As always, it was tough to get into Hall H to see all that glorious new footage at this year’s comic con, but there was one film we wouldn’t have missed for anything. Drive Angry is Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer’s followup to My Bloody Valentine, and it looks to be one of the most kick-ass 3D films yet. Nic Cage, Amber Heard, the great William Fichtner, and TOM ATKINS (!), amongst many others, look to spend the bulk of the film’s running time driving, shooting, driving AND shooting, or simply looking badass, all in glorious REAL 3D. No post-converted bullshit here, this is the real deal, and I think when people start seeing it and other real 3D films that are coming (Resident Evil 4, Saw 7, etc), folks will start to really see the difference and stop paying a premium for fake ones like Last Airbender. But even if it was in 2D, this movie looks to be a grand old time, and our own BC jumped at the chance to talk to Lussier about the cast, the cars, and the cameras.
“In this newest action horror shot in 3D, a vengeful father (Nicolas Cage) hunts down the people who brutally killed his daughter and kidnapped her baby. As the chase gets bloodier by the mile, his rescue spins out of control, leaving bodies strewn along the highway. Amber Heard (Pineapple Express), Billy Burke (The Twilight Saga), William Fichtner (The Dark Knight) and David Morse (Disturbia) also star. Patrick Lussier directs from the original screenplay he co-wrote with Todd Farmer who previously collaborated with him on My Bloody Valentine 3D.”

BD: Is this your first time at Comic Con?

Patrick Lussier: Yeah, never been here before. I’ve always been working, so I’ve never been able to make it down. It’s great to be able to come with this.

BD: So I saw Tom Atkins in the footage… how big is his role?

PL: It’s a significant part, it’s a supporting part. It’s a fun part, it was great to have him back. We had him for 5 days. It was a pleasure to have him again – we wrote it specifically for him.

BD: You have so many of these great action guys – lot of Bruckheimer vets (Cage and Fichtner), all these badass character actors like Atkins – how did you get all of these guys in one movie?

PL: I think it was the script itself. It was a script that Todd and I wrote for ourselves, it was a movie WE wanted to see. We wrote it because we thought it would be fun. We felt we could create a great rollercoaster movie, and wanted to create these iconic characters, and by virtue of that, it drew these actors to it, and we’re so lucky to have them. Nic came on board because he LOVED the character – there would be days we’d be shooting, and he’d just be like “Wow, what are you doing to me?” and I’d say “Yeah it’s a long way from The Family Man!” (laughs)

BD: Are these the same 3D cameras you used for My Bloody Valentine?

PL: Yeah, but the next generation. These are way better. Our days were so much shorter – on Valentine we had 18 hour days, but here we never shot more than a 12 hr period and within that 12 hour period, we’d be traveling, so we’d only be shooting 10 hrs a day. So having the cameras that could function better and work faster, it was so much more efficient. We got a lot of bang for our buck.

BD: Did your background as an editor help plan ahead for the 3D, since the shots need to be a certain length for the 3D effect to work properly? Are you cutting it yourself?

PL: I’m actually cutting this with my son, Devin. He’s cutting it with me. He’s been working in the film industry since he was 17; he was on The Eye with us. So that’s been fun. But yeah, it’s important to know editorially how you’re going to fit these together, you sort of have to reverse engineer from the final product, to make sure the 3D is composed in the correct way when you’re actually cutting it.

BD: In the footage we just watched, we see Todd get his ass kicked by pretty much the entire cast – did Todd write himself that role?

PL: Yes! When we started writing, we said well, we got to name him Frank, and you have to play him. And he said “Really?” and I said “Yes, You’re Frank! You’ll always be Frank! If we make a sword and sorcery movie, you will be Franc!”

BD: The trailer said that Nic’s character came from hell – is that literal? Or is he just some guy.

PL: Well he’s a guy who did bad things and was punished for them. And he’s broken out to seek revenge and retribution. But it’s not a horror movie – there are horrific elements, but it’s very much in the vibe of those 70s movies like Race With The Devil. That’s what the movie is going for. He’s a bad man doing good things.

BD: So how many cars did you destroy?

PL: I think we had three and three of the Chevelle and Charger. We destroyed the Rivieras… BEAUTIFUL cars… ’64 Riviera – it was painful to do it, such a gorgeous car. The Chargers… we wiped out two of them, kept one pristine. The Chevelles, we DEFINITELY trashed two of them. And then numerous trucks, Lincolns, Broncos… they all meet unfortunate ends.

BD: What are the exact hero cars?

PL: Nic drives the 64 Riviera, 69 Charger, and 71 Chevelle. Those are the main three cars that he drives.

BD: Talk about David Morse a bit, we haven’t heard much about his role.

PL: David plays an old friend of Nic’s character, who we meet along the journey. And he provides some back-story and answers, because he’s a guy who knew Nic “back when”. And he’s fantastic; he brings such human weight, at the point in the movie where you’re needing some answers. We couldn’t have cast the role better.

BD: And one last thing before they wrap me up – Scream 4, are you involved [Patrick was the editor on the first 3 films]?

PL: No, no involvement at all. They’re all shooting it right now, and I’ll be on Drive Angry until the end of the year. I think everyone else is back though. It just didn’t work out, time-wise, but I know Wes will do an amazing job and it will be a really fun movie.