Denis Villeneuve on Sicario, Blade Runner and the pull of Hollywood
'I was afraid to do it because I was afraid to be crushed,' says Quebec director of stepping into Hollywood
Denis Villeneuve is in demand.
The Quebec director rattles off the back-to-back projects that have kept him criss-crossing the globe on movie shoots and promotional tours and guesses he might have time to sleep in 2018.
Right now he's focused on the theatrical roll-out of his cartel saga Sicario, a searing look at the Mexican drug war starring Emily Blunt as an idealistic FBI agent and Benicio Del Toro as an enigmatic assassin. It opens Friday in select theatres in Canada.
But he's also consumed with editing his upcoming alien flick Story Of Your Life with Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner — duties that carry right into pre-production for the much-anticipated Blade Runner reboot starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling.
Villeneuve doesn't expect to be ready to go to camera for that hot title before the end of 2016.
The Canadian Press caught up with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker by phone from Montreal to discuss sequels, his Hollywood dreams, and sidestepping Legally Blonde 7.
CP: Sicario hasn't fully opened yet but there's already talk of a sequel.
Villeneuve: The characters are very strong and Taylor Sheridan's screenplay… was very powerful. The thing is that Lionsgate is very proud of the film and before the release they were starting to think, "What if? What if?" I'm not closed to the idea, I think it all depends on if Taylor can write something that is as good as the first one… I believe in sequels if they are better. I will not do something that is surfing on the success of the first one.
CP: Of course. Otherwise why would you helm a Blade Runner reboot?
Villeneuve: It's true. In a way I feel that the (Blade Runner) screenplay I read that Hampton Fancher, Ridley Scott and Michael Green wrote is a very powerful screenplay and I feel that there's a real strong movie that can be born out of this screenplay. That's why I agreed to do it.
CP: And fitting that this comes on the heels of another sci-fi project with Amy Adams.
Villeneuve: I've been dreaming to do sci-fi since I was 10 years old. It's been a while that I've been looking for a project that would allow me to go into that genre. But Story Of Your Life is a very different project than Prisoners or Sicario — it deals with more light than shadows. After I made five movies back-to-back that were dealing with darkness I needed a break.
CP: Your pace has been relentless.
Villeneuve: It's a matter of circumstances. It's a matter of movies being greenlit in a very fast pace. Usually it's slower.... After Blade Runner if things are going according to the plan, I will take a break. I will need a break after that just to think and to dream a little bit more. And to sleep.
CP: It must be hard to say no when Hollywood comes calling.
Villeneuve: When I agreed to do Prisoners… I was afraid to do it because I was afraid to be crushed, that I would lose my identity as a filmmaker in that system. But the opposite happened. The producer in the studio behind the project protected me and they cared for my vision so it was a nice experience and I decided to go on.
What (excites) me is that I'm given the opportunity to work with artists that I really admire, that I'm learning a lot with. Also there's things I can do that I will not be able to do here. Like, for instance in Sicario, the battle on the bridge is more expensive than a feature film here, you know. It's things that are not possible to do at home and as a filmmaker. I have dreams that I can try there and so it's a challenge. It's very, very exciting. I cannot say no.
CP: The spotlight has never been stronger on Quebec filmmakers, from you to Jean-Marc Vallée to Philippe Falardeau to Xavier Dolan.
Villeneuve: You know what is different now? Is the idea that it is possible… We always felt in a way that the language barrier was something important. I never thought that I would direct movies in Hollywood, honestly. I felt that the door would be to direct Legally Blonde 7 and that I would be a director-for-hire. This is something that didn't interest me at all. At all.
I did it because I felt I had strong screenplays in my end that were… strong cinematic potential, not product. It's a big difference.
