Obviously, it started as a Philip K Dick short story.
The short story, which is worth reading, only accounts for 15 minutes of the movie.
The guy gets to work and sees his friend frozen, and then he runs from the Bureau.
So, all the characters in the movie essentially had to be invented.
I also wanted to turn the premise of the story on its head.
The storys about the line between reality and fantasy.
I wanted to confront the character with, Everything you think is real isnt actually real.
Which is more like the matrix, really.
Theres a reality behind the reality, and you see how the character reacts to that.
It has its own tone.
It struck me that its much lighter than most Philip K Dick adaptations, actually.
It reminded me a little of an old Michael Powell film calledA Matter Of Life Or Death.
I havent seen that.
Or evenIts A Wonderful Life.
Yeah, I set out to make a movie that couldnt be categorised as a genre.
First steps, riding a bike.
The idea is, like, theyre always around everybody, adjusting your life.
Lets find a way to put those things together.
You mentioned about keeping the film grounded in reality.
So, I put aside anything that might be obviously CGI.
I only went to CGI when it was absolutely impossible to do it practically.
What was the thinking behind Matt Damons character?
Hes an everyman, but hes a superman as well.
I think Dicks concerns were really more about taking his reader and saying, This is you.
He intentionally made a bland character, so you could look outward into the sci-fi world.
He needs the adulation of the crowd.
He cant be alone.
He cant really even love another person because he lost so much as a kid.
And then you watch that character become a whole person through the film.
In terms of chemistry, Emily Blunt was obviously very important.
Was she cast quite early on?
She was the last person asked.
Some of the scenes I had written were very hard.
George Nolfi, thank you very much.
The Adjustment Bureau arrives in cinemas on Friday.
