(shorter translation) Thanks for the
Translation Dia... Taken
from the Post @
UVDFC
The movie is a prequel, says Twohy, and when the
interviewer asks him
that since Riddick is a villain, a murderer how did he go about making
a film so gigantic about a character so problematic, Twohy says that is
exactly what he adores about this film. That Riddick is an anti-hero
and not a happy person going through life's adversities with a positive
outlook (my boy!). He sees life and human nature from a dark
perspective. Twohy didn't want to glorify Riddick and that has been the
hard part trying to convince the studios (to produce this version). The
film goes in depth for the character without pulling a Star Wars. There
are no mechanistics of Good vs Evil and the film is far less schematic
(than Star wars).
He continues: The hero is a killer but in this
negative dimension he
will discover he has good in him. The film will return Riddick to his
origins and the viewers will discover that he is not a normal person,
being more than what they think about him.
He will discover new powers and forces concealed in him. The film will
follow him across several universes fighting numerous adversaries. The
Chronicles have also a lot of spirituality.
The director continues saying that although he is an
atheist he is
interested in religions and the way they are practiced. The have a
fundamental role in world History and the way humans behave.
These, above where the most interesting tidbits to
me. He also talks
about Below, Scorcese and the fact that in case the C1, Code for
Chronicles, goes well in the Box Office he will return with C2 and C3,
following the steps of "Lord of Rings" Trilogy.
It's the biggest cinematographic project that Canada
has ever seen, using 6 studios and covering an area of 30.000 m2
(1m=3ft).
3/11/04 Thanks to
annabianca from UVDFC
who translated the article fully. Thanks for the Translation.
Riddick has spent the last five years on the move
among the forgotten
worlds on the outskirts of the galaxy, eluding mercenaries bent on
collecting the price on his head. Now, the fugitive finds himself on
planet Helion, home to a progressive multicultural society, which has
been invaded by the Lord Marshal (Feore), a zealot who targets humans
for subjugation with his army of warriors known as Necromongers.
Exiled to a subterranean prison where extremes of
temperature range
from arctic nights to volcanic days, Riddick encounters Kyra (Davalos),
the lone survivor from an earlier chapter in his life. His efforts to
free himself and Kyra lead him to the Necromonger command ship, where
he is pitted against the Lord Marshal in an apocalyptic battle with
possibly the fate of all beings-both living and dead-hanging in the
balance.
***
While the summer blockbusters are being wrapped,
before
post-production, while directors are at work and producers are dreaming
about counting their $, SCORE brings the exclusive, the valuable and
rare: a report from COR, the latest association of VIN DIESEL and DAVID
TWOHY, after PB.
Filmed thanks to a bunch of money, this movie clearly wants to be the
LOTR science-fi equivalent.
Since 2002, Diesel and Twohy have been working
together to build a
whole universe for what seems to be a trilogy evolving around the PB
character, RBR.
At this time, Universal gave the money necessary to
the first
installment. They scheduled that, if they gained enough cash with this
movie, 2 others would take place, one after the other as it was done
with Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.
Meanwhile, SCORE MAG got to the studios where this
big hit was being
filmed. Full of myths, ambitions and know-how, COR will be released in
France in August.
Keys to the universe are here and the legend will be
written with our following issues.
Pump iron: you have to be physically prepared to
face violence and big stuffs!
***
For those which hold the world in their hands, hard
workers who pile up
little but dream a lot, for those who dream of riding in a BMW 7 series
on golden roads full of women, for punks like me who believe in it hard
like iron, getting a journey on the production set of COR is a sign.
First, because you’re sent to Canada in a big limo
and in business
class. Then, because this production is something heavy, solid,
certified. VIN DIESEL, for the explosive part, 125M$ for the security
part. And DAVID TWOHY for the “laser aiming”.
Production takes place in Vancouver - made-of-glass
futuristic city in
the middle of the wild nature – on 6 different sets over 90000 sq. feet.
I t’s the biggest movie project ever done in Canada.
A few miles away,
in the mean time, Alex Proyas is shooting I ROBOT with Will Smith. You
easily understand that the next hits are in preparation and nobody
cares of what people may think.
Directed by DAVID TWOHY, COR has a chance moreover than his
adversaries. the man already directed PB, with VIN DIESEL, movie of
which COR is the next installment. More than that, DAVID TWOHY is one
of the most gifted directors of his generation, alter ego of Steven
Spielberg, if you want my opinion. Just watch PB or BELOW if you still
have doubts.
His sense of directing enables him to ‘beat’ many
others.
Another good point: if DAVID TWOHY became famous
after he wrote THE
FUGITIVE script, I never met success as a director. That’s why the
‘mercenary’ that he is needs his revenge.
***
I’m taken to the COR set in a mini-van with AC and
leather seats, TV, CD player, bar. First class, American style.
At this point, the only thing I know is that COR
will be PITCH BLACK
sequel, which was year 2000 sci-fi movie event. Vin Diesel comes back
as RBR, the asocial killer who always ends up as the saver. As in PITCH
BLACK, Riddick has the ‘shine job’ (he sees in the dark). But RIDDICK
is not exactly a sequel to PITCH BLACK. Vin Diesel will say: «
Pitch
Black is RIDDICK prequel. Like THE HOBBIT is a prequel to LOTR. You
don’t have to watch the first one to like the second one, but if you
have, you have an advantage over the guy sitting next to you in the
theater ».
***
David Twohy : Director
- Where does TCOR
come from?
I have offered a PITCH BLACK sequel, which didn’t
sound very convincing
to me. I told them: « If you want to develop his story, you have
to be
more ambitious. ». That’s why I offered them the idea of a
trilogy
evolving around Riddick, Vin Diesel's character; COR would be the first
part of it.
