Creator always feel additional pressure when you adapt the work by your favorite authors. This pressure only multiplies when the other work of this author led to one of the most famous and most popular television series of all time.
That was the test that Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich faces In the lost countriesHer new dark fantasy Western film, which is based on the short story of the same name by George RR Martin. The film – the first film adaptation of Martin's work Since 1987 – is a largely loyal adaptation, albeit with some radical new elements. In particular, there is a new central antagonist: a religious cult the protagonists (Jovovich and Dave Bautista) have to deal with it.
Anderson and Jovovich began to meet after they worked together on 2002 resident EvilAnd In the lost countries is the seventh time that they worked together as a director and star. But it is the first time that the couple worked as a producer in a project and gives the long -term cooperation a new element.
Polygon spoke to Anderson and Jovovich about a video call In the lost countries'Eerie western fantasy environment, the importance of Martin's work for you, uses Unreal Engine a worldview before shooting and how her partnership has changed in her years of collaboration. And yes, the Hollywood Power couple held their hands during almost the entire interview.
Polygon: What did you like most about the world that Martin creates in his version of? “In the lost countries”?
Paul WS Anderson: I liked two things. First, it was a dark fairy tale for adults. It has a very clear message: Be careful what you want. I've always been fascinated by the original fairy tales, the dark – the Version of “The Little Mermaid” Where the mermaid dies in the end, the original brothers Grimm. So this was an opportunity to tell a fairy tale for adults, which indicates that it should also have a unique visual look.
And then the other thing that spoke to me was clearly, George's story was partially patterned on a western. It reminded me of Spaghetti western that I loved as a child: The good, the bad and the uglyPresent More for a few dollars. Films in which two characters in an enemy country export to an adventure, and they somehow revealed themselves, then love each other. And I thought that these two things, the dark fairy tale and the western combination, could lead to a rather unique visual look.
One of my favorite shots in the film is when Dave's character knowingly ambush and see them under the edge of his hat, and there is a tiny beam of light that only seems in his eyes.
Anderson: It is very Charles Bronson.
Milla Jovovich: George is one of my favorite authors. And that was a short story, so we had to build the world very much. And it was important for me to keep the basis of the heart of history, but at the same time it enables Paul and me make our sensitivity and our world and our fan base to meet George in the middle in a way that nobody saw before. Because he had such great success on TV game of Throneset cetera, but this was the first time that one of his books would be on the big screen. [Ed. note: Martin’s previous movie adaptation, Nightflyers, went straight to home video.]
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So it was really about creating a world that was unique and would not remember the people of Westeros. The George Universe had to expand in something completely different and very special. Paul did that very well and worked with [visual effects supervisor] Dennis Berardi and the use of the unreal engine as a tool for world builders that lasted one year in advance.
Anderson: Yes, we started building the world a year before shooting, which meant that we could actually give the actors a living reproduction of live reproduction so that Milla and Dave could see the environments in which they were. We built the foreground and the medium floor, but sometimes the deep background was only in the computer. I think to have a blue screen for many actors, there is very confusing. It is not really the environment for them, but the advantage was that we were able to show Milla and Dave the environment that day.
What was important to you for the new elements you added to this story, especially in the church and the Revolution Arc?
Jovovich: The original story is short and we definitely had to add a common enemy that people have and do not like.
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Anderson: We needed an antagonist for the film, and it contains many George's work, the separation between the church and the state. And we believed that this was an interesting element that did not feel too strange in George's world. Obviously he reacted very well to it.
What is the biggest thing that has changed in the way you both worked together since you started working?
Anderson: For the first time, Milla took out a producing loan for this film, which really reflects what it did in all films. I think she should have taken a credit -worthy loan a long time ago. She always has her hand to put together the projects, and especially a really good say in the scripts. So this is the first time that it is the focus in this regard and at the center. So very nice to work with my producing partner.
Jovovich: It was exciting to be a real part of the process. The script lasted many years and many different iterations, and it took a long time for the world to be created, and it was all a real passion project for us. It wasn't something we just wanted Oh, hey, here is a studio, here is a script, whatever, let us do it. That was important.
This was incredible property, and we have so much respect for George – we really wanted to deliver something that people had never seen before, something mythological, something bigger than ourselves, something that really belongs to the land of dark imagination that could be in the brothers Grimm.
In the lost countries Is now in the cinemas.
