Tuesday, July 29, 2008
By: SpookyDan
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Our Comic Con coverage is still going? Yup. The San Diego convention is just too big, and it's impossible to get it all done and out to you guys in the short time of the event. Today we've got SpookyDan's report from Lionsgate's panel for Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera, which can be found by reading on. In the not-so-distant future when an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet, scientists gear for a massive organ harvest. A biotech giant comes up with easy organ payment plans, but all financed organs are subject to legal default, including repossession at the hands of repo men. Click here for all Comic Con coverage.
Last week Repo! The Genetic Opera had its world premiere at Fantasia in Montreal. Curious people lined up around the block, the film played to huge excitement, and rave reviews from those in attendance. Nearly 300 people were turned away, as the theater had filled early on. Repo Fever! has been spreading in the states as well. The San Diego Comic Con Repo panel was packed to capacity. The line for seats went all the way outside and wrapped around the back of the convention center. The crowd here was rabid and it even surprised the convention employees. We were told that they had not anticipated such a big draw, and that, this panel certainly should have been scheduled inside a much bigger hall.
The latest trailer was screened and the crowd was going insane. Darren Smith, Terrence Zdunich, Darren Bousman, Bill Mosley, Nivek Ogre (from Skinny Puppy), Alexa Vega and the always-popular Paris Hilton took center stage to talk about making this grand musical horror epic. Writing team Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith spoke about the origins of the film and how it transformed into the feature film version.
"Darren Smith and I began writing Repo back in 1999," says Zdunich. "It started out as a tiny performance art piece, and it has grown into this film." Smith adds, "Yeah, it started out as a ten-minute opera in which Terrance and I played all the different parts." Zdunich continues, "There is only so much you can do in a tiny black box theater. Over the years, we collaborated with Darren Bousman to expand the smaller stage version into what has become the film. Because this was not an established show on Broadway, We didn’t have to be a slave to what was onstage to what is in the movie, we didn’t have the fans saying don’t change it. We wanted o make a movie that’s an opera, its about 50% different than what was done on stage. I think what we made was a Movie Opera, as opposed to an opera."
Darren Bousman talked about how hard it was getting the movie made.
"This was not an easy sell, I have to thank Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate for letting me make this film. Because it's nothing like Saw, it was such a hard thing to walk into someone’s office and pitch them a horror rock opera starring Paul Sorvino, Anthony Stewart Head, Bill Mosley, Ogre, Alexa Vega where Sarah Brightman sings with Paris Hilton. I have done three sequels, I wanted to something completely unsafe and out of the box, and what is more unsafe than a horror rock opera?"
Bousman spoke further about the daunting task of making a musical.
"Essentially, it was two different movies, the recorded album was its own movie, and that was a huge ordeal. Then shooting the movie is an entirely different thing. This was not like a walk in, do you part and leave kind of a film. This was a six-month time commitment for all of the actors. When you do a normal feature film you can work with the actors on set, you can work with the performance, block it and shoot it while you are there. With Repo we had recorded all of the performances in a studio, two months in advance. Alexa Vega added: It made it a lot harder to film it, you know, for having to be out of breath while jumping on a bed, and then going later to match that."
Bousman also spoke about the eclectic cast, and how he got Paris Hilton involved.
"Every cast member has an awesome story of how they came to the project," he explains. "With Paris, all I knew of her was from whatever tabloid magazine happened to be at my house at the time. When her name came up, I just laughed it off and said No Way. Terrence, Darren and I kept talking about it, because it was such an out there idea, so we took a meeting with her. When she walked in I had this idea of what she would be like, then she walked in the room and was articulate and smart, not at all what we expected. So we gave her a song to try out and sent her home for just one day to prepare. The next day Paris Hilton walks into a room full of tattooed and Mohawk-ed dudes, basically straight faced, arms crossed and shaking their heads. By the time she left, she had everyone’s jaws dropped and clapping. She rocked it, and deserved the part. Just wait until you see her in it!"
Paris Hilton responds with why she jumped on the project and how it was something she had never seen before.
