EXCLUSIVE: It doesnt happen often, butRon Howardis here inTorontotoday to unveil at theToronto Film Festivalhis new filmEden.
Have you become a survivalist?
Where characters are really pressure tested and it reveals a lot about them.
Ron Howard on the set of ‘Eden’Imagine Entertainment
It is a lot of fun to follow the events as the conflict unfolds.
It is a thriller, and part of that suspense is wondering whos going to survive and why.
This true story was so full of that.
Imagine Entertainment
It is based on two wildly different accounts of the same unsolved mystery.
As you delve into it, it certainly falls into that category of stranger than fiction.
DEADLINE:How did you find your way into this?
HOWARD: I encountered this story about 15 years ago, on a family trip to the Galapagos.
I always wanted to go, and finally did.
It exceeded all my expectations.
There, I encountered this story.
And it turned out that the most dangerous factor was not Mother Nature, it was human nature.
This story just unfolded in a very classical, dramatic and ultimately suspenseful way.
I could not get it out of my mind, but 15 years is a long time.
I believed in it.
I kept reading, I kept thinking about it, but I also knew it was unusual for me.
Noah Pink was one of the creators ofGeniusand the first season on Albert Einstein.
We worked very closely, and I told him about this story.
He asked if he could try taking a shot at writing it on spec because he shared my fascination.
I would slip the script to friends, just, what do you think of this?
And they kept sort of saying, Ron, youve got to do this.
Youve seen the movie.
I didnt turn my back on their eccentricities.
There are places where its humorous, which is okay because its organic and coming out of the characters.
It also offered such fantastic opportunities for great performances.
Youve got the couple played by Daniel Bruehl and Sydney Sweeney.
This is such a classic story.
Everybody went for a different reason.
Its a pioneer story, but in the most extreme way.
The period during and after WWI and WWII, things were just so dire around the world.
Their reasons for escaping that are very relatable.
And of course, egos driving that as well.
He wants to be the next Nietzsche, the next great philosopher.
So there is arrogance to go with tremendous intellect.
The Baroness played by Ana de Armas is a very modern woman.
In todays era, she might be a powerful entrepreneur.
And she had read about Dr. Ritter, living this Robinson Crusoe life.
Only she believed in her mission.
I think we can find them amusing.
We can relate to them or not, but you might empathize with all of their agendas.
Its what happens when they get there and find they cant run from themselves.
And create a really interesting period thriller with contemporary sensibilities.
DEADLINE:Laws Dr. Ritter is a contradiction.
His dispatches became a sensation in European newspapers, and then he took umbrage when admirers showed up.
Is he a narcissist?
Physical health certainly is.
DEADLINE:One of Daniel Bruehls best performances came in your race car filmRush.
How long have you guys been discussing doing this together?
I eventually realized that I didnt have enough time and I could do better.
Thank God Noah came to the rescue with his spec script that got the movie made.
I remember talking to Daniel about it.
He was a little too young for the part back then, but hes such a powerhouse actor.
And 11 years later, I called him and said, remember that project we talked about?
I think now is the time.
DEADLINE:He said yes right away?
I really wouldnt move forward without a cast.
And I found such an exciting group to work with.
Really, it was challenging.
The schedule was tight, budget was tight.
Everybody was there because they wanted to be, on a creative level.
It was very exciting.
And so that really kept us going.
DEADLINE:It sure looked like a rough shoot, which was how I was left feeling watchingThirteen Lives.
You felt the hardships and the challenges of a location with harsh climate and weather.
What lessons did you learn onThirteen Livesthat made this shoot bearable for your cast and crew?
Going all the way back toBackdraftor the weightlessness inApollo 13and other things like that.
Those accrued experiences are valuable.
They dont provide all of the answers because each time youre coming up with something new.
OnThirteen Lives, the caves were a tremendous challenge.
That made it so possible for me to really put the audience alongside these guys in these caves.
It was similar here.
I had been in the actual cave where Margaret gave birth, with wild dogs around her.
Ive been there in the Galapagos.
I recreated that scene.
It was a different kind of challenge, but incredibly intense, emotionally and physically.
For Sydney Sweeney, it was over a hundred degrees the day we shot those scenes.
And we had to deal with animals.
We had snake wranglers.
And hour before we shot, they came and started looking for the poisonous snakes.
And they kept looking all day long and they found a lot of them.
But we were shooting in Queensland, in areas where its pretty infested with poisonous insects and snakes.
Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby were so dedicated.
I had to talk them off of that one.
