And for those who havenât heard of âThe Unbornââ¦.itâs written and directed by David Goyer (âBlade: Trinityâ, âThe Invisibleâ, co writer of âThe Dark Knightâ). The movie is a supernatural thriller that follows a young woman pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her and threatens everyone she loves. Odette Yustman ("Cloverfield") stars as the woman and Cam Gigandet (Twilight) plays her boyfriend.
Sometimes the soul of a dead person has been so tainted with evil that it is denied entrance to heaven. It must endlessly wander the borderlands between worlds, desperately searching for a new body to inhabit. And sometimes it actually succeeds.
Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, Casey begins to understand why she left. Plagued by merciless dreams and a tortured ghost that haunts her waking hours, she must turn to the only spiritual advisor, Sendak (Gary Oldman), who can make it stop.
Again, The Unbornâ is in theaters tomorrow.
Brad: Hey guys, thanks for having us.
Andrew: Hi guys, what are we doing?
Brad: What are we talking about? What movie?
This film.
Brad: Okay, weâre talking about this one? Okay, good.
Itâs very creepy. Wonderfulâthe acting and everything. I just wanted to ask you because this is like the 3rd or 4th one youâve doneâ¦
Brad: 6th.
Is it the 6th one? My God. What do you think the appeal is that people just love these type of films?
Andrew: Thrill.
Brad: Yeah.
Andrew: Whatâs that appeal? People want to feel something we believe. You go to the movie theatre and you want to feel. And a genre film makes you feel something and Brad and I love horror films. When we started our company I donât think we ever thought we would be in the horror business. I mean I know Iâ¦
Brad: Specifically.
Andrew: Specifically. Maybe sure if you found the right piece of material that you fall in love with, you make the movie. We started the âTexas Chainsawâ and we loved that idea. We made that film and then we kind of fell into what weâre doing now and we love it. Like last night I was at the screening watching the audience. We were just talking about this and itâs amazing to watch an audience whether itâs comedy or a horror film because when the scare works itâs an amazing feeling and just like in a comedy when the joke works and everyone laughs itâs probably a similar feeling for people who do the comedies. But I think itâs really about feeling and we love the idea of scaring.
What about going to David for this type of material because obviously he has a huge reputation for comics before and sort of paving his way as a director in this genre?
Andrew: We didnât go to David. I mean, we didnât know about the material. I mean David wrote the screenplay and we got a phone call because hopefully if a horror spec is out there hopefully someone will call us and let us know and we wouldnât miss one. But we got the call that David Goyer had written a spec script which we thought was crazy. Like David Goyer wrote a spec? Really? Well, do you guys want to see it? Itâs like of course we want to see it. So, they sent over the script and thatâs one of those calls you get, you get the script as fast as you canâ¦
Brad: But thereâs a funny story because I got the scriptâ¦usually I do my reading on Saturdays and Drew does his reading on Sundays. So I had read the script and Drew calls me and he says âIâm in a restaurantââ¦.were you in a restaurant or a store?
Andrew: I was at the pet store.
Brad: He was at the pet store and David Goyer was at the pet store. And I had met Goyer before but Drew had never met him. And he said, âShould I go say something to him?â I said âYeah, the scriptâs really good. Go tell him. Go say something. Work himâ.
Andrew: I saw this guy with all these tattoos. Iâd never met Goyer and I said to my wife, âI think thatâs David Goyerâ and sure I was in line buying dog food and Iâm like âIâm reading your script this weekendâ and it was pretty funny.
How did he react?
Andrew: He was âoh coolâ you know? Like let me know what you think.
Brad: It was cool. Goyer is cool.
Andrew: Heâs like "Nice to meet you. Whatever."
Brad: But when the script came to us Goyer wasnât directing it so it was purely a writing thing and the writers strike was looming at that point.
Andrew: Days away.
Brad: Days away and as a company we felt like God if weâre going to get this movie going we need to put a director before anything else happens and "Why not David Goyer?" because he wrote it and he knows this material and we went to him and he said "No." And then we went back and he said "No," and "No," and we just wouldnât take "No," for an answer. And literally in that one way the strike was helpful to us because I think that as you were getting closer and closer to the strike despite the fact that Goyer is immensely successful, I donât think he wanted to be idle and I think that he felt that if he was directing the movie that he would be working and no one had any idea how long the strike was going to go at that point. And so in a moment of weakness he said yes.