In case of success, we will make C-2 and C-3
(codename for the two
sequels after COR), like Peter Jackson did with LOTR, which means
shooting both movies at the same. My idea was: « If I’ll spend a
part
of my life on a project, it has to be the richest and most ambitious.
When Universal saw the success of the LOTR trilogy, my idea was
enthusiastically accepted.
- After the PITCH
BLACK success (40M$
income for 23M$ budget) you could already have chosen to make a
blockbuster; however, you chose to make BELOW, a small movie. Why?
After PITCH BLACK, I wanted a movie without
monsters. I like the 40’s
‘atmosphere movies’, like LA FELINE, and wanted to pay a tribute to
that style. I love the atmosphere and the scene-setting of this kind of
cheap movies. I already knew that this dark tone would be perfect for
BELOW; it was a way to give a very different style to the underwater
movies.
On the other hand, I found such a hard challenge
interesting. It's a
peculiar style, where everything is being held by the tension,
different personalities living together and claustrophobia. DAS BOOT,
the Wolfgang Petersen movie, is the reference in this style; he almost
had documentary style.
Actually, I begun BELOW with the idea to make it completely different
from my other movies, like PITCH BLACK or THE ARRIVAL. From this point
of view, I think I have succeeded.
- Did the Vin
Diesel’s notoriety help you to play such decisive part in RIDDICK?
Obviously. Without Vin Diesel, you wouldn’t see me
now. Vin really did
his last career choices in order to make COR in the best conditions
possible. If you watch XXX, you will be impressed by his presence and
charisma. That’s why Universal accepted to make RIDDICK. In a way,
there are two stars in this movie: sci-fi and Vin Diesel. Sci-fi sells
itself to its fans and Vin helps the style to be know by more people.
- Riddick is a
motherfucker, a killer. How can you build such a big movie around such
a dark character?
That's what I love in this movie. Riddick is an
anti-hero. He isn’t the
happy kind of guy who difficulties positively. He carries a very dark
vision of the world and the human nature. I didn’t want to glorify him
even it’s if it has been hard for studio to understand that. We’re
making the opposite of Star Wars. COR won't be ‘manichean’, with the
Goods fighting the Bads; it’s less simple than that. The hero is a
killer, but in this negative dimension, it will appear that there's
some good in him. That’s why this movie is a sort of following of PB,
where all characters have a double personality. It’s very
controversial, which is pretty cool for such an expensive movie.
- Riddick seems to
have ‘primitive powers’; what is it about?
Actually, we are going to get back to Riddick’s
origins in this movie
and we’re going to understand that he’s not a normal man. We will
understand who he is and what he’s going to be. Riddick is much more
than you can imagine.
You will discover new powers, new strengths hidden
in him. The movie
will follow him in many universes, fighting many enemies. But COR will
also be about spirituality. There will be many religious references,
even if I personally don’t believe. But I’m very interested in
religions and the way they are. Religions have an essential place in
the world history and in the way people behave. Talking about religions
is a way to question about their place.
In PITCH BLACK as in BELOW, I was interested in
people with faith.
Whether it’s religion or supernatural phenomena. RIDDICK will be a
grade above this reasoning.
- How was filming
in Vancouver decided?
Very quickly. First, other studios all over the
world were too small
for our project. The fact that we decided to concentrate the whole
filming, decoration on 6 stages had been really effective. Everything
was next to you. When I finished writing the script, the question was
“how are we going to shoot that. And because the outdoor scenes take
place in space, the only way to shoot them was in a studio. In a movie
like COR, you don’t need natural sets.
In sci-fi movies, the space ship battle scene is
compulsory. And we’ll
have one. But mine will take place in the sky, at night. If you want to
imagine what it will look like, think about air battles in Iraq during
the war, but in the future.
- Scorcese said
that, in order to
become an independent movies director,, it was necessary to have a
beard. What do you think about it?
I think that Scorcese is ‘out’. Look : I have a
beard and I’m making a
125 M$ movie ! At this point I’m more a smuggler than an independent
director.
***
RIDDICK is an ambitious men movie, the common dream
of Vin Diesel and
David Twohy. They already are big in their fields. Together, they are a
nuclear strike. DAVID TWOHY is a director full of reflexion, scrupulous
and perfectionist. Vin Diesel is concrete, street and muscles. Vice and
manners. The perfect association.
Today’s shooting stage is the Necromongers world.
“As their names tell, they are some kind of ghosts, spreading the
death. But for them death is a good thing, since it frees you from
suffering. Like in Shakespeare's HAMLET, they see death as a salvation
from the life sufferings. Maybe death is a good thing, maybe it enables
you to reach grace and happiness. What if it’s true? Then we would have
to reconsider all our spirituality and beliefs. With such a character,
that is the question asked by David Twohy.” This is how Colm Feore, the
actor who plays the Necromongers’ leader, depicts us his army.
RIDDICK is the kind of movie that find its roots in
the great myths and
legends. Its universe is vast, full of ambition. It's the movie of
inflation, where everything is big, huge and bright. I will need a few
more forests and ink containers to tell you about the rest.
Page 4 :
Vin Diesel & Alexa Davalos on stage #3, a huge a
disproportionate
hangar reconstituting a dark and extreme volcanic landscape. The
producer told us that such decorations were built so that the actors
really understand the project they take part in.
Page 8 :
Thandie Newton & Vin Diesel in the palate of
Necromongers. This
place was entirely reconstituted on set # 2. According to pics we have
been allowed to see , Thandie Newton & Vin Diesel would have an
affair in the movie. Which is getting complicated, Thandie Newton is a
Necromonger’s wife and Vin Diesel was engaged to fight them. In other
words, there is ‘muddle’.