Exclusives
Director Rod Lurie Discusses Hard-R ‘Straw Dogs’ Remake
Rod Lurie, director most recently of political thriller Nothing But the Truth starring Kate Beckinsale, recently completed filming on the remake of classic psychological thriller Straw Dogs from 1971, and we were able to corner him backstage at last night’s Saturn Awards to ask him a few questions about the project, including whether it would follow in the uncomfortably brutal footsteps of its forebear. Read on to find out.
“We’re at the end of post-production right now“, the director told me. “I think it’s going fabulously well. You know, it’s a very interesting movie because you’re remaking something that is certainly iconic and I think people have very specific expectations and we hope we [meet] all of them.”
With the film arriving n theaters September 11, 2011 they’re just about to start the testing process. He addresses concerns that the remake will be a toned-down version of the original in order to bring in a wider audience, telling B-D the film will, in fact, be a no-punch-pulling ‘hard-R’:
“I think it’s as intense if not more [than the original]. I keep reading on blogs how we’re gonna have to water things down, and how we’re gonna have to tone down the rape scene, and tone down the violence in the movie, and that’ll be one of the expectations that people have where it’ll [defy] their expectations I think. It’s definitely a hard-`R’, definitely a hard-`R’. It’s a tough film, it’s very exciting and very unnerving I would say. But real edge of your seat stuff, I hope.”
The new Straw Dogs follows Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden), who moves with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, leading to a violent confrontation.
Out today in select theaters and on digital platforms is heartfelt and playful documentary Mockbuster, which sees a director cold call a studio and ask to helm a lost-world dinosaur epic.
Inexplicably, they say yes.
Our exclusive clip below highlights both the comedic nature of this bizarre scenario as well as the pressures of shooting dino feature The Land That Time Forgot in a mere six days, with no real feature experience.
A dino attack scene causes friction on set in this scene.
In the documentary, “A struggling filmmaker’s opportunity collides with chaos and compromise when Sharknado’s notorious studio, The Asylum, invites him to direct a ‘mockbuster.’ With six days, a micro budget, and mounting pressure, Mockbuster is a comedic, behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the balance between low-budget filmmaking and creative ambition.”
More than just an inside look at filmmaking via low-budget film studio The Asylum, it doubles as one man’s pursuit of his dreams to charming, humorous effect.
“Mockbuster is a documentary about my own journey, but it’s also a love letter to one of the last grindhouses still functioning in Hollywood. We get to meet the characters and creators of some of the most infamous (and most hated) B-movies of the last few decades. People who make movies purely for profit – no pretension, no artistry, just monsters, C-listers, and chaos. A film that both genre fans and cinephiles can enjoy. But Mockbuster isn’t just about filmmaking, it’s about losing sight of your dreams, and reclaiming them in your own twisted way,” Director Anthony Frith said in a statement.
From Executive Producer and famed documentarian David Farrier, Mockbuster opens in select theaters and on digital platforms beginning July 10.