Riz Ahmed stars in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
In theaters on April 10 is ‘Hamlet’, a fresh update of William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, which features Riz Ahmed (‘Sound of Metal’), who plays a version of the troubled Dane, here the heir to an elite South Asian empire in modern-day London.
(L to R) Morfydd Clark and Riz Ahmed in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
If you’re going to tackle a Shakespeare play on film –– particularly the complex web of family tragedy that is ‘Hamlet’ — be prepared for challenges. But with this present-day version, director Aneil Karia and writer Michael Lesslie bring a fierce energy to their effort.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Riz Ahmed and Timothy Spall in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
Shakespeare is not easy to adapt, and Lesslie here sticks to the traditional language for the most part (while still needing to cut plenty to avoid an overlong running time). But the changes and substitutions (London for Denmark and the use of Indian culture) truly work well.
Karia, meanwhile brings real panache and style, making the world feel relevant and also, in places, timely.
Cast and Performances
(Far Left) Riz Ahmed stars in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
It’s really Ahmed’s show, and he chews on one of the trickiest parts in drama. Sequences such as the “To be or not to be” soliloquy give him something to truly work with.
Which isn’t to dismiss an impressive supporting cast, especially Art Malik as scheming uncle Claudius and Morfydd Clark, who brings humanity to the relatively smaller role of Ophelia.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Art Malik and Joe Alwyn in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
Even if you’ve dismissed Shakespeare as impenetrable, the new ‘Hamlet’ shows what can happen in sure hands, the emotion on full display. Purists may balk at the changes, but this is a worthwhile adaptation.
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Riz Ahmed stars in ‘Hamlet’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Riz Ahmed about his work on ‘Hamlet’, taking on the iconic role, shooting the “To be or not to be” speech, and why Shakespeare’s work is so timeless and universal.
You can watch the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Riz Ahmed stars in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about the challenges of playing the iconic role of Hamlet, and is it a role that you’ve always wanted to play?
Riz Ahmed: I’ve wanted to play this since I was 17 and I was in English class feeling like this is some stuffy, boring museum artifact, and that Shakespeare is not for me. I had an amazing English teacher who put it in front of me and made me realize, “Wow, this is pretty close to how I’m feeling.” The central feeling, I would say for Hamlet is, “Is the world going crazy or have I lost my mind?” I think that’s how we’re all feeling. That’s how I was feeling then, and it’s how I’m feeling now, and dare I say, it’s how most of the world feels now. So, I wanted to play it because it was very relatable. I think that’s the challenge and the gift of taking on something like ‘Hamlet’, a role like this, is it’s been done so many times. I think the challenge is, what is specific and personal about your interpretation? That’s also a gift. It’s been done so many times, there’s no illusion that someone’s going to perform a definitive Hamlet. You’re liberated in a way to just do something as uniquely specific and personal to you and your experience as possible. So, it’s a strange combination of feeling like, “We’re going to step into these big old shoes that don’t belong to us.” While at the same time going, “Well, actually we get to run around in these shoes however we want.”
(L to R) Morfydd Clark and Riz Ahmed in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
MF: Shakespeare’s work is universal and can be adapted to any time-period or culture. What is it about his work that you think has made it stand the test of time?
RA: I think it’s a couple of things. Firstly, a lot of the stories are drawn from myths that are not British, that are ancient. The first words you hear in our Hamlet are words from the Bhagavad Gita, which is the foundational Hindu myth. That’s because that story is very similar to the story of ‘Hamlet’. It predates ‘Hamlet’ by thousands of years. This idea of choosing family loyalty or doing the right thing, that’s a timeless theme. So, I think that’s one reason why it can cross barriers of culture. It belongs to myth that belongs to all of us. The second reason is because it’s like music. The logical understanding of every word was not something that even audiences were doing in Shakespeare’s time when it comes to these plays. Shakespeare made up like 4,000 new words. They didn’t understand half of what he was saying, but it’s music. It’s rhythm, its flow, its percussion, its energy, and it’s intention. If you hear it like music, it moves you like music and music crosses all boundaries.
(Far Left) Riz Ahmed stars in ‘Hamlet’. Photo: Focus Features.
