The news comes following Dunst’s comments last August that she’d like to be a part of the ‘Minecraft’ follow-up since her kids love it and, “maybe I can just make a movie where I don’t lose money?”
(L to R) Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in ‘Roofman’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst about their work on ‘Roofman’, the true story it is based on, Tatum’s first reaction to the screenplay, Dunst’s research into her role, and what it was like working with director Derek Cianfrance.
You can watch the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Channing Tatum stars in Paramount Pictures ‘Roofman’.
Moviefone: To begin with, Channing, how aware were you of the true story the film is based on, and what was your first reaction to reading the screenplay?
Channing Tatum: I was not aware of the actual story. He’s 10 years older than me, so I was probably young when it came up. I asked my parents as well, and they didn’t really know of it. But in talking to Derek about it, the script is incredible. The script feels like fiction and it’s just not. You go, “How could this guy have made this many decisions or this many things even happen?” There’s one thing to want to do it, and there’s another thing to pull it off. Talking to him, you realize he’s very, very smart. The first time I ever talked to him, I had all these questions, and I didn’t have to ask any of them because he kind of took care of me on the phone. By the end of it, you just end up loving the guy. I genuinely like this man, and I care about him, and I hope he gets out earlier than what he should. I personally don’t think he should have gotten that many years. That’s my first conversation with him after reading the script. I just liked this man, and I had some sort of connection to him that I can’t really explain.
MF: Kirsten, can you talk about the research you did to play Leigh, and did you come to understand how she could fall for Jeffrey Manchester?
Kirsten Dunst: I mean, that’s really what happened. This was a true love story. They really fell in love, so I wanted to tell that in a very authentic way with having two girls to worry about and knowing that this experience for her was truly an adventure. You don’t really see that in people anymore, that they have that grace to look and step back and not have animosity towards each other or anything like that. They both have a very high spiritual understanding of what’s important in life, and I think that she could understand and overlook the obvious lies and see a man that was really who she wished she could have been with.
(L to R) Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
MF: Kirsten, I’ve heard you say that working with director Derek Cianfrance was a “dream”. What did you love about working with him?
KD: He loves actors so much, and whenever you’re in a place that someone is championing you to do your best work and your most authentic, like the way he sets the tone on set for you, he just cares so much and there’s no ego in that relationship. So, it lends itself to an honest, real performance, and that’s why with his movies and shows you feel it deeply. It doesn’t feel like acting in my opinion.
MF: Finally, Channing, was Derek a filmmaker that you’ve been wanting to work with for a while and what was the experience like working with him on this movie?
CT: I mean, absolutely. I stupidly turned down ‘Blue Valentine’ like 19 years ago. He’d seen a movie that I was in at Sundance, offered me the movie, I read it, and it was just so sad. At that time in my life, I didn’t understand how to be in a relationship like that, I guess. I didn’t have a real perspective of it and really believed that I could have pulled it off and I said, no, stupidly. That was Ryan Gosling’s movie, I guess. It was all serendipitous and this one was what we were supposed to end up connecting on and this many years later. I just went for a walk with him, and I just genuinely love him as a human and as a creator, but if we never make another movie, I hope we just get to hang out a lot because I learn something every time that I’m around him. But I would also come and just hang out on set with him. I love him as a brother. He’s a special human.
Theatrical one-sheet for Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
Channing Tatum stars in Paramount Pictures ‘Roofman’.
In theaters on October 10 via Paramount Pictures is ‘Roofman’, which is inspired by the odd true story of Jeff Manchester, who got the titular nickname by breaking into McDonald’s restaurants through their roofs and created a hideout inside a Toys “R” Us store.
Channing Tatum stars in Paramount Pictures ‘Roofman’.
When you consider his past work –– doomed romance ‘Blue Valentine’ and tension-filled crime thriller ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ –– Derek Cianfrance might not seem like the first choice for a true story that, on the face of it, could come across as goofy. And yet, in the director’s hands, it has become something warm and surprisingly sweet.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
Cianfrance wrote the script with Kirt Gunn (‘Sound of Metal’), a former advertising executive who hired the director years ago to work on a campaign.
Together, they have wrangled Jeff Manchester’s story –– albeit changing a few of the details into something that, while it doesn’t let him off the hook for his actions, does at least try to understand why he turned to robbery and burglary.
