Movies
‘Fright Night 3D’ Director Craig Gillespie Talks Next Gig: ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’
Speaking with Craig Gillespie earlier today after viewing some footage from his latest directorial effort Fright Night 3D, the Lars and the Real Girl helmer managed to talk very briefly about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the heavily-hyped adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith novel on which he recently replaced Mike White as director. Though he remained mum on any specifics, he did admit that no decision has been made yet on whether they’ll attempt to cash in on the current (waning?) 3-D craze with the film.
“That bridge hasn’t been crossed yet,” he said, before commenting on the fact that the horror/comedy hybrid will be his second genre film in a row after ‘Fright Night’: “With ‘Zombies’, I’m not looking to be labeled in any kind of genre or anything, it’s just, again, the script came across my desk and what I responded to is the tone. It’s such a clear tone, there’s so much humor in it, it’s so loyal to that period with the dialogue and the banter, and then you’ve got…zombies. It’s just such a fun mix.”
Given White’s recent departure from the project due to scheduling conflicts, Gillespie also made sure to point out that he’ll definitely be remaining on board for the duration of the production.
“Yeah, yeah I am [definitely directing it],” he maintained. “Luckily everybody else had solid reasons why they couldn’t do it!”
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
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