MF: Finally, I’ve never seen the ‘To be or not to be” speech depicted the way you did it, with the character in a car speeding towards oncoming traffic. Can you talk about shooting that scene and how that added urgency to the speech?
RA: Absolutely. Our interpretation of “To be or not to be” is that it’s not about, “Should I kill myself or not?” Which is how it’s usually performed, right? It’s a much more urgent, confronting question. The question is, “Should we fight back against injustice, even if it means we might die?” That’s a contemporary, radical question. Then if you look at the language itself rather than looking at the traditional way it’s performed, that’s what it’s saying. So, we had to stage it in a way and have that confrontation and that urgency. If the speech is a game of chicken, we’re going to stage it like a game of chicken. So, he is literally doing that. He’s driving down a freeway, heading towards a lorry a hundred miles an hour, asking himself, does he have the guts to take on something bigger than himself? So, we staged it that way in a way. We’re just trying to honor the DNA of this speech rather than honoring the traditional way it’s done. We really tried to make something that’s for people who feel like Shakespeare isn’t normally for them and hopefully it gives them a visceral experience.
‘Hamlet’ opens in theaters on April 10th.
What is the plot of ‘Hamlet’?
Haunted by his father’s ghost (Avijit Dutt), Prince Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) descends from elite London society into the city’s underground, moving between Hindu temples and homeless camps. In seeking to avenge his father’s murder, he begins to question his own role in his family’s corruption.
Available on digital beginning August 5th, before arriving on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on September 9th is the box office hit ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, which is the seventh movie in the series and begins a whole new chapter for the beloved franchise.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Gareth Edwards from Thailand about the ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’s digital and home entertainment release. Edwards discussed his love for the original movie, taking the franchise in a new direction, the alternate opening, the deleted scenes and why they were cut, and designing the look of the dinosaurs and other creatures for the film.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Edwards, and actors Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda.
Director Gareth Edwards on the set of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Moviefone: To begin with, were you a fan of the ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jurassic World’ movies before making this film, and what does it mean to you personally to be leading this new chapter of the franchise?
Gareth Edwards: I think on the fan front, so basically New Year’s Eve 2024, which is when I was offered the gig, my girlfriend was like, “What do you want to do?” I said, “I don’t really want to go out. Let’s just go down the road. We live near Universal Studios.” I was like, “Let’s just go on the ‘Jurassic World’ ride, and that’s how we’ll celebrate New Year’s Eve.” So, I took a picture of myself and I’m friends with Colin Trevorrow who did the ‘Jurassic World’ movies, and I sent it to them as sort of an embarrassing, like this is how rock and roll I am, that we’re going on a ‘Jurassic World’ theme park ride for our New Year’s Eve. But I didn’t expect in my wildest dreams that two months later, I was going to be in a room with Steven Spielberg pitching him my take on that screenplay. So, it’s been a surreal, crazy journey, to be honest with you.
Director Gareth Edwards on the set of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.
MF: I understand there will be an alternate opening as well as deleted scenes available with the digital release. Can you talk about what the alternate opening is, as well as the deleted scenes and why they didn’t make the final theatrical cut?
GE: So, there’s an alternative opening. ‘Jurassic Park’ basically has a lot of strong themes within it, and one of them is man versus nature, obviously. So, I started the movie with basically the rainforest getting destroyed a little bit, by these giant machines were building this lab where the movie opens. It just took a little too long visually to get there in time. So, as we were just trying to tighten the movie, it was just one of the things that came out. But I always missed it not being in the film. So, it doesn’t have all finished VFX, but you really see all the temporary previs of that. Then there’s two deleted scenes, one that people might recognize who saw the trailer, which is a velociraptor scene that got removed. The reason for that was because if you imagined it in the actual film, it was like a double beat moment where you have this reveal of raptors in the beginning of the third act in the film at night, and then suddenly the Mutadons appear, and it just felt like a hat on a hat a little bit. So, we’re going to be putting that on the digital extras. Then also my favorite scene that got cut out that I was just sad about and wanted it to be in the movie, but it basically just stopped the momentum at one point. But it’s a scene, without getting into too much information, it’s basically when Scarlett sees a payphone and tries to make a call and it all goes a bit wrong from there.