Cast and Performances
Peter Dinklage stars in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
Channing Tatum is the beating heart of the movie –– it utilizes the full power of his charisma but also gives him a chance to explore some deeper, darker sides.
And his chemistry with Kirsten Dunst, who plays the single mother for whom Manchester falls, makes for a romantic, sweet side to the film, even if their love story doesn’t have happiest ending.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Juno Temple, LaKeith Stanfield and Channing Tatum star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
Cianfrance infuses the story with more meaning, but doesn’t forget to keep it entertaining and heartfelt.
‘Roofman’ receives 80 out of 100.
(L to R) Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
What’s the story of ‘Roofman’?
Based on an unbelievable true story, ‘Roofman’ follows Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman.
After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
Who is in the cast of ‘Roofman’?
Channing Tatum as Jeffrey Manchester
Kirsten Dunst as Leigh Wainscott
Ben Mendelsohn as Ron Smith
Peter Dinklage as Mitch
Uzo Aduba as Eileen
Juno Temple as Michelle
Emory Cohen as Otis
LaKeith Stanfield as Steve
Theatrical one-sheet for Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
(Right) Channing Tatum stars as Slater King in director Zoë Kravitz’s ‘Blink Twice’, an Amazon MGM Studios film. (Left) Kirsten Dunst in FX’s ‘Fargo’ season 2. Photo: Mathias Clamer/FX.
Preview:
Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst are starring in ‘Roofman’.
It’s the new movie from ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ director Derek Cianfrance.
Channing Tatum at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Blink Twice’. Photo Credit: JC Olivera.
‘Roofman’, co-written by Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn, follows Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum in the movie), an eccentric and charming serial robber who broke into more than 60 McDonald’s overnight via their roofs, then emptied the cash register in the morning after herding staff into freezers.
The former U.S. Army Reserve officer became known as the ‘Rooftop Robber’ or ‘Roofman’ and was known for his gentle demeanor and for rarely resorting to violence.
After he was caught and imprisoned in 2000, he escaped jail and then evaded capture by holing up for months in a Toys “R” Us and Circuit City store in North Carolina. He lived off baby food and would ride bicycles for exercise in the toy store.
After reportedly leaving his fingerprints on a ‘Catch Me If You Can’ DVD in the electronics store (irony alert!), he was recaptured and sent back to jail.
Dunst will play an employee at the Toys “R” Us who is struggling to make ends meet and to provide for her two girls. She has no idea that Jeffrey has been secretly watching her from inside the store and slowly falling for her.
When she meets him, she’s charmed and finds him endearing, and the two form a serious bond until she finds out the truth about him –– but even that can’t stop her for caring for him.
Where else will we see Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst?
Kirsten Dunst in ‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
Tatum will next be seen in Beth de Araújo’s drama ‘Josephine,’ about a young girl who witnesses a brutal attack in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, spurring a spiral of complicated behavior. The movie is now in post-production.
He’s also attached to a wide variety of projects, including new drama ‘Soundtrack of Silence’ and crime drama ‘Bloodlines.’
As for Dunst, she’s the subject of awards chatter for ‘Civil War,’ and has worked on a new drama called ‘Rhubarb,’ about adult siblings navigating the grief over their beloved pet’s death.
When will ‘Roofman’ be in theaters?
The film’s distribution rights are up for sale, so there is no news on a release date until it has found a home.
Ryan Gosling in ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’. Photo: Focus Features.
‘Civil War,’ written and directed by Alex Garland (‘Ex Machina,’ ‘Annihilation’) is a deeply upsetting and frightening film – and we mean that in the best way possible. Set in an America that looks and feels very much like the one we’re in now, this brilliantly made film presents a harrowing vision of a nation tearing itself apart – as well as the story of a small group of journalists determined to witness history no matter what.
Garland’s film is so unnerving because he almost underplays the conflict in a way – since the U.S. is so damn large, there are moments when he lulls you into thinking that vast swaths of the country are untouched by the disaster unfolding in its midst. But make no mistake, there’s a pervasive sense of dread throughout ‘Civil War,’ with terror and chaos lurking around every corner. The cumulative effect is devastating, and regardless of one’s politics, this is a movie that everyone should see – if only because we seem to be skating closer to the edge of the abyss that Garland and his cast so memorably portray.
