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EXCLUSIVE
DAVID LATT INTERVIEW Q: What research have they done regarding the story and characters for the new film? A: I have only read the book. I have never seen the Haskin version, the TV show, or the Welles Radio Play. W hen I first started this journey I wanted it to follow the book as close as possible. I read and re-read the book, took notes, joined story discussions with other fans, etc. I didn’t want to pollute my ideas with other filmmaker’s ideas.
A: Budget was the biggest problem, time, of course was no friend either. But story-wise’ WAR should be a mini-series’ not a 90 minute Alien freak fest. The main character was hard. Wells didn’t write for Hollywood. How can you take a normal day-to-day man and have him try and commit suicide by the end (via an Alien)? Sure, the world around you is gone’ death and destruction is everywhere, but for the writer you have to get inside this person’s head and understand why he does when he does it. He can’t just walk up to the Alien and say, ‘Kill me’. This is not your straight Hollywood story. I basically approached this as THE PIANIST with aliens. It's a story of survival.
A: You have to ask them, sorry! A: Yes and no. I describe some problems above, but another one was ‘communication’. 100 years ago there were no cell phones, TV, radio (kinda), etc. What worked in Wells favour is that the ship could hang out for a few days and no one knew about it except for a few nearby towns. Because of this I had to accelerate the story. The ship crashes, and within an hour the Walkers appear and start the destruction. Also, I made it so all telecommunications; satellites, phones, etc. are wiped out because of the electromagnetic interference from the ships. So, there is no heavy technology fighting these creatures. A: I want to say for the record that this is an ‘adaptation’. Pendragon’s version is probably going to satisfy a lot more of you die-hards. It’s like this: if you had three painters--Picasso, Rembrandt, and Kandinsky--paint a vase with a flower in it. I guarantee that each would look different. It’s their creative perception of the vase. Their adaptation. Of course, I’m more like the guy who paints the velvet Elvis’ in the trashy motels’ but, nevertheless, the analogy stands. That being said my original script was pretty close to the book. It was only after a lot of studio/production re-writes that it became watered down. Which is not to say that I’m not proud of the work ‘I am ‘it’s just that, well, everyone has an opinion. A: Since we were releasing this film as INVASION, there was no pressure to tell anyone about WAR. So, I took the descriptions, went to our designers and said, ‘Make me the coolest, nastiest, Walker (our code name) you can. Go crazy.’ They did. At this point during the process I didn’t feel it necessary to be so exact with the text (since this is, after all, an adaptation of the book). We started with three legs. Really. But, well, we just went crazy.
A: Yes. They are from Mars. Not from underground.
A: I am a huge fan of the book...have been since I could remember. When I was approached to do the one film I always wanted to do (with the idea that it had to be sci-fi and/or horror) there was only one choice. I actually wrote the first draft then found out about DreamWorks. We shelved the film. I made about seven movies since then ’when out of the blue’ we were tasked to go back and produce my script - in no time. I know it was about timing, but we really went into this because we wanted to make a cool, frickin’ movie.
A: What other movies?
A: According to Dr. Len Fisher on Physics of Biscuit Dunking its Ginger nut. The best dunking time for a ginger nut biscuit was 3 seconds, but 8 seconds for a digestive biscuit. Also, dunking your biscuit into a milky drink gives you up to 11 times more flavour release than from eating the dry biscuit alone. Hope that helps. A: Credentials? I can be found on the www.imdb.com website. I’ve won over 30 awards for my films. My films have been to over 100 festivals world-wide. Oh, and my wife says that I smell nice.
A: A fan of storytelling and storytellers.
A: See above. A: Our main buyer. The guy that said if you make this film, I’ll give you money. It works every time. A: Didn’t know about them until it was too late. We shelved the film, but got it green light in January. We knew at that time DreamWorks, but were surprised to find out about Pendragon a day before we started filming. We are all fans of the book and there is no competition. Also, let’s face it DreamWorks could care less about us. We made this film for less than one tenth of one percent of their production/marketing budget. We are a fly on their ass. Pendragon is making a completely different film. I will be the first in line for both films when they come out.
A: Sure. We had to get the ‘all-clear’ from our lawyers before we made the film.
A: It’s gonna happen. What could you do? It’s really a matter of intent. We all set out to make a great film with great actors. I believe we succeeded. I am very proud of this film. I sleep well at night (though with one eye open). Will die-hards be disappointed? Yep. Will Wells turn in his grave? Maybe. My adaptation isn’t anymore exploitation than DreamWorks or Haskin or Welles. But, will this version look cheaper than DreamWorks? Yep. Will the aliens make Ed Wood look like a genius? I hope not, but that’s up for interpretation. A: I wrote many drafts of this script…but I just couldn’t get into the lead’s head. It was driving me crazy. At a certain point I approached Carlos de los Rios who is perhaps one of the best unknown writers in town. He knows characters. He can get into the dark places. I never told him about WAR OF THE WORLDS. The script I gave him was INVASION. I told him my problems, and wanted him to come up with original solutions. He did.
A: Why stray from it? It’s genius.
A: We had to shove this epic into 90 minutes…so many things got left on the cutting room floor. Henderson: Gone. Ogilvy: Gone. Horse: Gone. England is not the centre of the world, so I made it DC (hence the photos I see on this site). A: 1 year.
A: 40…50? We were writing on the set, too.
A: See above.
A: Getting more and more familiar every single day!
A: The incredible realism of the text. The graphic nature, the adventure…it was like reading a documentary. A: Great!
A: 16 days total.
A: Finding locations that looked devastated. Finding locations that looked like the North East. Shooting in California’s worst rain season in over 100 years.
A: This whole production has been fantastic. I’ve loved every minute of it. The worst is that I scheduled my first vacation in years in April (it was a cruise and we had to buy our tickets before we even thought about this production). I thought we’d be done with everything, but due to production delays…I was finally seeing the effects shots during the week I was gone. My wife and child were upset, but I spent many hours on the ship’s internet looking at visual effects shots, making notes, and, well, working!
A: Didn’t know we were secretive! Sorry. We don’t have a Publicity Agent working for us. All the money went to production. A: My intention was to make a great film. The distributor’s intention was great timing. A: See above.
A: Yep. "Thanks a bunch for hearing me out. I'll check in from time-to-time if you have anymore questions. Also, I'll let you know when the trailer is on-line." David Latt Thank you to Mr Latt for taking time out to talk to War of the Worlds Online. This interview is exclusive to War of the Worlds online, please ask permission from info@waroftheworldsonline.com before reproducing any part of it. |