(L to R) Luna Blaise and the T-Rex in ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.
MF: Finally, can you talk about designing the look of the dinosaurs and the new mutated creatures?
GE: Well, when I started the film, I walked into this empty office and they go, “Okay, your first meeting is in a few days with Mattel, the toy company.” I was like, “Okay, why?” They said, “Well, they want to see all the designs for the dinosaurs. They need a year to build the factories to make the toys.” I’m like, “We don’t have any designs.” So basically, I put out this bat signal to all my favorite concept artists that I’d worked with that could do creature designs. We did this massive Zoom session where I just said everything I could possibly think of. Dozens and dozens of the top people in the world just went away that night and within about two or three days we had about 300 designs and it was fast to nail the look of the dinosaurs. The only problem ones were the mutant dinosaurs because obviously the canvas is so large. There was one called the D-Rex, which was really, I felt like I could see it in my peripheral vision if there was a crime and you were trying to explain it to the police. I felt like I got a good look at that one. The one I didn’t quite see was the Mutadon, which is the smaller, more raptor-like mutant dinosaur. There are no toys of those for a reason because we took nine months to figure that one out. So sorry, kids, maybe at Christmas, if you pester your mom and Mattel, you might get one.
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What’s the story of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’?
Five years after the events of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.
Scarlett Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.
‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ will be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray™ and DVD September 9, 2025.
EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES AVAILABLE WHEN YOU BUY AT PARTICIPATING DIGITAL RETAILERS:
ALTERNATE OPENING
DELETED SCENES:
MUTADON ATTACK – Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda.
RAPTORS – Featuring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda.
JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH: HATCHING A NEW ERA DOCUMENTARY
THE WORLD EVOLVES – Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with
Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast
and filmmakers.
OFF THE DEEP END – Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND – Follow the cast and crewʼs footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
REX IN THE RAPIDS – Brace for a TRex encounter thatʼs different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichtonʼs original Jurassic Park novel.
DONʼT LOOK DOWN – Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
MINI-MART MAYHEM – Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movieʼs mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage. Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Audrina Miranda, David Iacono, Luna Blaise, Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
GAG REEL
MEET DOLORES – Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
MUNCHED: BECOMING DINO FOOD – Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
A DAY AT SKYWALKER SOUND – Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
HUNTING FOR EASTER EGGS – Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director Gareth Edwards, Production Designer James Clyne, and First Assistant Director Jack Ravenscroft.
FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director Gareth Edwards, Editor Jabez Olssen, and Visual Effects Supervisior David Vickery.
‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ will be available exclusively on digital platforms to own or rent starting August 5th.
But, as with the Death Star plans, leaks do occur. Which brings us to ‘Andor’, the Disney+ prequel series that leads into the events of ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, where Death Star plans played a slightly important role.
Season 1 of the show launched in 2022 to great acclaim, and executive producer Tony Gilroy and his team have been hard at work on Season 2.
And now, according to an unusual source, we’ve learned that the new season will reportedly see the return of Ben Mendelsohn’s Imperial Director Orson Krennic.
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What was the story of ‘Andor’ Season 1?
Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor in Lucasfilm’s ‘Andor,’ exclusively on Disney+.
‘Andor’ focuses on the character of Cassian Andor (played in ‘Rogue One’ and the series by Diego Luna). It’s the story how a young man went from an orphan whose people were attacked by Imperial Forces to a resistance fighter recruited by the Rebel Alliance to focus his anger.
Along the way, he learns that the fight against the oppressive regime is far from the black-and-white-conflict usually portrayed in the movies, and even ended up spending time in a high-tech Imperial prison.
How does Imperial Director Krennic fit into the story?
Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’. Photo: Lucasfilm.
We first met Krennic at the start of ‘Rogue One’, striding across a windswept plain in a magnificent cape to bring Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), chief designer of the Death Star back from where he has been hiding out to track down an issue with it –– an issue Erso himself created.
