Earlier today I was lucky enough to interview Duncan Jones for his upcoming directorial debut Moon. I will be posting the full transcript for the interview closer to the film’s release date, June 12th, but I just wanted to post some interesting tidbits on his next film, the DVD, Ridley Scott, and the release of Clint Mansell’s (The Fountain) score. I can’t stress enough how good of a movie Moon is, if you have to drive out of your way to see it in New York and LA on the 12th, it’s worth the drive. Check out a portion of the interview below.
Could you talk more about your Blade Runner-esque film coming up?
Duncan Jones: Yeah, it’s a thriller that takes place in a future version of Berlin. It’s very much about a multi-cultrural community and it’s kind of this small story, but it’s going to be a very different film than Moon. It’s much more pacey, in some ways more commercial, but more of a thriller. It’s going to have more of a Blade Runner feel to it in a lot respects.
Editor’s note: At this point Duncan showed me some concept art that Gavin Rothery has done so far for it. I saw a cityscape concept that looked vibrant and very Blade Runner-inspired. I saw down the city street and the main character in a raincoat, with his back turned. The other image gave a glimpse of the villians. I saw doctors surrounding a table in a gruesome scene that I don’t want to spoil. If the look of the film does resemble the concept art I saw, then this will surely be something special. Very atmospheric.
> ” />Is it going to be noir like?
Duncan Jones: Yeah, very noir.
I know you showed the film to Terry Gilliam and Neil Gaiman, but did Ridley Scott ever get back to you?
Duncan Jones: Yes, he did. He watched the film. I managed to catch up with him at something called the BFI, and they did a testimonial for him where they were just sort of talking about what an amazing career he has. Afterwards, there was a VIP lounge and I was able to get in there and say “hello” to him. I got like thirty seconds of his time, and I said, “Did you get to see Moon?” (laughs) He had seen it, and he said he really liked it. Then I asked him if it was okay if I kept ripping him off, and he said, “Yeah that’s fine” He doesn’t mind, because he keeps ripping other people off (laughs).
Have you started working on the DVD or Blu-Ray yet?
Duncan Jones: We haven’t started working on it. What we started doing is putting a list together of the things that we would like to be able to put on it.
Will there be an audio commentary?
Duncan Jones: Oh yeah, yeah we’ll definitely do that.
You and Sam?
I hope so. I think Sam will be doing it. I know I’ll be doing it and I know Gavin Rothery, the concept artist. A couple of other people, too. We need to get Sam on there. I’m pretty sure that will happen, but there’s some other kind of cool stuff we want to put on there, as well.
Do you have a film called Mute you’re working on?
Duncan Jones: That’s this one (referring to his next project). To be honest, I hadn’t mentioned that name to anyone, and then it came out at Tribeca. Someone, one of the people doing the Q and A with me mentioned it, and I was like, “Oh, how do you know about that?” Then I realized that the script had just started being sent around in LA.
Based on the concept art, it seems like you may need a big budget.
Duncan Jones: I’m hoping that we can get twenty or twenty-five (million), which is what I’m going to go for. Again, it is not a huge amount, but it’s no longer indie budget. It’s not a Hollywood budget, either. It’s kind of a middle-ground, so we’ll see if that works out. Hopefully, that’s the budget I can bring it in for.
Will Clint Mansell’s score, will that release co-inside with the films release date?
Duncan Jones: Thats the plan, one of the things I’m doing when I get back to London is were going to have some meetings about giving him some really nice art-work for all of the CD packaging. That’s ready to go, we all agreed on it, and it’s going to happen. I think the release date is going to co-inside with the film’s release, so that’s the plan.
Editor’s note: Lastly, Duncan showed me a short video he made with his concept artist Gavin Rothery. It was a basis they made to be used for the first movie they planned to do. He mentioned that Gavin and him showed it to Terry Gilliam in hope to get the project off the ground. Gilliam was so impressed that he pondered the idea of using some of it for his upcoming film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but this was years ago when Gilliam was in early stages of development, so it was not used. The video was fantastic, and I can see why Gilliam would be impressed. Its graphic-design was striking, and it had this very cinematic bleakness with a dark, green pallet.
Make sure to check back closer to the film’s release date when I’ll be posting the full interview featuring discussion on the production-design, the special-effects, and much more.
Check back around June 12th when Moon is released for the full interview and my review.
Are you looking forward to Moon? What about Mute?