If you could travel back in time, what would you do? Dial back a day to learn winning lottery numbers? Return to a dicey conversation with the perfect comeback? Inadvertently set off worldwide calamity?
The brainy young people in “Project Almanac,” which filmed in Atlanta in 2013 and comes out Jan. 30, wrestle with such possibilities.
"It's about a young genius misfit who finds a time machine and sets forth to experiment with it," said actor Jonny Weston, who plays time-traveling David in the movie. "It was really cool to play with the time travel aspect, the endless possibilities of it."
He relates to the gadgety plot, having initially been interested in pursuing a career as an engineer.
“I played sports but I wasn’t a jock” in high school, he said. “I was socially awkward.”
He’s worked through any growing pains, and his film credits include other Atlanta projects such as “Insurgent,” coming out March 20, and “Taken 3,” in theaters now.
Midtown residences were used for "Project Almanac," which also shot some footage at Music Midtown. Produced by Michael Bay, directed by Dean Israelite and written by Jason Pagan and Andrew Stark, it also stars Sofia Black-D'Elia, Allen Evangelista, Ginny Gardner and Sam Lerner.
“The love story is really complex,” Weston said. “Neither my character nor Sofia’s character is stereotypical.”
A Charleston, S.C., native, Weston enjoyed his time back home in the South. He introduced his colleagues to delicacies like shrimp and grits and helped everyone remain calm when bad weather spurred a tornado warning during filming one day.
“My friend was like, ‘We’re going to die!” said Weston, who like every Southerner is used to the whine of tornado sirens in the spring and summertime. “I got to feel at home a little bit.”
Given the storyline, we asked Weston where he’d like to travel to if time machines were real.
“I would travel back to 1950s Hollywood,” he said. “I think I’d have to work my way up through the industry, but it would be worth it.”
