David Twohy has long been known as an excellent genre screenwriter. The screenplay that broke him into Hollywood was the guilty pleasure Warlock and since then hes written The Fugitive, Impostor and has probably script doctored scores of Hollywood films.
He first broke into directing with the still undiscovered gem The Arrival and then Pitch Black. But now his most ambitious movie yet, The Chronicles of Riddick, has been released on DVD with an Unrated Directors Cut.
The Chronicles of Riddick is an action/adventure that follows in the tradition of novels by Frank Herbert and J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a very complex film that seemed to puzzle both audiences and the Motion Picture Association this past summer. The new version on DVD adds 15 minutes of footage into the film, commentary by Twohy himself and a partially new ending that really adds a lot to the world of Riddick.
Go to the website for The Chronicles of Riddick DVD
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hello David!
David Twohy: Hello Daniel Epstein of SuicideGirls.com. Tell me why its called SuicideGirls.com.
DRE: I didnt name it but the word on the street says that its from the Chuck Palahniuk book, Survivor.
I spoke to Mick Garris a couple of weeks ago so this completes my Critters 2 circle.
DT: [laughs] Its a telesonic reunion party. Whats Mick doing?
DRE: He did the theatrical film adaptation of Riding the Bullet and now hes adapting another Stephen King book for TV, Desperation.
DT: Tell that guy to watch out, hes falling into a niche there.
DRE: In Critters 2, I never understood how the big ball of critters came about.
DT: You mean, how it was executed?
DRE: No, why the critters did that.
DT: [laughs] Im not even going there man. It doesnt even appear on my resume anymore.
DRE: Movies like Chronicles of Riddick used to come out all the time in the 80s, in a dangerous world a child is born who will fulfill the prophecy.
DT: Is that our tagline?
DRE: No its not but its like movies such as Beastmaster, Willow and even a movie you worked on, Waterworld. But this time its a $100 million budget, were you going for a throwback to films like that?
DT: The original inspiration was that if we were going to do a sequel lets not do the expected sequel. There was some talk of that, but the expected sequel would have us go back to the same planet and fighting more of the same creatures. Vin and I just thought that was creatively bankrupt. We decided to focus more on character than creatures and that will allow us to follow Riddick wherever he goes and that may even allow us to change genres. We thought horror was kind of limiting and instead expand into action/adventure. We wanted to know where Riddick goes next and we knew that we werent going to introduce creatures as bad guys so instead we introduced the Necromongers to play out a David and Goliath story.
It is a throwback to the 80s because we chose to build sets as often as possible in an era where you dont have to do that. George Lucas generally doesnt do that. Sky Captain doesnt do that. But I wanted to because I knew I would get better performances out of my actors. When they step into that environment they realize its their living room and they get how powerful their character is. So the actors can touch, feel and move around as opposed to them being in front of a greenscreen with a table and a chair. With that they will hug that table and chair and not move anywhere. They start to play it safe when you do that to them and so will the cameramen. If they dont have anything to shoot but a table, a chair and an actor they arent going to be adventurous. The camera is going to slow down then lockdown causing your movie to be less exciting. We made the very conscious decision to build sets like they were building in the 80s and I know I have a better looking movie for it.
DRE: Whats it like standing there in an enormous palace that was built to your specifications?
DT: Its hugely gratifying. One of the most exciting parts of the whole moviemaking experience is when the sets go up. Even when you see them roughed in and you see that its 200 feet long, 120 feet wide and 34 feet high. You then start to put your head around how big that area is you realize that you need more extras to fill it up.
DRE: Im sure that people have classified you before as a niche horror and science fiction guy and Im sure no one was rushing to give you a $100 million to make a movie ten years ago. I think the same thing about Martin Scorsese because he spent his $100 million mostly on building the sets for Gangs of New York. People probably thought you and he wouldnt even know what to do with that much money.
DT: He may be asking himself the same question now given the hyper involvement he had with the Weinsteins. He may think twice about doing another $100 million movie as David Twohy might think twice about that. With that budget comes a certain expectation and a lot of anxiety. Not just from me but from a lot of people around me. That can not always be fun. If you want filmmaking to be fun you will do movies that cost less and have less anxiousness associated with it.
DRE: Would you do another $100 million movie but not make it as Frank Herbertesque and instead make it a less complex film?
DT: You mean lighten up.
DRE: Yeah.
DT: Well to that end I just finished a script that is more of a Jumanji-like fantasy. A lot of visual effects and good art design again but the lead is a 15 year old contemporary kid and that will be a fun fantasy and probably my next film. You anticipated my next career movie, good for you!
DRE: Is Riddick a fantasy for you at all?
DT: No its not. No more so than any of the characters Ive written and liked. I do like his anti-hero status but I think its more like that for Vin. I think he inhabits this character more than I do. It was interesting to see that evolution of him stepping into this role that he didnt develop originally because we just cast him for the first movie. To see him inhabit that role and then kind of take co-authorship of that role for the second movie was an interesting process. He so loves the Riddick role and but it is so not him. Its a very interesting relationship that he has with it.
DRE: Were you happy with the theatrical version of Riddick?
DT: Its a curious thing. I actually lost more stuff to the Motion Picture Association than to studio request. I went to the MPAA seven times before they gave us the stamp of PG-13. Any film that is in the marketplace at a certain budget level has to be PG-13 these days because thats the economic reality. For the directors cut I was glad to put back in all the footage that the MPAA made me take out and present it unrated. Its 15 minutes longer, a lot tougher and I think its the better version of the film.
DRE: Do you see Riddick moving along in other mediums such as more anime like Dark Fury or comic books?
