thedeparted
01-25-2010, 12:33 AM
The sky opened up and let loose a hail storm in between sheets of rain on Hollywood on Thursday night, somewhat fitting for the Cinerama Dome premiere of "Legion." The Screen Gems movie, produced and financed by Bold Films to the tune of about $32 million, is a tale of a rebellious angel played by Paul Bettany who tries to save mankind against an angry God. (And it's doing alright at the boxoffice, opening up in second place, after "Avatar," with around $18 million.)
The after-party a few blocks away at nightclub Boulevard 3 was much more in the Garden of Eden vein, if your vision of paradise is filled with pretty girls with angel wings tempting you with Sprinkles cupcakes.
Scott Stewart was in the thick of accepting congratulations on his directorial debut and eager to talk about "Legion," but when I asked him first if he had finished with "Priest," his post-apocalyptic vampire thriller also starring Bettany, he said yes, then proceeded to excitedly talk about that movie...
Scott Stewart: I didn't feel like I had a lot to add to the vampire lore when I first read "Priest." I really liked the script, but one thing I didn't want to do was a sexy vampire movie. "True Blood" is doing that. And my vampires aren't going to sparkle in the daylight. What I ended up making instead is a movie about war and the aftermath of war and the sacrifices we go through.
It takes place a generation after the war, a hundreds-year war between man and vampire, and the characters of the priests are like Jedi Knights that helped turn the tide. My focus is how now the vampire is vanquished, and society has moved on from you. You're not the hero anymore, and people look at you like a freak. They won't talk to you. And so we look at what happens after that if you're called into service again. You end up questioning why you made those sacrifices to begin with.
Heat Vision: So what are your vampires like?
Stewart: not people at all, they're digital characters. We've created a whole lore about them. The vampires are very feral and very violent. They are not human. They don't talk English. They are
Heat Vision: You've now worked with Paul Bettany on two movies. What is about him that makes him an action star in your eyes?
Stewart: He is just so soulful. He has an amazing face. He and I both love Clint Eastwood movies, we love Steve McQueen. ... You meet him and he is so articulate and literate, and yet we love the silent heroes that have the 1000-yard stare. For both movies, we ended up doing what McQueen did, which was remove dialogue for his character, so that he talked less.
He can do the physical stuff, but he is such a good actor. We've seen that kind of casting process in recent years, with Christian Bale in Batman and Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man." (Bettany) just elevates the material.
He really (got) the story from a writing point of view. And it makes my job easier, to have someone I know I don't have to worry about. Every (filming) day is usually a siege of trying to get what you want and everything going against you, but he makes everything easier.
Heat Vision: So with this movie coming after "The Book of Eli," and angel books being snapped up, is there something religious or Biblical in the air?
Stewart: The movie happened for me when it happened, it wasn't that calculated for me. But why this time that it came together? It's in the zeitgeist. I don't think there's any other way to explain it. We're at the beginning of a new millennium, and if you look at the end and beginnings of millenniums past, you see in literature and culture a lot of people who are afraid when the calendar turns over and others who are very excited and think it's the beginning of something.
There's also a lot of crazy things going on in the world. And I know we're egotistical to think we're living in unprecedented times, but ... we're living in unprecedented times. I'm going to say it. Look at the craziness that is happening around the world and you think, "Are we heading over a precipice?" As a filmmaker it's fun to ponder that.
Heat Vision: You think we're searching for God or something like that?
Stewart: I think we're always looking for meaning.
This is an unusual movie in certain respects. It's not a straight-ahead horror movie and it's not just a supernatural action film. It takes an inordinate amount of time with its characters. All of them are suffering from similar dilemmas: angry fathers, disappearing children, family troubles. They find themselves lost in a kind of purgatory and they all become heroes. Or at least, they have their moment.
To me, it's not about putting your hand on the Bible, or going to church. It's about people who against all odds don't stop trying to do the right thing and try to help each other.
I don't know. I like movies like "Dawn of the Dead" a lot and wanted to try to add some dimensional drama to it, but still have it be a roller-coaster. What did you think?
I'm really digging the sounds the of the way, +hype for me.
The after-party a few blocks away at nightclub Boulevard 3 was much more in the Garden of Eden vein, if your vision of paradise is filled with pretty girls with angel wings tempting you with Sprinkles cupcakes.
Scott Stewart was in the thick of accepting congratulations on his directorial debut and eager to talk about "Legion," but when I asked him first if he had finished with "Priest," his post-apocalyptic vampire thriller also starring Bettany, he said yes, then proceeded to excitedly talk about that movie...
Scott Stewart: I didn't feel like I had a lot to add to the vampire lore when I first read "Priest." I really liked the script, but one thing I didn't want to do was a sexy vampire movie. "True Blood" is doing that. And my vampires aren't going to sparkle in the daylight. What I ended up making instead is a movie about war and the aftermath of war and the sacrifices we go through.
It takes place a generation after the war, a hundreds-year war between man and vampire, and the characters of the priests are like Jedi Knights that helped turn the tide. My focus is how now the vampire is vanquished, and society has moved on from you. You're not the hero anymore, and people look at you like a freak. They won't talk to you. And so we look at what happens after that if you're called into service again. You end up questioning why you made those sacrifices to begin with.
Heat Vision: So what are your vampires like?
Stewart: not people at all, they're digital characters. We've created a whole lore about them. The vampires are very feral and very violent. They are not human. They don't talk English. They are
Heat Vision: You've now worked with Paul Bettany on two movies. What is about him that makes him an action star in your eyes?
Stewart: He is just so soulful. He has an amazing face. He and I both love Clint Eastwood movies, we love Steve McQueen. ... You meet him and he is so articulate and literate, and yet we love the silent heroes that have the 1000-yard stare. For both movies, we ended up doing what McQueen did, which was remove dialogue for his character, so that he talked less.
He can do the physical stuff, but he is such a good actor. We've seen that kind of casting process in recent years, with Christian Bale in Batman and Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man." (Bettany) just elevates the material.
He really (got) the story from a writing point of view. And it makes my job easier, to have someone I know I don't have to worry about. Every (filming) day is usually a siege of trying to get what you want and everything going against you, but he makes everything easier.
Heat Vision: So with this movie coming after "The Book of Eli," and angel books being snapped up, is there something religious or Biblical in the air?
Stewart: The movie happened for me when it happened, it wasn't that calculated for me. But why this time that it came together? It's in the zeitgeist. I don't think there's any other way to explain it. We're at the beginning of a new millennium, and if you look at the end and beginnings of millenniums past, you see in literature and culture a lot of people who are afraid when the calendar turns over and others who are very excited and think it's the beginning of something.
There's also a lot of crazy things going on in the world. And I know we're egotistical to think we're living in unprecedented times, but ... we're living in unprecedented times. I'm going to say it. Look at the craziness that is happening around the world and you think, "Are we heading over a precipice?" As a filmmaker it's fun to ponder that.
Heat Vision: You think we're searching for God or something like that?
Stewart: I think we're always looking for meaning.
This is an unusual movie in certain respects. It's not a straight-ahead horror movie and it's not just a supernatural action film. It takes an inordinate amount of time with its characters. All of them are suffering from similar dilemmas: angry fathers, disappearing children, family troubles. They find themselves lost in a kind of purgatory and they all become heroes. Or at least, they have their moment.
To me, it's not about putting your hand on the Bible, or going to church. It's about people who against all odds don't stop trying to do the right thing and try to help each other.
I don't know. I like movies like "Dawn of the Dead" a lot and wanted to try to add some dimensional drama to it, but still have it be a roller-coaster. What did you think?
I'm really digging the sounds the of the way, +hype for me.