Alex Garland Talks ‘Annihilation’ Creative Battle Between Producers

“Too intellectual” and “too complicated.” Those were the concerns aired by David Ellison, the head of Skydance Productions, following a test screening for Alex Garland‘s “Annihilation” this summer. What followed was a request by Ellison to change the film’s ending, and reshape of the portrayal of Natalie Portman‘s character, but thankfully, the film’s co-producer Scott Rudin backed Garland, allowing the filmmaker to make the picture he wanted. However, the friction between Ellison and Rudin ultimately led to Paramount selling off the film’s international rights to Netflix, with “Annihilation” only getting a big screen release in the U.S., Canada, and China.

Garland has shared his “disappointment” over the Netflix deal, and when it comes to the battles that happened behind the scenes, he doesn’t go into great detail. However, the filmmaker does say that he was completely upfront about what “Annihilation” was going to be from day one.

“I completely ignore that aspect of it,” Garland told Indiewire about the feud. “The way I approach these things is with transparency. I never bullshit fucking anybody about what my intention is. I say, ‘Here is the script, the script is not a pretend script, it’s the actual script. Here are some visuals, too.’ The way I see it from that point is that if they agree to make the film, then it becomes like a contract. Importantly, that contract is not open to being broken later. There’s a creative agreement. If people do have a problem, and that’s fine if they do, but the time to express that is early, not late.”

READ MORE: ‘Annihilation’ Trailer: The Laws Of Nature Are Turned Upside Down

As we’ve said before, it’s a bit amazing that some of the people behind “Annihilation” were surprised at the movie they got, particularly when you look at Garland’s track record of ambitious genre pictures (“Ex Machina,” “Sunshine,” “Never Let Me Go“). Nor is it the first time a studio has had reservations about a Garland project. Focus Features famously passed on “Ex Machina,” only to see A24 turn the picture into a critically acclaimed hit.

At any rate, let’s be thankful that the film is still on the way, and Garland hopes that audiences can experience “Annihilation” as fresh as possible.

“If it was up to me, I would know nothing about the film. But that’s just unrealistic, isn’t it?” he said. “The only thing I get nervous about usually relates to the last third of the film. I’ve many times sat in a cinema and felt like, ‘Well I now know what’s coming. I know exactly what’s going to happen from the beginning to the end of this movie.’ I find it strange how much studios reveal sometimes. You want it to be like when you’re watching television late at night, and suddenly something comes on you had no idea was about to and you’re hooked. You’re like, ‘Wow, what is this?’ That’s what I want ‘Annihilation’ to feel like.”

We’ll be ready to have that feeling when “Annihilation” opens on Febraury 23, 2018.