The Playlist talked to Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios for his new movie, and he revealed that not only had he been given the chance to direct the last three episodes of ‘Andor’s 12-episode second season, and that he had worked with great actors such as Stellan Skarsgård, Forest Whitaker and Mendelsohn.
It makes sense that since the end of ‘Andor’ Season 2 is designed to directly dovetail into the start of ‘Rogue One’, Krennic would eventually show up. And what of Mikkelsen? We’ll have to wait and see on that front.
Disney and Lucasfilm have of course not confirmed the casting, so keep that grain of salt ready for now, though Luna himself said at the recent ACE Superhero Comic Con that we can expect to see some familiar ‘Rogue One’ faces in the second season.
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When will ‘Andor’ Season 2 arrive on screens?
Disney has yet to officially confirm when the new season will land on its streaming service, but early 2025 would appear to be a possibility given how far along it is in the process.
‘Andor’ season 1 will premiere on Disney+ September 21st.
Felicity Jones in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.
With his latest science fiction movie, ‘The Creator’ out in cinemas, Gareth Edwards probably wishes people would stop bringing up his previous work, ‘Star Wars’ effort ‘Rogue One’.
Not because of the movie itself (which, let’s not forget, earned more than a billion dollars at the box office), but because of all the talk of re-writes and re-shoots around getting it finished.
Infamously, the biggest change happened after much of the movie had been shot and creative dissonance began to happen. Tony Gilroy was brought in to work on the script and ended up reportedly directing re-shoots to help get the movie to its final form.
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Edwards on ‘Rogue One’s tricky finish
(L to R) Diego Luna and Felicity Jones in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.
“The stuff that’s out there on the internet about what happened on that film — there is so much inaccuracy about the whole thing. Tony came in, and he did a lot of great work, for sure. No doubt about it. But we all worked together until the entire last minute of that movie.”
And while there was talk that Gilroy completely oversaw the five-week re-shoot for the movie, Edwards disputes that, citing one of its most iconic moments:
“The very last thing that we filmed in the pickup shoot was the Darth Vader corridor scene. I did all of that stuff.”
Darth Vader in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’ Photo: Lucasfilm.
Despite the ongoing chatter, the filmmaker doesn’t regret the experience, emphasizing to Variety how lucky he was to have worked on a movie set in the galaxy far, far away that once inspired him:
“I got to make a ‘Star Wars’ film. I won the lottery, in that sense. The idea of someone as privileged as me in any way implying that it was anything other than the amazing experience that it was to some extent — like, I don’t have any empathy for that person, and I don’t want to be that person either.”
Two things, however, are telling about Edwards’ time on ‘Star Wars’, both of them after the fact.
‘Andor’ will premiere on Disney+ September 21st.
Gilroy was brought back in to work on last year’s ‘Andor’, a story set in the years before Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor met the ‘Rogue’ squadron. Gilroy was involved from the start and is currently (at least, he’ll be able to once the actors’ strike is over since nothing can be shot right now) overseeing it to competition. Praise for ‘Andor’ has been near universal.
And as for Edwards, he took seven years between movies (though he denies any wounds to lick and instead says he just wanted to make sure he nailed the next film) and with ‘The Creator’ sought a process where he had complete control.
The result launched in cinemas this past weekend and so far isn’t exactly setting the box office on fire the way ‘Rogue One’ did. An original science fiction film was always going to struggle, though so far ‘The Creator’ has earned a little over $14 million domestically (and $32 million worldwide). Still, with a thrifty $80 million production budget, it also doesn’t have to earn on the level of a ‘Star Wars’ to find profit.
Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and possibly mankind itself.
Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… Only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.
Gareth Edwards is more known these days for being the director behind such giant franchise movies as ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (more controversially on the latter, since there was plenty of talk about how the studio had Tony Gilroy come in and re-write/re-shoot chunks of the movie, and it’s telling that Gilroy would go on to create prequel Disney+ series ‘Andor, not Edwards).
But before both of those behemoths, he was the talent responsible for the excellent, grounded (despite the presence of giant alien creatures) ‘Monsters’ in 2010, which mixed a very human story of mismatched love with superbly realized effects. ‘The Creator’ leans much more into that style of film, with its shaky-cam guerilla shooting utilizing some beautiful natural backgrounds across Asia and story of a human being making a connection.