What was his reluctance to direct?
Brad: He just didnât wantâ¦because I think at the time he was dealing with "Magneto". I think he thought there was talk about "Magneto".
Andrew: And âThe Invisible Manâ.
Brad: And âThe Invisible Manâ so there were these big huge movies for him to direct and I think he was thinking about those. So the strike helped us get him in my mind. I donât know what he would say but in our mind it did.
Did you think of Gary Oldman for that role?
Brad: He did.
Andrew: It was David.
And what about Jane Alexander which is incredible casting?
Brad: That was David. Yeah.
Andrew: David thought of both those.
How did he know Jane Alexander?
Andrew: He didnât know Jane. You put the list together of all the women who would play that role and he said Jane would be amazing and then he was right.
She was amazing.
Andrew: She was amazing to watch when sheâ¦that accent. She worked very hard and she did great work.
You guys mentioned that you read scripts on Saturday and Sunday. About how many scripts do you read on a weekend as producers?
Brad: Can I tell you something? A lot less than you would think because the reality of it is, at least, we have not found that people are writing spec horror scripts all the time. That doesnât really happen. I think that if someoneâs going to write a spec script theyâre going to look for a big win and theyâre going to write an action spec or a comedy spec, so thereâs just not horror scripts that are coming in unattached to producers. It seems that for whatever reason the horror scripts are all developed internally and the people go out and make the movies and certainly thatâsâ¦
Andrew: Or the remakes.
Brad: Or the remakes which is why weâve gone to doing remakes or why we started doing remakes is that we really couldnât find the material we were really looking for, so at least a remake gives us architecture from which to build.
What was it specifically in the script from others that youâve seen that really makes it stand out?
Brad: Well, for us certainly it begins with the story and if this story is one thatâ¦I guess the test we like to try and apply is does the movie work, in our case, without the kills? And if the story is compelling without the kills then itâs something weâre interested in and then once you get past that hurdle, which a lot of scripts you canât get past that hurdle, but if you do itâs how clever are those kills or the situations the characters find themselves in and will that, as Drew said, illicit an emotional response from the audience while theyâre watching it? I think that our goal and the most fun part of the process for us up to the point of releaseâif it goes wellâthe most fun part is when you test your movie and you get that DVD of the audience watching your film. We always set a camera up to watch the audience and the most gratifying thing you can get is everyone goes back in their chair at the exact same time and it just looks like a wave, the scare. But the 2nd most gratifying thing is when people start covering their eyes and theyâre sitting there covering their eyes and soâ¦.
Andrew: Weâve seen someone in an audience see 1 minute of a movieâ¦
Brad: Where theyâre hiding the whole time.
Andrew: â¦of 91 minutes.
Brad: She has no idea but sheâs famous to us, this girl.
Andrew: She has no idea but we have her on video cameraâeven daytime scenes barely looking.
But thereâs also a difference between laughing at a film and laughing with it, and I noticed last night people werenât laughing at it, they were laughing with it which is because you scared them and then they had a reaction and they were embarrassed.
Andrew: Weâre very conscious of a bad laugh. We work very hard to remove those because weâve had them in movies. Weâve tested movies and something we may have thought was really coolâ¦
Brad: Some of you people have interviewed us in one of our movies where there was horrible laughing and it haunts us. Iâm not kidding. Itâs the worst possible thing that can happen and you work your ass off and you put everything you have into the movie and then you show people and people are laughing where theyâre not supposed to be. Itâs not like what youâre talking about. Itâs where thereâs a line that someone says thatâs supposed to be so earnest and it just comes outâ¦
Andrew: And the delivery doesnât work and people donât buy it and youâre done.
What movie was that?
Andrew: We donât talk about it.
Brad: The Hitcher. What?
The Friday the 13th footage got a great reaction at Comic-Con. Have you gotten any more feedback since then?
Andrew: Are you kidding me? I mean that movie, honestly isâ¦not talking about âThe Unbornâ for a moment, if you want to talk about that Iâm happy to discuss it. I would say that it is without a doubt the mostâ¦weâve gotten the most feedback on that film out of everything weâve worked on potentially everything all put together. It is insane. I think we all undervalued how big Jason Voorhees is and how much people love talking about him.
