Slideshow: 30-Image Gallery For ‘Inkheart’ With Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany

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Paul Bettany stars as Dustfinger with his pet ferret in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.

CHICAGO – This 30-image slideshow contains a selection of official press images from Warner Brothers’ “Inkheart,” which opens stateside on Friday, January 23rd, 2009.

“Inkheart” stars Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis, Eliza Hope Bennett, and Rafi Gavron. The film was written by David Lindsay-Abaire from the book by Cornelia Funke and directed by Iain Softley. It opens on Jan. 23, 2009.

Synopsis: “Based on the best-selling book by Cornelia Funke, “Inkheart” is a fantasy adventure that sends a father and daughter on a quest through worlds both real and imagined.

Mortimer “Mo” Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett), share a passion for books. What they also share is an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages.

On one of their trips to a secondhand book shop, Mo hears voices he hasn’t heard for years, and when he locates the book they’re coming from, it sends a shiver up his spine. It’s Inkheart, a book filled with illustrations of medieval castles and strange creatures—a book he’s been searching for since Meggie was three years old, when her mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory), vanished into its mystical world.

But Mo’s plan to use the book to find and rescue Resa is thwarted when Capricorn (Andy Serkis), the evil villain of Inkheart, kidnaps Meggie and, discovering she has inherited her father’s gift, demands that she bring his most powerful ally to life—the Shadow. Determined to rescue his daughter and send the fictional characters back where they belong, Mo assembles a small group of friends and family—some from the real world, some from the pages of books—and embarks on a daring and perilous journey to set things right.”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos credited to Murray Close/Courtesy of New Line/Warner Bros. Pictures unless otherwise noted.

1. Inkheart_01: Brendan Fraser as Mo and Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
2. Inkheart_02: The Unicorn is one of the many literary creatures brought to life in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
3. Inkheart_03: Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
4. Inkheart_04: Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie and Brendan Fraser as Mo in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
5. Inkheart_05: Paul Bettany stars as Dustfinger, an able fire juggler, in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
6. Inkheart_06: An entranced Farid (Rafi Gavron) stares at an indifferent Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
7. Inkheart_07: Helen Mirren as Elinor, Brendan Fraser as Mo, Rafi Gavron as Farid, Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie and Paul Bettany as Dustfinger in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
8. Inkheart_08: Paul Bettany and Brendan Fraser discuss a scene with director Iain Softley on the set of the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
9. Inkheart_09: Paul Bettany stars as Dustfinger with his pet ferret in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
   
   
10. Inkheart_10: The Black Jackets force Elinor (Helen Mirren), Mo (Brendan Fraser) and Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) through the castle hallways in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
11. Inkheart_11: Mo (Brendan Fraser) and Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) navigate through tunnels trying to avoid the Black Jackets in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
12. Inkheart_12: Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
13. Inkheart_13: Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) and Mo (Brendan Fraser) peruse vintage novels at a book market in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
14. Inkheart_14: Director Iain Softley and author/co-producer Cornelia Funke on the set of the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
15. Inkheart_15: Director Iain Softley and author/co-producer Cornelia Funke on the set of the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
16. Inkheart_16: Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie, Helen Mirren as Elinor and Brendan Fraser as Mo in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
17. Inkheart_17: Farid (Rafi Gavron), Mo (Brendan Fraser), Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett), Dustfinger (Paul Bettany) and Elinor (Helen Mirren) hide out from the Black Jackets in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
18. Inkheart_18: Rafi Gavron as Farid in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
19. Inkheart_19: Elinor (Helen Mirren) explains to Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) how books are an escape for her in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
20. Inkheart_20: Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent, middle) finds his original manuscript for Inkheart as Mo (Brendan Fraser, left) and Dustfinger (Paul Bettany, right) anxiously grab at the pages in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
21. Inkheart_21: Capricorn (Andy Serkis) examines the glass slipper as well as other literary objects Mo has read out of books in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
22. Inkheart_22: Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie and Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
23. Inkheart_23: Sienna Guillory as Resa in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
24. Inkheart_24: Steve Speirs as Flatnose, Brendan Fraser as Mo, Matt King as Cockerell, Stephen Graham as Fulvio and Jamie Foreman as Basta in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
25. Inkheart_25: Andy Serkis as Capricorn, Eliza Hope Bennett as Meggie, Jamie Foreman as Basta and Brendan Fraser as Mo in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
26. Inkheart_26: The dark and evil Shadow reaches out in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
27. Inkheart_27: Brendan Fraser stars as Mo in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
28. Inkheart_28: Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
29. Inkheart_29: Helen Mirren stars as Elinor in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    
30. Inkheart_30: The Black Jackets force Elinor (Helen Mirren), Mo (Brendan Fraser) and Meggie (Eliza Hope Bennett) through the castle hallways in the fantasy adventure Inkheart.
    
    

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com