DEADLINE:You mean where they were visited by a man who filmed them in their wild paradise?
HOWARD: That was the real Allan Hancock, of Hancock Park, who visited and photographed them.
it’s possible for you to find his footage online.
Some of it we use at the end of the movie.
We used everything we could from the different accounts.
It was a big story in newspapers at the time because it was so sensational and juicy.
In my mind, it still is juicy.
DEADLINE:OnThirteen Lives,Viggo Mortenson was incensed the movie went straight to streaming and not theatrical first.
How didThirteen Livesgoing straight to streaming sit with you?
HOWARD: I love Viggos pride inThirteen Lives, his passion.
And sure, I saw it play on a big screen for large audiences, and it played beautifully.
It was my highest testing movie ever.
But times are changing, and I believe audiences dictate this more than studios do.
Its ever evolving, and its still a new medium that is very technologically driven.
Its really up to audiences to demand and prove where the value is behind these stories.
So sure, I love the big screen experience.
Im excited as hell to seeEdenin Toronto.
I am very proud of it.
The thing I care about most is having the opportunity and the resources to go do the job well.
What thrills me the most is the collaboration in front of and behind the camera that makes that possible.
DEADLINE:Responding to a changing marketplace and veering into documentaries has led to great content.
HOWARD: Thats really interesting, let me just think about that for a second.
So the documentaries are something that I feared getting into.
I always admired documentaries, but I was intimidated by them.
And when I did, I found it so creatively gratifying.
Im not the first person to engage in that.
They said similar things, about how its really exciting [to do both at the same time].
Marty says theyre all just films.
But its all filmmaking.
I agree with that.
I think that really raises the bar for all of us.
So thats one answer.
Weve always had that in common.
It raises the bar in important ways to people who want to meet the challenge.
And Brian and I fall into that category.
They changed their mind because of a test screening and the rest is history.
Possible that it has always been hard, and now its just a different set of obstacles and challenges?
HOWARD: I think you just said a mouthful.
There are always challenges to be met, and Ive witnessed some of those transitions.
But otherwise you nailed that story.
Its a huge investment of time and energy.
And so it brings with it that need to provide an intersection between art and commerce.
And sure they have certain things that they want to see.
Maybe they want to see sequels and revisit a similar set of characters over and over again.
But they also will show up for something new and exciting in ways that make sense to them.
And the business has to figure out how to reach them in different ways.
And I think its one of the reasons that this story has endured in the Galapagos.
You go anywhere and start talking about it, and everybodys got an opinion and a theory.
I listened to a lot of those, and it helped inform the movie as well.
And they were with a very small, highly unionized group of people.
And everyone was a movie lover.
They were all coming out of film school and had an excitement for the medium.
And even the way George was shooting, it was just completely revolutionary.
I could recognize this was exciting.
I remember this, and that the movie bosses werent even there.
They were in a building in Beverly Hills somewhere making a couple of movies a year.
And then Evans turned that around and Diller came along and things really evolved.
And then so did the business because of cable, VHD and then DVDs, the globalization of cinema.
All of these things led to exciting periods.
And now thats shifting again.
HOWARD: I want to be changeable, always.
These filmmaking experiences, they get me out of the house.
They get me into the world.
And again, also this extension into the documentaries, which I found I really, really love.
DEADLINE:A question aboutHillbilly Elegy.
That isJD Vance, who is Trumps vice presidential choice in the upcoming election.
He has evolved from that young man into a polarizing, volatile conservative.
Im sure people have said to you, Ron, what have you unleashed?
How do you process that?
Thats what we mostly focused on.
People do change, and I assume thats the case.
Well, its on record.
So that was then.
I think the important thing is to recognize whats going on today and to vote.
And so thats my answer.
Its not really about a movie made five or six years ago.
DEADLINE:I just made the rounds in L.A. with reps and studio execs.
It has hurt everybody, made jobs scarce and prompted contraction and cutbacks.
I see you as an optimist.
Well, creatively, technology is advancing in ways that open up possibilities for filmmakers.
It has been that way for decade, but it has accelerated.
And there may be some efficiencies that come with that.
My optimism lies in the fact that that people love stories.
Who knows what the economics will be?
It is all going global.
I dont think Hollywood can just ride on the fact that it remains the real creative epicenter.
It is losing that pudding.
And there are a lot of people struggling who can bear witness to that.
Its difficult to see happen.
And other countries and regions that are really doing everything they can to attract production.
HOWARD: Characterize me that way, as optimistic.
And yeah, Ill sign off on that.
