Opening this weekend is director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) Gangster Squad. The movie is set in 1940s Los Angeles and stars Sean Penn as real-life gangster Mickey Cohen, who became the target of special task force known as the “Gangster Squad†made up of Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, and Robert Patrick. The film also stars Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, and Mireille Enos. For more on the film, be sure to check out our set visit coverage here, and watch six clips.The other day I landed an exclusive interview with Fleischer. During our extended conversation we talked about shooting in Los Angeles, the experience of directing such a large and diverse cast, how the script changed along the way, test screenings, deleted scenes, what will be on the Blu-ray, how involved was the studio, film versus digital and why, his thoughts on 48fps, and more. In addition, as many of you know, in the original cut, there was a shootout at Grauman's Chinese Theater but everyone involved decided to reshoot the sequence after the tragedy in Aurora. I asked Fleischer if the footage will be on the Blu-ray and how that sequence compares to what's now in the finished film. Hit the jump to watch.Also, if you missed what Fleischer said about the Zombieland sequel or Spy Hunter, click the links.
Ruben Fleischer Time Index:
- 0:12 – The experience of doing press for the past several days.
- 0:42 – Shooting Gangster Squad in Los Angeles after his last two movies were filmed in other cities.
- 2:41 – What it was like putting the film together.
- 3:36 – The experience of directing such a large and diverse cast.
- 4:49 – How much the script changed along the way.
- 6:25 – What he learned in the test screening process.
- 7:22 – The length of the first assembly cut.
- 7:51 – How many minutes of deleted scenes.
- 8:23 – The possibility of seeing the deleted scene of Grauman's Chinese Theater that was cut due to the tragedy in Aurora.
- 10:03 – The length of the Grauman's scene.
- 11:15 – The amount of studio presence during the shooting of the film.
- 12:15 – The collaboration process with the actors.
- 13:20 – How many takes he does and if it's changed over the course of his filmography.
- 14:30 – Film vs. digital, and why.
- 15:58 – Red Epic, Alexa, or the Sony F-65?
- 17:40 – The development of digital filmmaking.
- 18:08 – Thoughts on 48fps.