So what are they saying?
Brad: Itâs been a really remarkably positive response.
I want to ask you about âFridayâ and the test screening process on that. Have you guys tested the film?
Brad: Yes.
Where did you test it?
Andrew: In
Brad: Right.
Was it like a blind screening or�
Andrew: No. It wasnât.
And what was the reaction with the audience?
Andrew: It was an amazing thing to watch. Honestly.
Brad: I would say that for us, the two of us, our greatest test screeningâ¦our first test screening for â
So I have to ask you guys, youâre remaking an iconic character and thereâs plans for you to remake another iconic character?
Andrew: Yes.
Whatâs the status of that project and how has this Jasonâ¦how has âFridayâ influenced possibly what you might do with Freddy?
Brad: Well, we want to put Freddy in a hockey mask and we donât know how people feel about that but weâre excited about it. I think that every iconic horror character you have to take on their own and kind of figure out what is appealing about that character and for Jason Voorhees, itâs one thing because for the most part in all the moviesâ¦.
Andrew: Heâs a silent killer.
Brad: Right. So Freddy Krueger is a much more challenging character and that is not something that we just kind of stumble into and say âHey, letâs just make him!â and go do it.
Andrew: "Put the glove onâletâs go!"
Brad: Itâs something that we are treading very lightly on and I can tell you for sure that we donâtâ have the answer yet. That is something that weâre going to work very hard to figure out just how much of the Freddy that you might know from the later movies as opposed to the Freddy from the earlier movies. I mean itâs a balance and we donât have that answer yet.
What about those rumors that Billy Bob was cast?
Andrew: We have no idea where that came from.
But since that got out there have you had any word from him like maybe a�
Andrew: No. No. I think that was just a crazy rumor.
Will Robert do a cameo if heâs not doing Freddy? Robert Englund?
Brad: We definitely want him in the film, without a doubt. I mean, I think it would be a travesty if we couldnât have him in the film.
How far along in the planning process for âNightmareâ are you?
Brad: Weâre in the earliest possibleâ¦
Andrew: Weâre in the beginning.
Okay.
Is there a horror film that just cannot be done again and why do it again? I see that youâre doing âRosemaryâs Babyâ and that seems like one.
Andrew: We are not doing âRosemaryâs Babyâ.
Brad: No, no. I mean⦠âRosemaryâs Babyâ was announced and itâs like a little bit like weâre taking about with Freddy. We went down that road and we even talked to the best writers in town and it feels like it might not be do-able. We couldnâtâ come up with something where it felt like it was relevant and we could add something to it other than what it was so weâre now not going to be doing that film.
Where is Martin Campbellâs âThe Birdsâ?
Brad: Martin has been working on the script and weâre expecting a script in the next 2-3 weeks, but thatâs another one where its not like Drew, Michael and I think that weâre just going to crap all over Alfred Hitchcockâs movie. I mean, Alfred Hitchcock in a company wide opinion is probably the greatest director of what we do and other things too. And as someone, that at least Michael and I studied in college and thereâs a reverence for him. So thatâs not a movie that weâre just going to step up and just go have birds attacking people and trying to throw that into the box office. If we canât make that movie unique or add something to it, I donât think weâre going to make it.
Well, Martinâs good at reinventing things.
Brad: Heâs great. I mean, once you get a film-maker like Martin Campbell and you start taking to an actress like Naomi Watts a project can pick up momentum, but theyâre not interested in making the same movie that Hitchcock made. And theyâre interested in something that moves it along and shows different parts of the story so thatâs whatâs weâre hopeful that the script will be.
I wanted to know with 3-D and you guys because clearly I think âFinal Destinationâ is going 3-D?
Andrew: Yes.
Brad: Yup.
And clearly 3-D is gaining a lot of momentum. As producers are you already thinking about the format/also IMAX for horror or thrillers?
