Note to self... Never live under an overpass.
Spielberg and Cruise on War of the Worlds
LatinoReview is able to get both Spielberg and Cruise to indulge fans with
a little extra information about the happenings that are still going on
over at the War of the Worlds set. While some of these questions
have been asked before, Spielberg shows an ability to answer them somewhat
differently.
Some of the more unique War of the Worlds questions asked by LatinoReview
cover the production schedule [and difficulties of] and how Spielberg was
to handle to controversial ending in the HG Wells book. Check out a snippet
below.
This completes your alien trilogy.
The first two were nice aliens and these were mean ones. What does that
say about your filmmaking and does it fit the time now?
Spielberg: No no. I'm just an equal opportunity director,
you know? You know, I gave the benevolent aliens a couple of shots, and
now I'm going to try my hand at the worst kind. (Laughs) You know, the kind
that's just bent on ending civilization as we know it and beginning their
own if you read the original book. You know, they reap and sow, and so I
really have great respect for the book, but not to the extent that I would
set the movie back in 1898. I was not going to do a Victorian science fiction
movie. There's been others out there very successful and others maybe less
successful, but we've seen the sci-fi Victorian period done before, we've
all seen the contemporary sci-fi film done before. I feel more at home today,
in today's world. And I think, in the shadow of 9/11, there is a little
relevance with how we are all so unsettled in our feelings about our collective
futures. And that's why I think, when I reconsidered War of the Worlds,
post 9/11, it began to make more sense to me, that it could be a tremendous
emotional story as well as very entertaining one, and have some kind of
current relevance
The story's been told so many times. Why this movie and why now?
Spielberg: Well, I would have made this, if I could have, I would have begun
this movie 12 years ago. It's not that I suddenly had an interest in this
12 years ago, but I bought, at an auction, I bought the last surviving War
of the Worlds radio script that had not been confiscated by the police department.
Because when they raided the Mercury Theater and they took and destroyed
every single radio play, the only copy that survived was at Howard Koch's
house, because you know Howard Koch wrote it, with Orson Welles. And Howard
Koch had been on a three day, it was like a three day crash, you know, schedule
to get it ready for air. And he just crashed, himself, and went to sleep
and was not at the theater when his play was performed on the radio. And
when the world panicked and began, you know, racing away from New Jersey
and other places in the country, that was the reason the script survived...
To check out the entire interview, head over to LatinoReview.
For trailer, Super Bowl spot, movie stills, and synopsis, check out the
War of the Worlds
Movie Page. |
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