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One of the many films to world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Nacho Vigalondo’s monster movie/alcoholism drama Colossal. Truly unlike any other film at this year’s festival, or any other movie for that matter, Colossal centers on Gloria (Anne Hathaway), a woman who decides to leave New York and move back to her hometown after she loses her job and live-in boyfriend (Dan Stevens). When news breaks that a giant lizard is destroying Seoul, she gradually comes to realize that she is strangely connected to these far-off events as she begins to reconnect with a boy from her childhood, played by Jason Sudeikis.

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Image via Neon

Trust me when I say this is a pretty crazy film that mixes a few different genres together but it absolutely works. It definitely helps that both Hathaway and Sudeikis are fantastic and keep everything grounded even when the situations get crazy. But one of the best things about the film is how it constantly takes left and right turns that you weren’t expecting and each one somehow makes sense. For more on Colossal read Adam’s review.

Shortly after seeing the film I sat down with Nacho Vigalondo for an extended interview. During the spoiler-free discussion he talked about how he describes the film to people, that he's not trying to make a commentary on serious Kaiju films, what Hathaway brought to the "texture" of the film and the production process, who he showed the film to for honest feedback, the appeal of working on TV and wanting to explore it as a visual medium, and a lot more. Check out what he had to say in the video above and below you can look over what we talked about.


Nacho Vigalondo:

  • Talks about finishing the film only two days before it screened.
  • When did he know he was screening at TIFF?
  • What does he want people to know about the film? How has he described it to friends?
  • How did he put together the financing for such an unusual film?
  • Says he's not trying to make a commentary on serious Kaiju films, he just had this "silly idea" for a long time.
  • Did the script change when Anne Hathaway got involved?
  • Talks about what Hathaway brought to the "texture" of the film and the production process.
  • How long was the first cut versus the finished film?
  • Talks about reworking a monologue into a different part of the film.
  • Who did he show the movie to first and what was the test screening process like?
  • Talks about having a film for sale at TIFF.
  • Does he have a day or two he'll always remember from filming?
  • What is he working on next?
  • Talks about the appeal of working on TV and wanting to explore it as a visual medium.
  • Talks about why it's not enough to just make an "original" movie.
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Image via Neon