Story and Direction
(Right) Director Alex Garland on the set of ‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
Sometime in the not-too-distant future, civil war has broken out in the United States. The reasons are left unsaid, as are the events that led to Texas and California forming their own union, the Western Forces, which plan a final assault on Washington D.C. to remove the President (Nick Offerman) from office. Another faction, the Florida Alliance, looms in the background. Either way, the events that got the country to this point are never explained, but it’s clear that the U.S. has turned into a geopolitical and humanitarian nightmare.
In the midst of all this, Alex Garland’s film focuses on a band of four reporters – the hard-bitten, callous photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst), the cynical Joel (Wagner Moura), the world-weary Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and the novice photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) — who set out together from New York to travel to where the Western Forces are amassing for their final push into the nation’s capital.
Lee recognizes that Jessie has talent and reluctantly takes her under her wing, warning the young woman that there are far worse horrors ahead if she pursues her calling and that she must present the truth of what she sees with an unblinking eye. In some ways, ‘Civil War’ is the parallel journey of these two women – Lee has hardened herself to what she sees through her lens but may finally be breaking down and letting herself feel what’s happening, while the untested, somewhat naïve Jessie goes through a trial by fire to make herself into the crusader for truth that she hopes to become.
‘Civil War’ is also about journalism itself – and the necessity of journalists to report and document what they see without bringing their own biases to the table. That means a lie is a lie, the truth is the truth (not “your truth” or “my truth”) and even the most righteous-minded can do something unspeakable. Lee, Joel, and company are there to chronicle what happens – and let historians and future leaders figure out what it means.
‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
But even they, of course, are only humans and flawed ones at that: at one point in the film, our four protagonists and a couple of other reporters they meet up with – who have all been a little cavalier up to this point — are given the brutal realization that all the press badges in the world will not protect them anymore, and that events are spinning out of control faster than they might have thought. This is brought home in one of the film’s most terrifying scenes, featuring an uncredited Jesse Plemons (which you’ve seen a bit of in the trailers).
The scene involving Plemons is the most unnerving in the film, yet it’s one of many that feature imagery straight out of a U.N. war zone: Garland and DP Rob Hardy expertly blend widescreen shots of the American countryside – parts of it still pristine – with more close-up, documentary-like footage of refugee camps, burning urban areas, and hand-to-hand combat. Tanks rumble through American streets as jet fighters scream overheard, anti-aircraft weapons firing at them from below. Even a quiet town tucked away somewhere in Pennsylvania, where it doesn’t seem like the war has touched anything, posts armed sentries on its rooftops. The America of ‘Civil War’ is both eerily recognizable and yet utterly, unspeakably warped.
In this and other ways, Garland channels another film about a violent conflict sinking into madness: ‘Apocalypse Now.’ At one point, our journalists come upon two soldiers who are pinned down by a sniper in a distant mansion. No one seems to know who’s the mansion or what side anyone is one. It’s directly reminiscent of the scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic when Martin Sheen and his crew come upon a remote U.S. outpost that’s descended into chaos: “Who’s in charge here?” Sheen asks a dazed soldier. “Ain’t you?” the soldier replies.
Garland punctuates this accumulation of disturbing images with both an ominous, pulsing score by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, as well as jarringly delicate folk songs and somber pop numbers, bringing a wistful, overwhelmingly sad emotional undercurrent to the horrors unfolding onscreen.
The Cast
(L to R) Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny in ‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
Kirsten Dunst easily gives one of the finest performances of her career as Lee, the combat photographer who says at one point, “Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home: don’t do this. But here we are.” Lee has seen it all and then some, and at the film’s outset, it almost seems as if nothing will either rattle her or get to her emotionally. But that changes once she meets Jessie, as she sees something of her younger self in the inexperienced photographer and wants to both nurture and protect that.
It’s a subtle, complex performance by Dunst, and it’s complemented by Wagner Moura’s charismatic turn as Joel. The Brazilian ‘Narcos’ star gives Joel an easy charm, a rakish demeanor, and a compassionate undertone, all of which is gradually chipped away as the film goes on. Like Dunst’s lee, Moura’s Joel undergoes a gradual transformation, reaching his goal of getting an interview with the President but perhaps not in the way he initially envisioned.
Stephen McKinley Henderson in ‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
Somewhere between both of them is Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Sammy, an older New York Times reporter who is at this point not physically up to the strenuous journey ahead but willing to keep going no matter what. One of our great character actors of the stage and screen (with indelible recent performances in films like ‘Fences’), Henderson effectively portrays Sammy’s world-weariness and cynicism, even as he remains alert and savvy to what’s happening around him. Compassionate as well, his sense of humanity is pushed to the brink by what he experiences on the road to D.C.