DT: Well well see. I dont have any plans for that because Im already onto the next thing. All of that will be fueled by the next Riddick film if we get a chance to do it and a lot of that will depend on how well the DVD is received.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
He first broke into directing with the still undiscovered gem The Arrival and then Pitch Black. But now his most ambitious movie yet, The Chronicles of Riddick, has been released on DVD with an Unrated Directors Cut.
The Chronicles of Riddick is an action/adventure that follows in the tradition of novels by Frank Herbert and J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a very complex film that seemed to puzzle both audiences and the Motion Picture Association this past summer. The new version on DVD adds 15 minutes of footage into the film, commentary by Twohy himself and a partially new ending that really adds a lot to the world of Riddick.
Go to the website for The Chronicles of Riddick DVD
Daniel Robert Epstein: Hello David!
David Twohy: Hello Daniel Epstein of SuicideGirls.com. Tell me why its called SuicideGirls.com.
DRE: I didnt name it but the word on the street says that its from the Chuck Palahniuk book, Survivor.
I spoke to Mick Garris a couple of weeks ago so this completes my Critters 2 circle.
DT: [laughs] Its a telesonic reunion party. Whats Mick doing?
DRE: He did the theatrical film adaptation of Riding the Bullet and now hes adapting another Stephen King book for TV, Desperation.
DT: Tell that guy to watch out, hes falling into a niche there.
DRE: In Critters 2, I never understood how the big ball of critters came about.
DT: You mean, how it was executed?
DRE: No, why the critters did that.
DT: [laughs] Im not even going there man. It doesnt even appear on my resume anymore.
DRE: Movies like Chronicles of Riddick used to come out all the time in the 80s, in a dangerous world a child is born who will fulfill the prophecy.
DT: Is that our tagline?
DRE: No its not but its like movies such as Beastmaster, Willow and even a movie you worked on, Waterworld. But this time its a $100 million budget, were you going for a throwback to films like that?
DT: The original inspiration was that if we were going to do a sequel lets not do the expected sequel. There was some talk of that, but the expected sequel would have us go back to the same planet and fighting more of the same creatures. Vin and I just thought that was creatively bankrupt. We decided to focus more on character than creatures and that will allow us to follow Riddick wherever he goes and that may even allow us to change genres. We thought horror was kind of limiting and instead expand into action/adventure. We wanted to know where Riddick goes next and we knew that we werent going to introduce creatures as bad guys so instead we introduced the Necromongers to play out a David and Goliath story.
It is a throwback to the 80s because we chose to build sets as often as possible in an era where you dont have to do that. George Lucas generally doesnt do that. Sky Captain doesnt do that. But I wanted to because I knew I would get better performances out of my actors. When they step into that environment they realize its their living room and they get how powerful their character is. So the actors can touch, feel and move around as opposed to them being in front of a greenscreen with a table and a chair. With that they will hug that table and chair and not move anywhere. They start to play it safe when you do that to them and so will the cameramen. If they dont have anything to shoot but a table, a chair and an actor they arent going to be adventurous. The camera is going to slow down then lockdown causing your movie to be less exciting. We made the very conscious decision to build sets like they were building in the 80s and I know I have a better looking movie for it.
DRE: Whats it like standing there in an enormous palace that was built to your specifications?
DT: Its hugely gratifying. One of the most exciting parts of the whole moviemaking experience is when the sets go up. Even when you see them roughed in and you see that its 200 feet long, 120 feet wide and 34 feet high. You then start to put your head around how big that area is you realize that you need more extras to fill it up.
DRE: Im sure that people have classified you before as a niche horror and science fiction guy and Im sure no one was rushing to give you a $100 million to make a movie ten years ago. I think the same thing about Martin Scorsese because he spent his $100 million mostly on building the sets for Gangs of New York. People probably thought you and he wouldnt even know what to do with that much money.
DT: He may be asking himself the same question now given the hyper involvement he had with the Weinsteins. He may think twice about doing another $100 million movie as David Twohy might think twice about that. With that budget comes a certain expectation and a lot of anxiety. Not just from me but from a lot of people around me. That can not always be fun. If you want filmmaking to be fun you will do movies that cost less and have less anxiousness associated with it.
DRE: Would you do another $100 million movie but not make it as Frank Herbertesque and instead make it a less complex film?
DT: You mean lighten up.
DRE: Yeah.
DT: Well to that end I just finished a script that is more of a Jumanji-like fantasy. A lot of visual effects and good art design again but the lead is a 15 year old contemporary kid and that will be a fun fantasy and probably my next film. You anticipated my next career movie, good for you!
DRE: Is Riddick a fantasy for you at all?
DT: No its not. No more so than any of the characters Ive written and liked. I do like his anti-hero status but I think its more like that for Vin. I think he inhabits this character more than I do. It was interesting to see that evolution of him stepping into this role that he didnt develop originally because we just cast him for the first movie. To see him inhabit that role and then kind of take co-authorship of that role for the second movie was an interesting process. He so loves the Riddick role and but it is so not him. Its a very interesting relationship that he has with it.
DRE: Were you happy with the theatrical version of Riddick?
DT: Its a curious thing. I actually lost more stuff to the Motion Picture Association than to studio request. I went to the MPAA seven times before they gave us the stamp of PG-13. Any film that is in the marketplace at a certain budget level has to be PG-13 these days because thats the economic reality. For the directors cut I was glad to put back in all the footage that the MPAA made me take out and present it unrated. Its 15 minutes longer, a lot tougher and I think its the better version of the film.
DRE: Do you see Riddick moving along in other mediums such as more anime like Dark Fury or comic books?
DT: Well well see. I dont have any plans for that because Im already onto the next thing. All of that will be fueled by the next Riddick film if we get a chance to do it and a lot of that will depend on how well the DVD is received.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
guilty pleasure somewhat fer shur
Either way, they spawned one of, if not the, best movie-licensed games ever. That's gotta count for something.