New Line Cinema's tornado disaster film “Into the Storm” is its intimidating main character—the storm itself. “I think it’ll be exciting for the audience to go inside this massive tornado with its horrific power of destruction and, at the same time, see its beauty,” director Steven Quale says. “With advances in sound and visual effects, it’s now possible to do that in an incredibly visceral and realistic way.”

REEL DEAL: Prepare To Go “INTO THE STORM” With New Disaster Thriller

From New Line Cinema, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, comes the tornado disaster film “Into the Storm,” an adrenaline-fueled thriller that will plunge audiences in the eye of the storm as an unprecedented series of powerful tornadoes converge on the small town of Silverton, seen through the eyes and lenses of the people living through it.

Steven Quale (“Final Destination 5”) directs the film, which is produced by Todd Garner (“Zookeeper,” “Knight and Day”). The film stars Richard Armitage (Thorin in “The Hobbit” films) Sarah Wayne Callies (TV’s “The Walking Dead”), Matt Walsh (“Ted”), Alycia Debnam-Carey (“Where the Devil Hides”), Arlen Escarpeta (“Final Destination 5”), Nathan Kress (TV’s “iCarly”), Jon Reep (“Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”) and Jeremy Sumpter (“Soul Surfer,” TV’s “Friday Night Lights”).

REEL DEAL: “THE WALKING DEAD'S” Sarah Wayne Callies Heads “INTO THE STORM”

Sarah Wayne Callies, who was last seen fleeing zombies in TV’s “The Walking Dead,” faces a different kind of menace in New Line Cinema's tornado-disaster thriller “Into the Storm.”

Callies plays professor of climatology and meteorology Allison Stone, who is with the storm chasers as a scientist, not a thrill-seeker. “This is Allison’s first season studying what these guys chase year after year,” Callies explains. “So, she is on the fence as to whether or not they are doing something legit or are just mavericks. She also has a young daughter back home. This is the first time Allison has been away from her, and there’s a real risk that she won’t be coming back.”