Yet while ‘Monsters’ was inspired by disaster films (and Richard Linklater for its central duo), ‘The Creator’ is feeding more from the output of filmmakers such as James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola. This is a work of excellent world building, Edwards carefully assembling a reality where the West is engaged in a conflict against the artificial lifeforms it built to perform tasks which has since rebelled to secure its own freedom.
A nuclear strike on Los Angeles a decade ago left America going on the offensive, but in a nice twist of the usual man-vs-machine narrative, Asia has embraced the AI, offering sanctuary for the various synthetics. It gives the story echoes of Vietnam, the U.S. involved in a war it may not win.
To try and prevent that, the US government has built NOMAD, a giant orbital weapons platform that can target individuals and structures, launching devastating missile strikes. The technological terror makes for superb visuals, spectral lasers scouring the countryside and raining fire down upon mech-heads.
‘The Creator’ also looks great, the mostly natural settings (though a grubby industrial city glimpsed midway through the movie is just as remarkable) giving this a standout style.
Edwards also has a good eye for casting, with Washington giving another solid performance and bonding well with newcomer Voyles, who believably mixes childlike innocence with the flawless effects work of the character. Supporting them are the likes of Janney (as a gritty Colonel who will stop at nothing to track them down) and Watanabe, reuniting with his ‘Godzilla’ director and doing typically excellent work as an AI with a link to Joshua’s past.
This might be the most beautiful and technologically effective sci-fi thriller you’ll see this year.
There are some downsides to the movie, primarily that its world-building invention and affecting performances can’t quite overcome the storyline, which feels like the director (who wrote the script with Chris Weitz, his collaborator on early drafts of ‘Rogue One’) borrowing parts of other movies.
It’s possible to see elements of primarily James Cameron’s movies, especially ‘The Terminator’ (a U.S. Army vehicle deployed late in the movie reminded me of the tank-like Hunter Killers) and ‘Aliens’ (in the dynamic of the grunts Janney leads into combat), blended with something more along the lines of Alfonso Cuaron’s work.
Which is not completely a bad thing –– if you’re going to borrow, why not pick the best? Yet when you’re ticking off elements you’ve seen in movies such as ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Blade Runner’ and not completely concentrating on the tale that Edwards is looking to tell here, you know you’re in some trouble.
Likewise, the story itself, of Joshua’s connection to the young AI, is something we’ve seen several times before even with the various metaphysical and ethical trappings aiming to freshen things.
Add to that the fact that despite an early scene of them swapping banter, the bond between Washington and Chan’s characters is nowhere near as effective, with the various flashbacks to stages of their relationship coming across as the filmmaker trying to convince you to feel something and falling short.
The problems, though, don’t sink this one. It’s good to see Edwards back to his own sphere after a few years of running around in other people’s genre playgrounds. ‘The Creator’ is proof that he hasn’t lost his touch for sweeping sci-fi with relatable emotions at its core, and it’s certainly one I would recommend seeking out in IMAX formats to make the most of the love poured into the look of the movie.
This may not be the most original movie you’ll see this year, but it’s certainly one of the more impressive. Welcome back, Gareth Edwards: we’ve missed your viewpoints and your heartfelt humanity.
‘The Creator’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.
‘The Creator’ opens in theaters on September 29th.
‘The Creator’ is produced by New Regency Pictures, 20th Century Studios, McFarland Entertainment, and Entertainment One, and will be in theaters on September 29th.
Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Gareth Edwards about his work on ‘The Creator,’ what fans can expect from the new movie, the themes of AI that he wanted to explore, the friendship Joshua and Alfie form, and working with actors John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles.
‘The Creator’ director Gareth Edwards.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, what would you say to audiences sitting down to watch this film to prepare them for the theatrical experience they are about to have?