Andrew: We have. We talked about it for a couple of projects. We donât have any projects set up that weâre taking about definitely doing 3-D, but Brad and I have gone down and weâve looked at the cameras. Weâve looked at the tests. We watched the You Too movie which is unbelievable andâ¦
Brad: It presents a challenge for us in that our movies that the budgets of our 2nd movie and our 8th movie are virtually the same. Some production companies keep on wantingâ¦I mean our budgets are the same. 3-D adds some money to your budget that could take us from a place of being very comfortable where weâre making our movie to the place where we might not be as comfortable andâ¦
Andrew: You know "Bloody Valentine" went 3-D.
Brad: Itâs a more expensive thing and if we have a story that lendsâ¦certainly âThe Birdsâ in 3-D sounds like a very nice way to tell that story. Right. And so by the way, Drew and I went with Martin Campbell and we went and looked at the You Too film with him and weâre all doing our due diligence, we just havenât been willing to commit yet.
You have a partner whoâs at the forefront of technology. The guyâs a mad-man. With all respect I love his work. How is he as a partner maybe pushing the boundary, like trying to help push the technology into the movies?
Brad: You know whatâs interesting is that weâve never talked to him about 3-D in a real way. Have we?
Andrew: No.
Brad: Michael pushesâ¦.
Andrew: Some IMAX on Transformers 2.
Brad: Yeah, yeah. Thereâs definitely that. For Bay to get excited about it, it has to transcend being a gimmick and be a way to enhance the story. And I donât know that we can convince him of that as of yet with whatâs come out in 3-D yet. I donât know. We didnât see âJourney to the Center of the Earthâ . We saw the You Too movie but beyond that, for Michael itâs about what makes the best movie that the most people can enjoy and I donât know if he feels that 3-D fits into that. I donât know.
Can I get back to âthe Unbornâ?
Brad: Yes, please. Letâs do that. Thatâs a good idea.
Andrew: Is that this junket?
A casual viewer of yours is going to see this movieâs description and think Jewish âExorcistâ. Is thatâ¦
Andrew: Shalom.
Brad: Thatâs what we went for.
Is that kind of the hook of it that caught you or what was it specifically about this thing that caught you?
Brad: I think itâs more a story about karma from generations coming back and biting you in the ass. I donât know necessarily that Judaism was what got us interested in the movie. We are pleased to have the first movie in this millennium that has a shofar.
I think that should be your poster.
Brad: Listen, in other round-tables people have said thereâs imagery here that we might have seen before and I think thatâs true of a lot of films. You borrow from other films but the thing that is unique about this film is itâs rooted in the origin or one of the origins of evil and what happened at Auschwitz. And I thought that when David kind of came up with that, that was a really interesting thing that Iâd never seen in a movie before. It just kind of made sense to us that thatâs where some really horrible things not only happened but could have happened and you could believe it. So thatâs what we kind of liked about it. Make it feel fresh. But I hope people arenât calling it the Jewish Exorcist. (laughter) That would be horrible. And please donât print that.
Do you have any trouble with the censors regarding violence in either this or âFriday the 13thâ?
Brad: Yes, they love us. But you know what? I think, as a company, we try and push things for this level. Actually strangely enough on âFriday the 13thâ we did not have a problem, right? I mean we wereâ¦
Is that R-rated though?
Andrew: Oh itâs very R-rated.
Brad: No, no I have problems with most of our movies with Râs weâ¦
Andrew: Weâve had to cut back a few times.
Brad: This PG-13 was a challenge to get. We went back a number of times to get it and David was very cooperative and ultimately the ratings board was.
What did you put in that you knew you wanted to cut out in order to get the rating?
Brad: We always knew the hand going in the stomach was never going to be in the movie the way that it was when he shot it.
That being said, whatâs going to be on the DVD that fans can look forward to?
Brad: Thereâs a radical sex scene where both kids are (inaudibleâlaughter). We havenât dealt with it yet. Honestly. But itâs what you would think.
Are you envisioning unrated cut?
Andrew: Oh thereâs definitely an unrated cut.
Brad: Oh yeah.
Andrew: Youâve seen the film. You see where itâs cutting. Everything goes. I mean, itâs not like we all cut shooting at that moment.
Brad: Yeah, weâve got the footage.
Andrew: Yeah, the footage is there that goes way past that.
Like what for instance?
Brad: Both of them are there. Weâve got both of them.