Goeztman might have been there to promote the upcoming “City of Ember,” but CHUD was wise enough to sneak in a few ‘Wild Things’ questions, the biggest revelation of which is that director Spike Jonze apparently has final cut on the film – something many have wondered and questioned all this time.
Goeztman may or may not have been alluding to the recent conversation the L.A. Times blog had with Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn who admitted to some problems with the production, but said Jonze was still at the helm and that they had given the fanciful filmmaker more money for his vision (the same piece noted that while ‘Wild Things’ was originally due October 2009, the picture had been taken off the WB release schedule).
This could be about a separate conversation Goetzman had with Horn that pointed to some creation friction.
“There was an Alan Horn conversation where he said his vision and Spike’s vision weren’t on the same page. We support Spike’s vision. We’re helping him make the vision he wants to make.”
The producer admits there were some technical problems with the film which hints at some of the reasons for the re-shoots.
“Spike wanted to do things low tech. He wanted big animatronic Wild Things in the jungle, which look great. As you go deeper in the jungle and weather sets in… We misjudged that, production-wise.”
Goetzman batted aside the rumors and talked about the picture being allegedly too dark or not “kid friendly.”
“Kids are much smarter than [the studio types] think,” Goetzman said. “Spike won’t talk down to kids. He’s got a kid’s soul.”
That’s all they got from him, but considering he wasn’t there to promote the film at all, it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at (and it’s always kind of impolite to stray too far off topic for too long, these writers were clearly aware of this). Either way, the news that Jonze has final cut is pretty important to the creative conclusion of the film, but it sounds like he and Playtone, and not just big bad Warner Bros, are aware that the film has its problems and some retooling needs to be done.
We’re almost finished with the ‘Wild Things’ script and detecting our own larger problems and issues that Warner Bros. or any thoughtful distributor/producer might have with this film, but that we’ll save for another story.
Update: Looks like Goetzman is making the rounds and AICN caught up with him too (along with Anne Thompson who will surely have her own report later today). The producer echoed the same sentiments to AICN that he told CHUD, plus quashed the rumor that the main boy in the film Max Records delivered a bad performance and reiterated that Jonze has final cut and is here to stay.
“I think that Warner Brothers’ vision and Spike Jonze’s vision may be a little different.Warner Brothers has no intention of bringing down the hammer on anyone.”
Though AICN asks: is Jonze’s final cut contingent on the film’s running time? Not a lot of answers are delivered ultimately and Goetzman refused to get into all the hairy details.
In tertiary, but related ‘Wild Things’ news, according to the U.K. Daily Mail, it appears that Spike Jonze is now dating Heath Ledger’s ex-fiancé, Michelle Williams – also an ex-cast member of ‘Wild Things’ who’s voice work was replaced by that of “Six Feet Under” actress Lauren Ambrose (having now read the script we realize Ambrose isn’t Tzippy, but rather voices the role of K.W – all of this will make more sense when we properly review the script, all the ‘Wild Thing’ monsters names have been changed in the screenplay anyhow).
The Daily Mail drops in this stupid provocative quote from Chloe Sevigny. “I auditioned for Spike Jonze on ‘Where The Wild Things Are,’ but Michelle Williams got the part. She’s much prettier than me.” Apparently the two became reacquainted again on “Synecdoche, New York” in summer 2007 and “struck up a friendship” (Jonze is one of the co-producers of the Charlie Kaufman project).
And lastly, Rolling Stone guitarist/rehabber Ronnie Wood has been collaborating on a new version ‘Wild Things,’ to be featured in a new Mighty Boosh book? Well, according to the U.K. Sun anyhow. We wonder how Maurice Sendak feels about that.