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Are there any other Stephen King stories you're interested in?
“Yeah, I have the rights to something that he wrote under the Bachman pen name which is The Long Walk.”
I love that one.
“I know, so do I. I'm really looking forward to that one. That would also be I think probably the more ragged and loose and documentary kind of feel. It would probably be an even lower budget than this one was.”
That would be an interesting shoot, people moving the whole time.
“I know, which definitely provides its own set of challenges. Certainly you can't get too handheld with it because then you'd have an image bouncing for the length of a feature film. I think there's got to be some stabilizing gizmos that I can use to get some of that coverage, but I'm already thinking about that.”
How far along is that?
“That right now is still in the future. That's on one of the back burners for now. It probably won't be too long but before I do that, I'm hoping to get Fahrenheit 451 rolling next year. That I'm hoping is going to be the next thing.”
Have you finished the script?
“I've finished the script. We're right now trying to set the project up and get a green light from somebody.”
How did you crack that one?
“Oh, just sat down and adapted Bradbury's book. I've always found that to be particularly rich material so that, to me, wasn't that difficult of a script to write. It was really a pleasure because I felt really plugged in to what Bradbury wrote and what his intentions were. I felt like I was on really solid ground with that material. It's a book I've loved since I was about nine so it felt like really satisfying and familiar ground to me, that adaptation.”
So it's literal to the book?
“Yes, as literal as a movie can be, absolutely.”
Compared to the artsy version?
“Yeah, the boring, cold-blooded one, yeah. Not to slam Truffaut, but that wasn't one of his better films.”
Are you picketing as part of the Writers Guild strike?
“I haven't been called yet. I'm certainly willing to do it, but right now I'm on this press tour as the director of The Mist so I'm being kept kind of busy at the moment. Like I say, I would be happy to do it because I certainly support the guilds, plural, because actors and directors will face the same issues before too long. The issues that are on the table are important ones, but I just hope both sides resolve this thing soon because although I think it's a worthy thing, it's also a very unsettling thing to not be able to do what we do.”
What are your expectations?
“I have no clue. Not a clue. Hopefully not long but I've got no insight, no inside information. It's just however long it takes to work out.”
You were around for 1988 though, right?
“Yeah, that was not long after I'd become a member of the guild. I became a member in '86 and suddenly there was that strike in '88. It was one of my earliest experiences as a guild member.”
That might be some indication.
“Yeah, what was that? Maybe six months or so? I really have no idea though. It could take six days, it could take six months. Who knows?”
Can you enjoy Indiana Jones 4 after your experience on that?
“Absolutely because I love Steven [Spielberg] and I don't think he's going to let us down. I think it's going to be a terrific movie.”
