George Miller on Making a Movie in the NBA Game: “You Have to Constantly Change”

George Miller felt like he was dreaming.

The Australian filmmaker arrived in Cannes on Thursday, 24 hours after leaving his home on the other side of the world. With only a few hours to breathe and recover, he was under the lights of the Grand Theater Lumiere, with 2,200 guests showering in his film. three thousand years of longingWith six minutes of applause.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the movie with the public and it’s very emotional,” Miller said in an accompanying commentary, which is a new tradition this year. “I am very, very grateful.”

This was the first time viewers had seen Miller’s new film since 2015. Crazy Max: The Path of Fury, a high-octane blockbuster that brought the author to a new generation of fans, some might think you’re dreaming when you see his latest. Starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, the MGM and FilmNation release tells the story of a respected storyteller who opens a gin or gin after buying a damaged bottle at the Istanbul market.

He offers to grant three wishes in exchange for freedom, only to spark a discussion about wish fulfillment, while Ginny describes in detail three stories about a complicated past relationship. Miller adapted the story with Augusta Gore. Gin in the eyes of a nightingaleA collection of short stories published by the author AS Byatt, a text he learned about in the 1990s, a fact that may have added to his imaginary status.

“I’m not sure I woke up and found myself at the cinema in the middle of the night watching a movie,” Miller said. the hollywood reporter A few days before the premiere of the Majestic Hotel suite in Cannes, last week about its reactive state. The fully updated Miller talked about putting together the project, his close collaboration with the stars, and the latest FuryFilming begins after he returns to Down Under.

At a party after the movie, I learned that you described the independently financed project as a “big little movie”. Have you ever tried installing it in a studio?

It wasn’t a studio movie. This is a film that should have been independently financed. The first person who saw the script after we had the actors was Mike de Luca. He had just arrived at MGM and immediately said, “Let’s do this.” FilmNation Entertainment sold it to the rest of the world and they quickly got good reviews, so this was definitely the best way to go. This is not the scale the studio will necessarily do. This is a movie the studio probably couldn’t make with such a big hand.

Speaking of Mike de Luca, what do you think of his departure and the acquisition of Amazon? Will this affect the launch?

First, it will be there before the movie comes out. And as for Amazon, it doesn’t go straight to streaming. This is written in the contract and the agreement with MGM is that it must have a full theatrical release. There are good people in the Amazon and they basically said yes. The beauty of Mike de Luca lies in the fact that he is a film director himself. He writes scripts and is a talented producer. I know the stories [when he was at New Line] Do Lord of the RingsAnd it wasn’t always in favor of the studio, but of the filmmakers. He proved to be a great executive when we were making the movie and he was always very, very impressive. The other thing I can say about MGM is that all the people around Mike, the team that makes the trailers and the marketing, are also very impressive.

You first read this story in the 90s. At what point did you know it could or should have been filmed?

When we had a mature script draft. It wasn’t something where I said, “We have to do this,” and I bought the rights instantly. This is something that has evolved over a long period of time and over the years we have written and done other projects. Then the time came when we had a script that we could show the actors.

I remember it very well because exactly five years ago here, in Cannes, I met Tilda. It was a wonderful moment, but at that point we hadn’t finished the script. But when I met Tilda, I thought, my God, she’s wonderful. A year later, we sent him a script. Once he said yes, it became a question of who could play gin. There was only one person – [Idris]. I still can’t think of anyone else who could have played it other than Idris, who we also met around the same time.

I love that it started here in Cannes and ended with you working with two favorite actors. ‘Cause this is your first movie since Crazy Max: The Path of FuryWhat was it like to go through that experience? The play is full of great challenges, with drama and famous confrontations between Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy. three thousand years of longing? Have you ever had any PTSD?

There’s always a subtle PTSD in every movie you make. There is always scar tissue that should not be treated further. Every movie has its own problems. To use an analogy, every movie is like an NBA basketball game. You have to be prepared for all the surprises. You don’t know where the ball is going or when the defense is going to attack. You must avoid injuries and must constantly adapt and be flexible to win the game. But I have to say it was a really, really wonderful experience to see them together. They are actors in the sense that they really want to make the best movie possible. You saw from the start that they were helping, not just helping each other, but also helping us as a team, strategizing with us.