Gareth Edwards: If They’ve already decided to go and they bought their ticket, I would say nothing at all. If they haven’t, I would say, it’s very hard to talk about a film without doing any spoilers whatsoever. I’d just say, “It’s not what you think It’s going to be.” The title of this movie, when we were making it, was called ‘True Love.’ It’s a very emotional journey, I hope. That is the thing. The thing I’m most hearing about now as we’re starting to show the film to people, is how they are surprised about how they were affected, emotionally, watching the film. I mean, I love robots and explosions and spaceships, and that’s why I started making the film, but it’s all for nothing if it doesn’t give you the feels.
MF: Can you talk about developing the story and the themes of Artificial intelligence that you wanted to explore with this movie?
GE: I think when you sit down and go, “I want to make a movie about prejudice,” or whatever the theme is, if you do that, you’re going to make a terrible film. You lock onto something that super interests you. For me, it was the idea of, essentially, if you’ve seen the materials, there’s a little AI child at the heart of this movie. John David Washington’s character is essentially sent to kill it. He can win the war and save humanity if he just kills this kid. In the process of taking the kid to be assassinated, he starts to question everything he believes and gets very torn, and everyone is pursuing them and all those things. When you land on something that interests you like that, as you’re writing it, it starts to tell you what the theme is. You get themes about prejudice and about xenophobia or whatever, and then you try to help that, like a child who grows up and tells you what it wants to be when it’s older. It’s like a story does that too. You try to encourage it. But I hate films that preach to you and I love films with gray morally. I am going to be fascinated what people think when they come out and how it makes them feel about AI and everything, because I try to take people on quite a journey and I’m not sure everyone fully appreciates. I think they think they know what the movie’s going to do and I hope it doesn’t do that.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the very “human relationship” that Joshua and Alfie form together and creating that chemistry with John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles?
GE: Yeah, it was super important that the two of them had that chemistry. It was fundamental to the entire movie. Madeleine, she is beyond her years. She’s like a reincarnated brilliant actress from some other era, I think, because a six-year-old girl should not be able to do that kind of performance she did. Basically, she’s very introverted. You know what I mean? She’s very shy, and so it was hard to get into her bubble and become a friend of hers. She keeps everyone at a distance in a good way. Also, we were in the middle of nowhere in the jungles of Thailand shooting this movie. I couldn’t blame her. But then John David worked really hard to become her best friend and he cracked it. It was really hilarious to watch, because when you do a take and an actor needs to stay in the zone, they’re doing something emotional or something, and what happens, you say, “Cut,” and they go off into the corner and they won’t talk to anyone. They need their little space. He would go off into the corner. Madeleine would just get up, follow him, hold his hand, and start talking about some toy she really liked at home and that she played with, or tell him some random story, the way kids do, that’s completely just something only a kid can say. You’d be hearing this cracking up. John David was such a nice guy. He’d lean down and talk to her, and play, and get all enthusiastic with her. He became her big brother and best friend. They had had a long period of not seeing each other. It was her birthday the other week. We went to Disneyland with her and with John David. Her eyes, just the whole day, it was like she’d been reunited with her best mate. It was beautiful.
‘The Creator’ is produced by New Regency Pictures, 20th Century Studios, McFarland Entertainment, and Entertainment One, and will be in theaters on September 29th.
The new series is set five years before the events of ‘Rogue One,’ and features Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor. The series will explore Andor’s backstory and his role in the birth of the Rebellion.
The result is a dark and bleak ‘Star Wars’ series that has some wonderful character driven moments but may unfold too slow for audience members not familiar with ‘Rogue One.’
The ‘Star Wars’ franchise has always been polarizing. I remember as a kid in the 80s thinking that ‘Return of the Jedi’ was the “bad one.” Then of course came the prequels of the late 90s and early 2000’s when ‘Phantom Menace’ became everyone’s favorite ‘Star Wars’ movie to hate.
Since Disney took over Lucasfilm, movies like ‘The Last Jedi’ and ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ have practically torn the fanbase apart. But most ‘Star Wars’ fans can agree on one thing, they all love ‘Rogue One,’ which is probably why they decided to make it into a Disney+ series.
To be honest, I’m an unusual ‘Star Wars’ fan because I loved ‘Last Jedi,’ and I even didn’t mind ‘Solo,’ but I just don’t love ‘Rogue One.’ Maybe it’s because I always knew that film would be a one-off based on its placement within the ‘Star Wars’ timeline, and I never allowed myself to really get invested in those characters.
