Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt star in the hugely ambitious Passengers.
We went behind the scenes…
How do you sum up a film production likePassengers?
Before I get to why, a brief history of the film.
Passengershas had a somewhat torturous route to the screen.
Assistants, and development execs and creative execs passed it to their friends.
Universal were the studio backers.
One of those was producer Neal Moritz, ofFast & Furiousfame.
So this brings me to a chilly day last November in Atlanta, the new boom town for filmmaking.
Im sat in a Japanese sushi restaurant being told this is where the holographic fish will be swimming.
Thats a compliment by the way.
There was almost no green-screen on display, bar the upper decks.
Every sign, panel, and rivet was there to reach out and touch.
This isnt grim dark at all.
This is a future youd actually be happy with your kids living in.
Apart from the whole fact that something might be terribly wrong with the spaceship.
But its not like hes some guy being alone in a bummer.
Even in difficult situations Chris is able to find the humour.
Just the way he plays that is brilliant.
Which means there was a bar onboard this spaceship.
Honestly, its a phenomenal set.
Who wants the barman to be legless though?
I was actually a bit nervous about it.
But even though its not the most comfortable thing, it actually becomes part of the character.
For instance in that last take I didnt actually have to be in the machine, I could stand.
But now I actually dont like standing.
You symbiotically incorporate everything in a scene into your character, so I am now part-machine.
This is very much a two-hander, with the other lead coming in the form of Jennifer Lawrence.
But she might not get to tell that story.
Its a moral dilemma for both the film and the audience.
On the one hand its a despicable act, but on the other its a understandable human action.
However, things are made more complicated by the fact that Jim and Aurora fall in love.
Crowded round a monitor in an adjoining room, we could finally see how the set would look on-screen.
In a word, beautiful.
As the stars came through, it was immediate how easy and genuine the rapport seemed between them.
But as we watched, something seemed off.
The energy of the scene felt flat.
Perhaps the fact we were several months into the shoot was starting to tell?
But then after a few takes, it transformed.
It seemed once they were settled and warmed up, the mega-watt charisma was turned on.
The lines flowed easily, the chemistry connected, and you could believe in the love story.
Even Michael Sheen, quietly stealing the movie from his mechanical harness, faded into the background.
It wasnt just me who felt this.
The cast and crew each spoke of similar feelings.
There was a camaraderie on-set which couldnt be faked.
A lot of that came from the films genesis.
Rather than just hand his script in and collect the pay-check, Spaihts explained: Im here everyday.
Instead I can be useful and make meaningful contributions.
Its amazing to see my hugely personal script come to life.
Well see just how its all come together on December 21st.
