The NY Post got a nice interview with Wes Craven this weekend. He chats about PROJECT GREENLIGHT and CURSED, pulling no punches on either. First let’s hear some of his thoughts on PG:
Q:Was the movie “Feast” in Project Greenlight difficult to pull off?
A:Incredibly. The original script was 21 speaking roles, 14 monsters and special effects, and compared with “Last House on the Left,” which was like four people in the woods, it was very difficult. When we walked out of the room, someone said, “I think maybe we’ve all gotten our revenge on Bob Weinstein.”
Q:You said the “Feast” script required a lot of work.
A:It was just all over the place. It had no real center. It was a series of random events, and the monsters weren’t real. When it was the day to shoot any given sequence, the director would have to come up with very difficult solutions to how someone was going to fly around the room. I suppose writers write that way, and they don’t have to worry about cost. But certainly [the director] was going to have his plate full.
Now on to CURSED!
Q:…[W]hat happened with “Cursed?”
A:I’m very disappointed with “Cursed.” The contract called for us to make an R-rated film. We did. It was a very difficult process. Then it was basically taken away from us and cut to PG-13 and ruined. It was two years of very difficult work and almost 100 days of shooting of various versions. Then at the very end, it was chopped up and the studio thought they could make more with a PG-13 movie, and trashed it. We were writing while we were shooting. It wasn’t ready to film. We rewrote, recast and had two major reshoots. It went on and on and on.
And the final word?
Q:So you’re still learning, even though you’re such a huge icon.
A:It’s counting for less and less, I must say. The icon thing doesn’t guarantee you any sort of protection. Ultimately, the bottom line is so severe, that they will always go for the bottom line.
I don’t know if I’m more impressed by Craven’s zen-like ability to deal with the studio’s today, or more depressed by the fact that he’s had to develop that ability. Ah well. You can check out the full interview here.