While we admire Cailee Spaeny’s work here (and in last year’s ‘Priscilla’), we’re not as effusive about her character’s narrative. Jessie is initially cheerful, headstrong, and somewhat naïve about the job she wants to do, and as the story goes on, she becomes more shell-shocked and terrified by what she experiences. But some of her decisions, as well as her rather abrupt latter turn into a fierce photo-warrior – throwing herself into danger to get the shot – feel somewhat rushed and contrived, making a character who should be more of an avatar for young audience members into a plot device.
Final Thoughts
Nick Offerman in ‘Civil War.’ Photo: A24.
Moviegoers are going to bring their own politics into ‘Civil War’ and read it the way they want, which is part of what makes Alex Garland’s film so excellent. There has been some criticism online of Garland’s decision to keep the reasons for the war offscreen, as well as his choice to unite California and Texas – two states that nowadays couldn’t seem further apart politically – into a seemingly unlikely alliance. But to make Nick Offerman’s brief turn as the President into a take on Biden or Trump, and to make the film into a blue state-red state polemic, would not only instantly date it but create a more concrete polarization that would miss the point.
‘Civil War’ doesn’t detail how we got to this point; the film instead asks, “Okay, we’re here now. What are you going to do about it?” The fact that the film doesn’t offer a definitive resolution or simple answer is perhaps the most unsettling thing about it. With ‘Civil War,’ Alex Garland shows us one possible future in all its terrifying plausibility – what we do about it will either keep this film in the realm of speculative fiction or make it a prophetic document of a great nation disintegrating due to its own distrust, misinformation, and fear.
‘Civil War’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Civil War’?
In a near-future America, the United States has collapsed into civil war as different factions prepare for a final assault on Washington D.C. to unseat the President. A small band of journalists race across a once-familiar and now-dangerous country to get to the frontline and witness what happens.
Who is in the cast of ‘Civil War’?
Kirsten Dunst as Lee
Wagner Moura as Joel
Cailee Spaeny as Jessie
Stephen McKinley Henderson as Sammy
Nick Offerman as the President of the United States
The actor, who played Flint Marko/The Sandman, has appeared in two Spider-man films – 2007’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ and 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.” When asked which Spider-Man he’d go toe-to-toe with during an interview with Comicbook.com for the Peacock series ‘Twisted Metal,’ Church named Maguire as that was the Spider-man [movie] he started out with and expressed his interest in appearing in a possible ‘Spider-Man 4’ movie.
“There’s always been some kind of…I’ve heard rumors…that Sam Raimi was going to do another [Spider-Man movie] with Tobey [Maguire] and if that happens, I would probably campaign to maybe at least do a cameo,” Church said.
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Sam Raimi’s History With Spider-Man
Director Sam Raimi at San Diego Comic-Con
Sam Raimi directed the ‘Spider-man’ trilogy starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero. The 2002 film also starred Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. ‘Spider-man’ earned over $825 million worldwide and became the third highest grossing movie of 2002. Raimi continued to work with Maguire for the next two ‘Spider-man’ movies.
“I’ve come to realize after making ‘Doctor Strange’ that anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups,” Raimi said. “I love Tobey. I love Kirsten Dunst. I think all things are possible. I don’t really have a story or a plan. I don’t know if Marvel would be interested in that right now. I don’t know what their thoughts are about that. I haven’t really pursued that. But it sounds beautiful. Even if it wasn’t a Spider-Man movie, I’d love to work with Tobey again, in a different role.”
(L to R) Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment’s Instagram.
Currently, Sony Pictures owns the right to make and distribute the current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland. Disney shares the right, allowing the character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ fans finally got to see all three iterations of Spider-Man on the same screen. The film opens up the possibility for the trio to meet once again, as well as appear in other Marvel films or a standalone film. Marvel is diving fast into the realm of the multiverse, and we saw a cameo of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man in Sony’s latest hit ‘Spider-man: Across The Spider-Verse,’ which means the probability of seeing Maguire’s Spider-man on-screen again is quite likely.