Unfortunately, ‘Andor’ is much the same for me, the backstory of a character I’m not that interested in. The first two episodes unfold rather slowly and present a lot of backstory for Diego Luna’s character.
In fact, there are actually two different timelines in this series. The present day, which is five years before ‘Rogue One,’ and an ongoing flashback to Cassian’s childhood. I found the two different timelines to be confusing at times, and again, learning the intricate backstory of a character I’m not that interested in to begin with became tedious at times.
However, something happens between episode 2 and episode 3 that begins to shift the series from a Cassian Andor show to a series about the early days of the Rebellion. The show works best when it is exploring the bureaucracy of the Empire, the politics of the galaxy, and Andor’s relationship to new (to us) characters like Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen, Fiona Shaw’s Maarva, and eventually, Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael.
The series was created and written by ‘Rogue One’ screenwriter Tony Gilroy, and it has a very similar tone as the movie, which sets it apart from the Jon Favreau/Dave Filoni led Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ series. In fact, the series was shot entirely on location, rather than the digital volume room used for ‘The Mandalorian’ or the ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ series, immediately giving it a different tone and scope.
Diego Luna is an excellent actor, and clearly has affection for this role. What is nice about the 12-episode series is it does give us time to really get to know Cassian Andor as a character, something ‘Rogue One’ couldn’t do because of his limited screen time. While I’m not sure I need to know as much about his childhood, one can only guess this will pay off fully by the series’ end.
Luna certainly has command of the role, showing us a completely different character than we saw in ‘Rogue One.’ This Cassian Andor is a rogue and a bit of a scoundrel, which we discover through his interactions with other characters. This is not the heroic Andor who sacrificed himself to save the galaxy at the end of ‘Rogue One.’ What is intriguing about the series will be watching Luna’s performance as Andor eventually becomes an important part of the Rebellion.
But for me, at least in the opening episodes, Cassian’s story is not as interesting as some of the other characters that inhabit his world. Adria Arjona is a breath of fresh air as Bix Caleen, a strong woman who clearly has a romantic past with Andor and is doing her best to help him and also keep him out of her life.
Kyle Soller is delightful and at times hilarious as Syril, an Imperial officer obsessed with rising in the Imperial ranks. Soller’s performance is fun, and you really feel the character’s insecurities and how he over compensates for them. Syril’s incompetence is very believable, but also adds to the ‘Star Wars’ mythos that the Empire is really run by a bunch of idiots.
A lot of ‘Star Wars’ fans were excited by the announcement that Genevieve O’Reilly would be reprising her role as Mon Montha, now only a senator trying to navigate the politics of the Empire. While she is not in a lot of the first few episodes, I think her character’s arc might be one of the most interesting by the series’ end. Watching this character who we’ve only seen in the past as a leader of the Rebellion, now as a member of the Empire trying to break away and do the right thing, is very intriguing.
Speaking of intriguing, that is a good way to describe Luthen Rael, the character played Stellan Skarsgard. While he only appears in the tail-end of the first four episodes, it’s very clear that his character will have a large role in bringing Cassian into the Rebellion. As Rael, Skarsgard is both mysterious and commanding, and also has some surprisingly fun scenes with O’Reilly.
In the end, ‘Andor’ shows some promise towards the end of its opening four episodes and may turn out to be a great series. But it has a slow start, and those not invested in the characters from ‘Rogue One’ or the idea of the birth of the Rebellion in general, may lose interest after watching the slow and dark premiere episode.
The first four episodes of ‘Andor’ receives 3 out of 5 stars.
‘Andor’ cast at Star Wars Celebration 2022.
To watch Made in Hollywood‘s interviews with the cast of ‘Andor,’ please click on the video player below.
Set five years before the events of ‘Rogue One,’ the series stars Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor and will follow his journey and role in the birth of the Rebellion.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Diego Luna about his work on ‘Andor,’ reprising his role, discovering his character’s backstory, and his history with Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen.
Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor in Lucasfilm’s ‘Andor,’ exclusively on Disney+.