From the first conversation with Idris, he said: “I want to make a movie and is it possible to avoid all the stories or flashbacks? I wanted to tell stories [Tilda’s character] He once tried it on so he could have it on his belt. He also said, “I don’t want to record in a recording studio.”

I wanted the stories to be told face to face. It was a very smart thing to do. I mean, I didn’t even think about it, but it shows how he always thought about the whole movie and not just himself. Tilda is the same. I came out of the movie understanding why all these directors they work with want more from Tilda. He really is something. He’s an artist, a man and one of the wisest people I’ve ever met. Whenever Wes Anderson or David Fincher have a new project, it’s no wonder they want as much of Tilda as possible.

Do you want more useful? If there is a role for it. Fury?

Frankly, it was the first thing I thought of. how do you know holy sighHe played three roles, one of which was an old man, so I thought, well, I could play one of the men. [in Furiosa]. But unfortunately, there was no role that suited him. I told him, “I really tried, especially for me, but there was nothing.” If you force a character to make a movie, he’s usually the first one to fall to the floor of the room. He would never do that to her, but he really wanted to. I thought about all the other movies I have and the ideas I have in mind to see what he can play. In the same Idris. I must say it’s wonderful. Seeing them work together was a great pleasure for me. Having characters on the page and back cover is one thing, but it’s different when actors reveal characters.

What was it like joining the team with your employees? And how do you fit in after work? Fury – Any new rules you offer Ს Dangerous road?

In this film we work with so many people who worked Ს Dangerous roadand it will be the same Fury. I think he’s the one that’s missing [cinematographer] Johnny Seale, who finally retired at age 80. Yes. he retired Ს Dangerous road, and then 10 years later he retired again. He said, “Other.” He was very happy about it because he was mostly in Sydney, where he lives. He’s a sailor and he just wanted to hang out with his family, his grandchildren.

And see what was dysfunctional Ს Dangerous roadBy far most of the work was done by sample professionals. It was wonderful, I think the biggest dysfunction, other than what happened between Charlize and Tom, was the study. There was an uproar in the studio and everyone was nervous about trying to compete for a job or losing it. This created a rather confusing mix. But all the rest of the preparation and rigor was very strong. It wasn’t all chaos.

There has been some resurgence at Warner Bros., Discovery’s new parent company, and he is expected to be fired. What was it like working with a studio? Fury And how far are you?

We are working with Warner Bros. on this for a long time. We are quite intensive in production. The actor finds himself in Broken Hill, a suburb of Australia. Everyone goes through training on motorcycles and cars, rehearsing scenes and getting together. Guy Norris was shooting. We’ve been working together for 41 years since we first worked together Shill Max. He was 21, a young stuntman, and we’ve been working together ever since. He completed directing the second part and coordinating the maneuvers. He was taking over and commanding one of the major action sections he was directing. [my trip] on the skin When I got back to Sydney, we started filming. But my impression is that, as I understand it, Warner Bros. is close to stabilization. [David] Zaslav and his people are great and peace seems to be on the way.

Did you meet Zaslav?

I do not have it yet.

Go back to the skin. I was at the theater for the premiere three thousand years of longing And I saw that you took the mic at the end of the exposition. What do you think of this new tradition?

მართლა is very good. I didn’t know we were doing this, to be honest. To get here from Australia, it takes literally 24 hours before departure. for me it was 3 am [Australia time] When this was happening. I often called the process of watching movies a public dream, so it felt like a dream to me. I’m not sure if I woke up and found myself watching a movie at the cinema in the middle of the night. I didn’t expect to participate, except in response.

Everything felt like a dream, even the fact that the film shown on the skin was very weak. We were lucky enough to make a movie. We wanted to shoot in Istanbul and London. [but because of COVID] We could not. We had to film in Australia because the Delta variant was in the midst of COVID at the time. So getting to the skin was wonderful. The whole experience was wonderful.

The interview is edited for length and clarity.