(L to R) Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
Hollywood likes high-stakes stories, so making a movie about a US President immediately fits that bill. We’ve put together a list of eight great movie Presidents that have done everything from balancing budgets to stopping alien invasions. And just by way of comparison, we’ve thrown in one president that maybe wasn’t so great. All of these movies are currently streaming, so pick your favorite movie President and give yourself an Executive Order to watch their movie.
Dave Kovic: Dave (1993)
Kevin Kline in ‘Dave’
“Hail to the Chief, he’s the one we all say hail to.” It’s no wonder Dave (Kevin Kline) is singing, since being a dead ringer for the sitting President is a pretty good side gig–especially when the President’s staff approaches you to work for the White House directly. But when the President suffers a stroke, Dave takes over the Oval Office and all the responsibilities that come with it–including being the husband of a very angry wife (Sigourney Weaver). Dave is charming, warm, and totally un-Presidential, so it’s no surprise that everyone ends up loving him.
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Thomas Whitmore: Independence Day (1996)
Bill Pullman in ‘Independence Day’
Bill Pullman is the Prez in charge when the world gets invaded by pushy aliens who have a fondness for blowing up landmarks and people holding signs of welcome. He’s more of a rough-and-tumble guy, and even withstands a psychic attack from the aliens in Area 51. But once he knows their plan, he helps mobilize forces against them, and gives an unforgettable speech that is even more badass than how he hops into a fighter jet of his own right after wrapping it up.
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James Marshall: Air Force One (1997)
Harrison Ford in ‘Air Force One’
Harrison Ford, at a fancy dinner in Moscow, declares that the United States will not negotiate with terrorists, and that the capture of Russia’s dictator Ivan Radek (Gary Oldman) was just. That’s all it takes for Radek to enact his dastardly plan for his team to take over the President’s plane with himself, his staff, and his family still on it. As a Medal of Honor winner and veteran, Marshall is not one to back down from a fight. And even though the space on a plane is limited, somehow this movie manages to be a riveting cat and mouse game, with Marshall (and the writers of the screenplay) delivering one-liners that land with…well, the force of an explosion on Air Force One (too soon?).
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Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho: Idiocracy (2006)
Terry Crews in ‘Idiocracy’
Say what you will about President Camacho’s intellect, but man, can that guy wear a puffy red white and blue blouse. Terry Crews plays this President leading a troubled, dumb-as-rocks United States as they face a critical food shortage in 2505. Bleak times don’t stop Camacho from wowing the crowd with a State of the Union address, though, that we secretly hope is how they go down in 484 years. Or next year. Whatever.
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Mays Gilliam: Head of State (2003)
Chris Rock in ‘Head of State’
Plenty of people can get behind the idea of comedic genius Chris Rock being President–especially in the form of Mays Gilliam, a Washington D.C. alderman who turns hero and Democratic nominee for the highest office in the United States. Of course initially, the Dems thought they had already lost the race and chose Gilliam as a token candidate, but as soon as he starts spouting truths that the people want to hear, his campaign picks up steam, and audiences are left with rousing speeches yelling “That ain’t right!” on their couches.
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James Sawyer: White House Down (2013)
Jamie Foxx in ‘White House Down’
In the second Roland Emmerich-directed film on the list (the German fellow has a real thing for American patriotism), Jamie Foxx plays the President that terrorists are actively hunting within the White House walls. Only one man stands between them: the guy from Magic Mike (Channing Tatum). But Sawyer is no shrinking violet: he can scale elevator shafts, handle a rocket launcher, and keep any bad guy’s hands off his Jordans.
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Matt Douglas & Russell Kramer: My Fellow Americans (1996)
James Garner and Jack Lemmon in ‘My Fellow Americans’
Two, two, two Presidents in one! Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and Douglas (James Garner) have a long-standing history of duking it out for the Presidency. As they seem to be entering the twilight of their lives, spending time writing books and doing pointless speaking engagements, Kramer is asked to investigate a series of bribes under code name “Olympia” as a favor. Well, no good deed goes unpunished. The plot keeps thickening and thickening, drawing in Douglas, and threatening both of their lives. The banter is off the charts in this one, as is the convoluted plot that has a surprising ending.
