With Roland Emmerich’s period drama Anonymous opening this weekend, I recently got to speak with the high profile director about making the film. Best known for his big-budget disaster movies like 2012 and Independence Day, Anonymous is quite a departure, as the story centers on a conspiracy to cover up the true author of William Shakespeare’s plays. There are no monsters or aliens. Instead, Emmerich has made a really entertaining political thriller wrapped in a conspiracy theory that stars Jamie Campbell Bower, Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, Joely Richardson, Rafe Spall, Xavier Samuel and Vanessa Redgrave.
During the interview, Emmerich talked about where the idea for Anonymous came from, how much is fact and how much was "Hollywoodized," editing, deleted scenes, extended cuts on home video, and he gave me updates on Asteroids and Singularity - which he's working on now and will be his next movie. Hit the jump to watch.
Roland Emmerich
- What's his karaoke song
- What's the last video game he's played
- Where did the idea come from for Anonymous
- How much of the movie is the truth and how much was "Hollywoodized." Talks about how it's not the truth but his version of it. Also, how everyone loves Amadeus but that's not true either.
- How was editing the film and how did it compare to his big budget blockbusters
- Deleted scenes talk. Says they cut out 4 or 5 scenes and one version of the film was 20 minutes longer
- Will he have an extended cut on home video
- What's up with Asteroids
- Singularity talk - What is it about and when does he start
- Will he have any groundbreaking special effects in Singularity
