Even though he’s a prolific writer and producer, having won an Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind and produced acclaimed features including Lone Survivor and I Am Legend, Akiva Goldsman decided it was time to give directing a go.  However, it wasn’t because Goldsman had dreamed of eventually directing a feature, but rather because he found material that struck such a chord that directing the piece himself became the only option.  Come Valentine’s Day, we’ll get the chance to check out Goldsman’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Mark Helprin’s 1983 novel, Winter’s Tale. The film focuses on Colin Farrell’s Peter Lake, an expert thief who walks into a home intending to steal and winds up having something stolen from him – his heart.  (Come on; Valentine’s Day is on the way!)

Now, in addition to Goldsman’s The Dark Tower update, you can catch what he told us about bringing Winter’s Tale to screen including how the loss of a loved one made him particularly passionate about the narrative, what happened when their visual effects company shut down prior to filming, the decision to cast Will Smith as well as what we can expect from his script for the Divergent sequel, Insurgent, and loads more in the full video interview below.

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Akiva Goldsman Time Index:

  • 00:00 – When he realized Winter’s Tale deserved a film adaptation.
  • 00:49 – How a loss in his life helped him crack this script.
  • 01:51 – The movie’s secret message.
  • 02:47 – The challenge of bringing magical realism to screen.
  • 04:03 – The inability to make non-believers believe that magic exists.
  • 04:28 – The challenge of building a world without an excess of exposition.
  • 05:43 – The choice to make Winter’s Tale his directorial debut.
  • 06:33 – Working as a writer, director and producer all at once.
  • 07:38 – On working with his cast.
  • 08:37 – Locking in a high profile cast on a budget.
  • 09:34 – On casting Will Smith.
  • 10:57 – The thought process behind the design of the film’s flying horse.
  • 12:30 – An update on the Divergent sequel, Insurgent.


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