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Richard Nixon: Dick (1999)
Dan Hedaya in ‘Dick’
This film explores how Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch) “really” got all their inside information during the Watergate Scandal from two teens named Betsy (Kirsten Dunst) and Arlene (Michelle Williams). Every noteworthy event during that period of time in the administration, including Vietnam peace protests and the Nixon-Breznhev accord, were accidentally masterminded by these two girls who just liked walking the President’s dog and accidentally baked marijuana into their cookies. Dan Hedaya plays a great Richard Nixon, but the movie is much more about the two teens that bring him down in the name of what’s right. Since he was known as “Tricky Dick,” we stand by our choice.
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If they’re worth their salt, every new superhero movie raises the bar on what audiences can expect from comic book adaptations, which makes it easy to forget that it was Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” that set that bar in the first place. Released on June 30, 2004, the film elevated Raimi’s work on the first “Spider-Man” to new levels, combining the brisk, visceral action of his origin story with an emotional and thematic complexity that quite frankly few people thought movies like this one could possess. As much as it may seem quaint in comparison to the rambling MCU films that followed in its footsteps, Raimi and his collaborators created something truly special that continues to hold up brilliantly today.
To commemorate the film’s 15th anniversary, we dug through its history for a list of some of the little details that were both discarded along the way, as well as some of the ones that made it the masterpiece that it became.
1. Not long after the first film’s release in 2002, Sony hired Michael Chabon (“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”) to rewrite the story conceived by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. He reimagined Otto Octavius as a peer of Peter Parker’s who develops an infatuation with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). Not only was it revealed in Chabon’s script that Octavius bred the genetically-enhanced spider that bit Peter in the first film, but his battle against Spider-Man is primarily driven by the desire to replace his own spine with the web slinger’s, who can handle the weight and the pain of being fused with his mechanical limbs.
2. Director Sam Raimi eventually dug through the various drafts of earlier scripts and enlisted Alvin Sargent (“Ordinary People”) to cobble them together into the version that appears on screen. Inspired by “Superman II,” Raimi wanted a story that explored the cost of Peter’s double life that would take him on a journey to learn how to appreciate his powers and be happy as a hero.
Sony Pictures
3. Nevertheless, much of the story is also derived from “The Amazing Spider-Man” No. 50, titled “Spider-Man No More,” which the filmmaker drew from directly for several shots including when Peter throws his suit in the trash. Meanwhile, Raimi jettisoned the idea that Octavius would be a peer or colleague and made him a mentor to be saved rather than competed with, which added complexity to the villain and eliminated a love triangle subplot that was already explored once in “Spider-Man.”
4. Prior to shooting the first “Spider-Man,” Tobey Maguire injured his back on the set of “Seabiscuit,” and Jake Gyllenhaal was recruited to step into the role in case he didn’t recover. Maguire however rebounded and took back over the role that would become one of his signatures. Gyllenhaal got his time in the Spider-verse 15 years later playing Spider-Man’s adversary Mysterio (opposite Tom Holland) in “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
5. During shooting, Maguire reportedly did several of his own stunts, including a flip over a car that Raimi deemed more naturalistic than the one performed by a stunt man. Rosemary Harris similarly did several of her own stunts, but Alfred Molina said that he was eager to leave that work to the professionals, although the stunt team supposedly “tricked” him into performing a few himself.
Sony Pictures
6. Raimi stacked the emergency room scene in which Octavius’ tentacles “come to life” with references to his own “The Evil Dead” films, including point-of-view shots of the tentacles like the evil force that chases Ash in the trilogy, and an attack on a surgeon with a mini chainsaw. The shot where a female physician leaves grooves with her fingernails while being dragged away was achieved by making the floor out of wax.
7. Molina worked with an extensive team of technicians to bring his costume to life, including one operator per tentacle. He nicknamed each tentacle — Larry, Harry, Moe and Flo, the latter operated by a female grip to perform tasks like removing his sunglasses and serving him beverages.
8. The technicians were skilled enough to give the tentacles individual personalities, but also to dovetail their behavior into Molina’s in the role. At the time of shooting, he was also performing in a stage version of “Fiddler on the Roof,” and in a scene when he is humming “If I Were A Rich Man,” the operators moved his tentacles in time to his singing.
9. The alley where Peter discards his Spider-Man suit is the same set where he and Mary Jane shared their upside-down kiss in the first film.
10. In the scene with the apartment fire, the actor who tells Spider-Man that there’s someone trapped on the second floor is the same one who throws trash at Green Goblin in “Spider-Man” to protect ol’ web-head during the bridge fight.
