Yesterday I caught up with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to talk about his upcoming action thriller Salt that stars Angelina Jolie. While I'll be posting the full transcript very soon, since I got some brief updates on Transformers 3, Red, the next Jack Ryan movie Moscow and The Associate (which Shia Labeouf's attached to), I wanted to get those quotes online tonight.
Regarding Transformers 3, he talked about how to keep the franchise fresh on a 3rd movie and he also talked about Michael Bay shooting in 3D. On Red, he talked about where they are right now in the editing room and he says, "the movie has more tones and colors that almost any movie I’ve ever worked on." Finally, I asked him what projects are bubbling up to the surface and he said the next Jack Ryan movie, Moscow, that Chris Pine is attached to and The Associate - which is a John Grisham book that Shia Labeouf's attached to. When I asked how the script was for the Jack Ryan movie, he said they had a great one and he is hoping to start shooting late winter/early spring.
Hit the jump to read everything he had to say on these projects and look for more with di Bonaventura very soon.
Collider: You mentioned Bay and you mentioned Transformers 3. So how are things going on that shoot?
Lorenzo di Bonaventura: It’s going really well. It was very complicated to imagine the movie without the Mikaela character and that was something that took all of us a lot of time and effort. But the truth is we’re very excited what happened as a result is...it’s not just with casting Rosie (Huntington-Whiteley), but with casting John Malkovich and we’re Frances McDormand and we’re casting Patrick Dempsey and Ken Wong and it goes on and on and on. And so the movie feels like which you always fear in making the 3rd movie is it’s not replicating what’s been done before. And the breath of the new cast is I think helping you avoid that pitfall.
I also wanted to know how’s the 3D going? Because for me, and a lot of people, we’re just very excited that the franchise is…that Bay is shooting with at least some of the scenes with 3D cameras, which just seems really cool.
Lorenzo: He is shooting a lot with 3D cameras and he is, as usual, a master of camera and he learned it very quickly. And it is going to be very exciting for all. I’ve had an opportunity to see it and it just looks fantastic. And so you know Michael is really enjoying shooting it, too. So it’s hats off to him because it’s working fantastically.
Jumping into Red, I spoke to you on-set and you seemed very enthusiastic and everything I saw on-set seemed really, really cool. The trailer is fantastic. So do you think you hit the home run with this thing?
Lorenzo: Well you never can say that until an audience has seen it. We’ve not shown it to an audience yet. We’re pretty close to that but here’s what I feel—I feel like everybody is going to enjoy the performances that have been given, the characters that are there. It’s got good action, it’s got good comedy. How much they’re going to like it, I’m going to leave it to the audience to decide. We haven’t shown it yet. The movie has more tones and colors that almost any movie I’ve ever worked on and that’s the complication. We knew going in that that was going to be the trick and you know that’s the process we’re in right now is making sure that the balances and all that is correct. You know, it’s so much fun because what’s interesting about it and having worked on Oceans 11 and now working on this, they’re very different and yet they have certain things in common. You know, they have this kind of cool cast but what’s different is in Oceans 11 you pretty much face everybody in the first 20 minutes. You know, the team is assembled if you would. And what’s different in this movie is, you meet a new character pretty much like every 10 or 15 minutes. So there’s all this new chemistry that appears. It’s really interesting. You meet Bruce. And you meet Bruce and Mary Louise, then you meet Morgan (Freeman), then you meet Malkovich. So it goes along this interesting tour so every time the movie’s progressing it’s bringing in a new character. And I think that’s going to be really fun for the audience. It’s fun for me. I hope it’s fun for the audience.
I heard you guys are going to Comic-Con with Red.
Lorenzo: I think we’re going to go. I don’t know quite what we’re going to do there yet, but that’s up to Summit. But I’m sure we’re not going to screen anything because we’re not nearly ready for that. But Robert just finished his directors cut, so you know, he hasn’t even done the fine tuning, the music hasn’t been put in, all that stuff. So I don’t think it’s ready for Comic-Con as a whole movie, but hopefully we can come up with some clips and stuff to get everybody excited.
Finally, do you mind me asking what's bubbling up what’s bubbling to the surface right now for you?
Lorenzo: Well, we’re hoping to get Jack Ryan off the ground with Chris Pine and that’s really exciting. And this movie called The Associate which is a John Grisham book that Shia Labeouf's attached to. We’re hoping to get that off the ground shortly, too.
SW: I spoke to somebody about the Jack Ryan project and the last time I spoke it was I think I want to say it was somehow tied to Moscow? Am I wrong about that?
Lorenzo: It’s called Moscow.
That’s right. So I guess, do you guys have a script? Or just figuring out his….
Lorenzo: We have a very good script. I think it’s…I’m very happy with where we are today and we’re looking forward to...maybe with a little luck starting next late winter/early spring.
Oh this year or early next year?
Lorenzo: Of early next year, yeah.
For more on Red, here's my on set interview with di Bonaventura