"When I first read the script it was obviously something I had never see or heard of before, it was really hard to picture. When I found out it was Bousman directing it, because I am a huge Saw fan, I immediately wanted to sign on," she tells fans. "Just being offered a roll that is completely different from anything I have ever done. Most people just would just offer a roll to the stereotype of what they think I am. Just the chance that I get to be involved was so much fun. I cannot wait for people to see it. When asked if she is comfortable with the Repo fans and the Comic Con crowd Hilton responded: I am more comfortable here at Comic Con than at a red carpet in Hollywood. This is Awesome, I am glad to be here with all the fans. This is Hot!"
Darren Bousman thanks his girlfriend for suggesting Alexa Vega to star as Shilo.
"With Alexa Vega I have to thank my girlfriend in turning me onto her. We had been looking for a Shilo, she had to look young, and still hot and sexy. My girlfriend Laura showed me a picture and said you have to meet with her, and I was like…The Spy Kid? She looks young, but that’s not sexy. But after seeing some pictures of her in the play Hairspray we flew out to New York to see her onstage. She was awesome and we immediately knew she was Shilo."
Vega decided not to let the story stand at that, she jokes about how she thought Bousman was a creepy liar on MySpace.
"That is only part of the story, Bousman did not just come to New York, first he messaged me on MySpace. He says, 'Listen, I really want you to do this movie; I really want you to take a look at it.' I though this is weird, so I had my assistant delete it," she jokes. "Then he writes back and says yeah I am the director of the Saw films. Well my little sister was in Saw 1, so I will just ask her, and she says NO he didn’t direct Saw! So I thought, wow this guy is a creep AND a liar. Later we looked it up and found out that he was legit." (The original Saw was directed by James Wan, while the sequels 2-4 were directed by Bousman).
Rounding out the cast is the horror icon Bill Mosley, and the musical genius behind the band Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre
"For me it was my first opportunity in making a film, so I was just overjoyed to be part of the process," Ogre explains. "It was a grass roots film. They all brought me into the family and made me comfortable. It’s such an odd concept for me to be on a movie set and really see how it’s all done."
"I had certainly killed a few people before, so I had some experience with that," Moseley jokes. "But when it came to the singing and dancing, it was new ground for me (in spite of my band Cornbugs) I just wanted to thank Ogre for helping me out with all of the singing parts, we did a lot of singing together, and that was a lot of fun!"
Bousman jumps back and talks a bit about mixing genres.
"One of the things we tried to do is mix genres. We went from complete and utter camp, to Opera, to real drama, we certainly tried to mix all of then in. The same is true with the music, its all over the board. While we did cut some scenes and some songs to fit the time restraints, you will eventually be able to see and hear them."
Smith adds, "The official Soundtrack comes out on CD on November 30th, there are a few songs that are not in the film but will be included on the disk something like 33 tracks. We recorded about 55 songs plus the score, so if you guys really like this, there certainly is enough for a double album! "
Many cast members spoke about how they would love to be involved in a potential sequel, or future stage version.
"I would love to see it LIVE ONSTAGE for you guys with this cast. If you like that idea start making noise, because we would all love to do it," says Zdunich.
"Well, I did Guys and Dolls in College," Moseley jokes. "Really, I have been taking singing lessons for years, in preparation for the Cornbugs world tour, But since that has not happened I am ready, and would love to do another Repo, and I would love to keep singing."
The strange thing is that Repo! fever has even got some cast members talking about creating new and original music based on the experience of working on the film.
"If there was a Repo part two I would definatly love to do it, I was so inspired by making this film that I went back into the studio to record another album," says Hilton.
"I obviously come from a more musical (business) background, which is both bad and good in the current situation of the economy," says Ogre. "But meeting Bill Moseley on this project, not only opened me up to looking at music differently, and meeting like minded people. Right now I am finishing up a new OHGR record right now, which is my solo side project, and Bill is going to be on it! This is kind of a foreshadowing to what we are hoping to do with the expanded OHGR universe, and taking the idea of the character of OGHR, and expand the world of The Devil is in my Details, which is the title of the upcoming record."
The panel ended after 10:00pm with the huge crowd rushing the stage for autographs and pictures. This panel was so much fun, I just wish that Repo! had been able to have a full screening at the con!
Check out the official website for updates and additions - many songs are already available for download
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA hits limited theaters November 7th.
Source: Bloody-Disgusting
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