Sony Pictures
11. Raimi used 16 large-format cameras to capture the action in the train fight sequence, then one of the most ambitious ever undertaken. Throughout the film as a whole, he also made more extensive use of the “Spydercam,” used only in one of the final scenes in “Spider-Man,” which allowed the filmmakers to create a more visceral sense of the superhero’s movement as it could “swing” more than 50 stories shooting only six frames of film at a time to increase the sense of speed and fluidity.
12. “Spider-Man 2” was nominated for three Oscars and won one, for Best Visual Effects. A longer version, “Spider-Man 2.1” expands several scenes to make them clearer and the relationships more nuanced. However, there has still never been a satisfying explanation for the “chocolate cake scene” between Peter and his landlord’s daughter, in which — crucially — the cake isn’t even chocolate!
Showtime has picked up the dark comedy series “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” a show previously acquired by YouTube. It’s set to premiere in August, and in the meantime, the official teaser is here.
The one-hour series stars Kirsten Dunst as Krystal, a water park employee who is determined to climb the ranks of the cultish pyramid scheme that drove her to ruin. She lies, schemes, and cons people in the process. Yet as she tries to make a better life for herself, her business will impact those closest to her.
It’s a “stylish and subversive female empowerment story,” according to Gary Levine, Showtime’s co-president of entertainment. He also highlighted that the series has “clever writing, inventive filmmaking, a strong, diverse ensemble and some alligators.” Watch the teaser below — which, alas, lacks alligators.
The show is created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky, and Esta Spalding serves as showrunner. Dunst stars alongside Théodore Pellerin, Beth Ditto, Mel Rodriguez, and Ted Levine. Other cast members include Usman Ally, Julie Benz, Melissa De Sousa, John Earl Jelks, Sharon Lawrence, Josh Fadem, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Alexander Skarsgård, and Mary Steenburgen.
“On Becoming a God in Central Florida” premieres Aug. 25 on Showtime.
Whether you call it a romantic comedy, a science fiction movie, a dark character drama or something else entirely, there’s no denying that “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is one of the great American films of the 21st Century. Celebrate the 15th anniversary of this Michel Gondry classic with some interesting facts you might not have known.
1. The original screenplay depicts Clementine as becoming more emotionally withdrawn and robotic with each memory erasure. However, Kate Winslet opted to portray Clementine in a more straightforward fashion.
2. Writer Charlie Kaufman became disillusioned when Christopher Nolan‘s “Memento” hit theaters and offered a similar premise revolving around memory loss. Producer Steve Golin convinced him to finish the screenplay anyway.
Newmarket
3. Gondry purposely worked to keep star Jim Carrey off-guard during production, including forbidding him from improvising and rolling the camera without telling Carrey. This was intended to help Carrey get into character as the nervous, uneasy Joel Barish.
4. Gondry originally envisioned Nicolas Cage for the lead role, but found Cage to be in high demand in the wake of “Leaving Las Vegas.”
United Artists
5. For the scene in which Mark Ruffalo‘s Stan startles Kirsten Dunst‘s Mary, Gondry instructed Ruffalo to find a different hiding spot for each take in order to ensure Dunst remained genuinely scared each time.
6. The film was parodied by “The Simpsons” in an episode called “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind.” That episode won an Emmy award in 2008.
Fox
7. The opening credits don’t appear until a full 18 minutes into the film.
8. Winslet relied on a series of wigs rather actually dyeing her hair. Because of Clementine’s constantly changing hair color and the nonlinear order in which the film as shot, dyeing would have been impractical.
Focus Features
9. The street parade sequence was unplanned and conceived on the spot. Because of this spontaneity, TV reporters appeared and attempted to interview Carrey during the middle of filming.
10. The film features relatively little CGI for a sci-fi project. Even the scene of the house being washed away by the ocean actually required a partial set to be constructed on a beach.
Focus Features
11. Gondry cut an entire subplot from the film involving Joel having a one-night stand with his ex-girlfriend Naomi (played by Ellen Pompeo).
12. The film’s title comes from the Alexander Pope poem “Eloisa to Abelard,” which was also featured in Kaufman’s previous screenplay, “Being John Malkovich.”
13. While it’s no longer active, a fully functional website was created for fictional corporation Lacuna Inc.
Focus Features
14. In October 2016, Golin’s production company Anonymous Content and Universal Cable productions announced an “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” TV series, though the series has yet to materialize.
