No one is really creating original sci-fi blockbusters anymore, its an endangered species.
Such was the wise insight fromGareth Edwardsat the special screening of his latest movieThe Creatorlast week.
If Disney can getThe Creatorto bust past $20 million, that would be a celebrated win internally.
‘The Creator'20th Century Studios
New Regency has always prided itself on gambling on ambitious filmmakers.
It just hasnt been everywhere and as loud in itsmarketingasPaw Patrol 2orThe Creator.
2 to $8M.
John David Washington in ‘The Creator’20th Century Studios
Heading into the weekend,The CreatorandPaw Patrol 2have the best presales with more than $1M apiece.
Also given the sublime sci-fi aesthetic ofThe Creator,it could notch key below-the-lines slots in the Oscar race.
Thats why Disney and Regency stuck to their date.
Creating The Creator
The Creatorbegan to come together just before the pandemic.
Coming away from the visit, Edwards fused the two concepts of warring robots andApocalypse Nowin his head.
The filmmaker told Deadline, I had engaging visuals of robots fighting in rice paddies.
The Creatorfollows the aftermath of a nuclear war in the U.S. that the country has blamed on AI robots.
She was pregnant at the time.
Edwards co-wrote the movie with hisRogue One: A Star Wars Storyscribe Chris Weitz.
Early on, Edwards hired concept artists for a 60-image lookbook.
I didnt tell my agents (about the meeting).
It was very low key with Yariv (Milchan) and Michael.
I laid out the visuals and talked through the story, the filmmaker told us.
The conceit was to lens great real-world footage, then drop or paint in VFX after with ILM.
The official trailer dropped two months ago and earned 33M views.
The shift saw the second trailer jump up to more than 39M global views.
The physical stunt caught attention, with organic videos of the robot models doing over 5M views on TikTok.
Finally, something new and different, says one observer.
The Creatorheld fan premium screenings Wednesday with previews starting at 6 p.m. today.
In theaters September 29.