You can read the interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Luna, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, and Genevieve O’Reilly.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about having the opportunity to reprise your role from ‘Rogue One?’ What were some of the aspects of the character you were excited to explore this time around?
Diego Luna: My reaction was just full excitement. I was really happy to be able to go back into the shoes of Cassian and go back to this family, to this team, and to this energy. I really enjoyed working on ‘Rogue One.’ I really had a great time, and I was really pleased with the film. I just wanted to have a chance to keep playing.
I thought of this as a great opportunity to go very deep into who Cassian was. What needs to happen for a man to be willing to sacrifice everything? It’s an answer I needed. I don’t think ‘Rogue One’ gives you those answers. It’s a fantastic film about an event. But you don’t get to know where they come from and why they are ready to do that. What has to happen in the life of someone to have that commitment and that clarity? This is what the story will be about.
MF: Where will audiences find Cassian Andor in his life when the series begins?
DL: Audiences will find Cassian in a moment where he is really far away from the guy you met in ‘Rogue One.’ He is in a very destructive environment. He’s very lonely. He’s very cynical about life. He doesn’t have great expectations of himself. He’s in a very selfish mode, just surviving and carrying a lot of pain. A lot! It’ll be tough to imagine that that guy is capable of doing what we saw him doing in ‘Rogue One.’
MF: Will we learn how that becomes possible through the course of the series?
DL: Definitely. First, I wanted to go as far as possible from the guy you met. But obviously, there has to be a way to connect with him that makes sense. That’s what the storyline will be. It’s like, “What has to happen in the life of this man that seems to be so lost in order to articulate something like what they do in ‘Rogue One?’” It’s about the people he meets, the events that happen, and the truth he finds.
MF: Finally, can you talk about Cassian’s history with Bix and working with actress Adria Arjona on that relationship?
DL: Bix is someone that has been part of Cassian’s life for a long time. They met each other years ago before we find him. It’s a very important relationship. They’re friends that know each other better than anyone else. It’s that kind of relation.
They know each other for good and bad. She’ll be important through the process of Cassian’s journey. Adria, she’s amazing. We met, and she’s lived in Mexico for a few years. It’s nice to have someone that feels so close to home. She’s just very sweet and works hard. I’m pleased to be working with her.
Does knowing the fate of a character diminish our enjoyment of learning about their earlier days?
It’s the challenge that many prequels face, but the team behind new ‘Star Wars’ Disney+ series ‘Andor’ will be hoping that filling in the details of Diego Luna’s rebel spy and fighter Cassian Andor’s life before ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ adds layers to his character.
Even if we do know that – spoiler alert for anyone who might not have seen ‘Rogue One’ – he’s fated to die in the mission to steal the Death Star plans.
‘Andor’ will premiere on Disney+ September 21st.
‘Andor’ turns back the clock to his younger days, living on a planet where the bite of the Empire is really being felt. It’ll show how he is recruited to fight alongside the growing rebellion.
“It’s quite unique, because we know what Cassian is capable of, but we’re going to meet him when he doesn’t know he’s capable of that,” Luna said during a ‘Good Morning America’ appearance to present the new promo. “We’re going to meet him when life is tough, it’s a very dark and interesting life because it’s just a regular guy that suddenly has to become part of something bigger, has to become part of a community that rises. It’s the beginning of the origins of a revolution, and it’s a beautiful story because it reminds us what we are capable of, what we are all capable of. There’s no Jedis around — it’s people having to take control.”
And, somewhat remarkably for the current run of ‘Star Wars’ shows, the series eschewed use of the Stagecraft volume (a huge bank of LED screens on which backgrounds and sets can be projected) for locations and more traditional effects techniques. “I love the whole world,” Luna admitted. “Suddenly I’m a kid on the set, because everything’s real, everything’s there. We don’t work with green screens — the stuff is built. The props work. They make noises.”
Cassian Andor’s fate might be decided, but ‘Andor’ will face its biggest challenge when it arrives on Disney+. In slightly disappointing news, the show has been delayed slightly from its original late August launch to September 21st. But it will launch with the first three episodes on that day, and unlike other recent shows, it will have 12 episodes in its first season.
