Currently available to stream on digital platforms, Heroes of the Golden Mask is a new animated film from Gravitas Ventures. The adventure movie is inspired by the bronze masks of Sanxingdui, which were discovered in the Sichuan Province in the late 1980s. In addition to paying homage to China's ancient kingdom, it is also the final feature of the late Christopher Plummer (Knives Out, The Sound of Music).
Created by Xiaoming Yao and based on John Wilson's novel, Sean Patrick O'Reilly serves as the film's director. O'Reilly is heavily involved in animation and is known for his work on Go Fish, Panda vs. Aliens, and Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness. With a strong ensemble cast, Heroes of the Golden Mask also features the voices of Ron Perlman, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Patton Oswalt, Byron Mann, Osric Chau, Kiefer O'Reilly, and Sean Patrick O'Reilly, himself.
Sean O'Reilly chats exclusively with Screen Rant about crafting Charlie's unlikely hero story, the importance of the found family trope, and collaborating with Christopher Plummer before his passing.
Sean O'Reilly Talks Heroes of the Golden Mask
Screen Rant: I adored this movie. I'm a big fan of Patton [Oswalt] from his King of Queens days, so I'm always excited to see what he's doing next. What initially drew you to the film and made you want to get involved?
Sean O'Reilly: So there's Gordon and Troy—they're my producing partners from Vancouver. They introduced me to Jim Kammerud who wrote the script, and it was actually a co-production between Canada and China. There is a lost city called Sanxingdui, and it was discovered a few decades ago, and the story backwardly revolves around this lost city.
I loved the irony of making this hero a pickpocket. Was there a specific reason behind that creative choice?
Sean O'Reilly: I think it was just the reluctant hero. The hero doesn't choose the mask, the mask chooses the hero. Much like Harry Potter and the wands. It chose Charlie because it knew inside, deep down, way, deep, deep down, Charlie is a good person. He has just gotten into a string of unfortunate, bad luck situations. He's an orphan, he's on the streets fending for himself. How does one do that at a young age? [He's] pickpocketing and using it as cunning wit and guile. That's Charlie's story.
Unlikely hero stories are my favorite. I love the evolution, and I love Charlie's journey. Was there anything that was particularly important to you in terms of his growth throughout the film?
Sean O'Reilly: Charlie is my son, Kiefer, and it's the first time I've worked with him since the Howard Lovecraft trilogy. In between, he was Mighty Duck on the Disney Plus show, and this was a cool opportunity for me to reconnect with my son on a professional level. Obviously, I see him at home every day, but I haven't worked with him for years, so that was really cool for me.
Handling that character was quite unique, because I probably overthought, if anything. I added a lot of jokes into Charlie's [dialouge] and we ran them with Kiefer. We'll tell jokes to each other—bad puns, if you will, and whichever ones he liked, we kept in the script. Charlie's always wise cracking throughout the whole thing.
I loved Charlie's sense of humor—I wasn't expecting him to be so hysterical. Was that one of the main qualities you wanted to bring out of him?
Sean O'Reilly: For me, I just wanted him to start with a very crusty, jaded, DTA attitude, and, hopefully, he would get to the other side, and we would watch this character evolve. But the more jaded he started as, the easier that arc could happen.
As you said earlier, Charlie is an orphan, but the found family dynamic is at the center of this film. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that aspect.
Sean O'Reilly: Jim and Brian wrote the original screenplay, and I'm credited as a contributing writer. I focused on bringing through that family element, and then the jokes of Charlie. So, for me, that's kind of the heart of the movie. A family doesn't have to be genetic, it's just people that care for each other and come to each other's aid, and support each other. For me, that was really the through line—watching that family form, if you will.
Could you give some insight into the intention behind Charlie and Li's relationship? I could see it going multiple ways.
Sean O'Reilly: I like it when there are sincere relationships, and sometimes that weird sincerity could lead to intimacy. Sometimes it's just really close friends. That's where I wanted to bring it to. Because there's an age gap between Li and Charlie, you're kind of like, "Oh, I wonder where this will go." I like straddling that. I don't even need an answer. I did the same thing in Corrective Measures. You're kinda like, "Is it a romantic relationship? Is it family?" I just like being close. You don't always have to make out or whatever [laughs], but just having that intimate personal relationship is fun.
When you have these action scenes in animation, especially when you add in the magical aspect, what challenges are there with bringing it to the screen?
Sean O'Reilly: The word "magic" is always one that I try to avoid a little bit, but clearly, the masks are magic, in base. That's why I like what the MCU is doing. There are cosmic entities, magical entities, and there are genetic mutations that we'll be seeing soon. For me, it was kind of like that fine line between "magic" and having something that's very grounded and practical—more like an utilitarian tool or weapon. It has one design and one purpose. That's what made the Jade Blade the ultimate weapon, if you will, because it had a little bit more than a functionality to it, whereas all the other masks were very functional.
Christopher Plummer passed away back in 2021—an incredible actor who did over 200 projects. Looking back, how was collaborating with him on what you now know to be his last feature?
Sean O'Reilly: He is an amazing man. Casting is exceptionally hard, and I can totally see why the Adam Sandler group and everyone sticks together. Once you actually get your cast together, then you have to work together, and you hope that goes well, and then there's after the project. Christopher Plummer, I cast him as the Pixie King in the first movie I directed called Pixies. He said, "Yes, us Canadians have to stick together." He took me out to this hotel for red wine, and we had an amazing night of talking.
I think I've directed him maybe seven times. This was a little different because—the one thing is that he always comes super prepared. I have to say he's the most consummate professional actor. He shows up to this one, and he's like, "Sean, I was thinking of doing something different. I know you liked the natural voice, but I'm thinking of doing something like this." And I'm like, "Oh my God, this is awesome!" We went with it, and I was so happy and proud that that's where we ended. It was great.
You've directed some other animated films. Do you have a preference between animation and live-action?
Sean O'Reilly: They're different. Masks took about four years to make. An animation is also a reiterative process. You start a screenplay, storyboards, animation blocking, fine animation, lighting, rendering, compositing, so you always have the new team working on the previous team's work, and you reiterate, reiterate, reiterate. In live-action, you're actually more responding. On any given minute on set, as a director, you're needing to make a lot of micro decisions.
Either the car's in the wrong position, it's a different time of day, one of the actors is either sick or uncomfortable and wants to change something, this person is doing that thing—it's like a football game, like a quarterback. You might have a plan of what you want to do, but there's always something in your way preventing you from doing exactly what you want to do. Whereas with animation, for the most part, you can kind of do what you want to do because it's a lot slower moving.
Do you have anything else upcoming after this release?
Sean O'Reilly: We are currently in production of Ultraduck. It's exactly what it sounds. It's a super-powered duck based on the Edgar Delgado-created Ultraduck graphic novel and series. It's been translated into about a dozen languages. We have Danny Trejo in that along with some other big names, which we'll slowly be releasing. Assets are done and animation is about fifty percent done. We'll have animation done this year, and it should be out in 2024.
About Heroes Of The Golden Mask
Inspired by the ancient bronze masks of Sanxingdui discovered on the archaeological site of Guanghan in the Sichuan Province in the late ‘80s, director Sean O’Reilly’s adventure-packed animated treat centers on Charlie, a wise-cracking, homeless, American orphan who is magically transported to the ancient Chinese kingdom of Sanxingdui, where a colorful team of superheroes need his help to defend the city from a brutal conqueror. Charlie joins the heroes, and secretly schemes to steal the priceless golden masks that grant them their powers.
Heroes of the Golden Mask is currently available to stream on digital platforms.