CUSACK: I haven't really been doing much theatre in Chicago for a while. I took the theater company, or the spirit of it, and turned it into my film company, which is basically me and a couple of people trying to get movies made. I sometimes think that one big film is worth two “'Max's,” some little, smaller film that I want to do, but the only way to do it is to make the studio box office on a big film. Then you say, “We want to do this film about Hitler and modern art and all of these different things,” and they say, “Well, you can't do that. No one will see that movie, but let’s go check it out.” They say, “Well, you're worth this in this territory, this in this territory.” They do pre-sales and then give you some money to do it.
There's a direct correlation between your box office profile and being able to make films that wouldn't get made if you didn't have a passion for them. So that's my plan, and this movie kind of falls in between because this is really smart [and] literate. It's also kind of very commercial. It's John Grisham and it has a big studio behind it, and it's a rare kind of no-brainer where you have a combination of a pretty cool film and [something] really commercial.
The film changes the books subject matter from tobacco to gun control? Was it because the tobacco issue had already been the subject of a movie?
CUSACK: Yes, it seems like “The Insider” done by Michael Mann was about a tobacco suit, but also think that it's just smart because it allows the movie to be its own thing. I mean, secondhand smoke kills, but I don't know if kills more than assault weapons. I think that it was very smart and very brave to do that. I loved it that it became about
guns. I love the idea that these two characters find out the effect of gun violence [and] the extremes that they'll go to fight corruption. I thought that was very dramatic.
Do you think that this movie shows that the justice system is for sale in America?
CUSACK: Justice is not for sale.
WEISZ: I don't know; I'm an actor. I think that it definitely could be possible. It's a pretty extreme circumstance. I imagine that much worse things are going on than this movie shows. So, that's just me.
CUSACK: I think that when there is that much money stake, there might some influence. I don't think that justice is for sale. I think that it's a battlefield. People are trying to fight the corruption.
This movie was filmed in and around New Orleans. What’s it mean to be able to shoot on location?
WEISZ: It completely depends on where you are and what movie you're in. Sometimes you think, “I really feel like going there right now,” and sometimes you don't. I think that it was more than a beautiful backdrop. It had a wonderful mystery and ambiguity to it and
I think that it has a pretty dark side. I was [in New Orleans] for five months and I wouldn't even begin to think that I know all about it. It's very multi-layered and I think that it's a good location for the story.
CUSACK: I don't know if the movie would be as interesting if we were shooting on a lot in California and you had to drive on a freeway to get there and it was a smoggy sun, and we went in there and tried to affect Louisiana accents. I don't think that I'd feel the same.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interview with Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman
"Runaway Jury" Photos, Trailer, Credits, and News
