fbpx

Ron Howard on how he got his Tham Luang cave rescue film ‘Thirteen Lives’ over the finish line and died as an event drama – Crew Call Podcast

There was a huge rush in Hollywood for the rights of the young soccer players, their coach and the divers involved in the 2018 rescue of Tham Luang Cave in Thailand. Ron Howard’s feature film, thirteen lives, first across the finish line at MGM, and the two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker tells us how it came about on today’s team call.

It helped that the producer of the picture, PJ van Sandwijk, was also behind the documentary on the same subject, the rescue, created by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Howard was impressed by the screenplay, written by two-time Oscar nominee William Nicholson, which offered surprising twists that not many were aware of.

“My documentary experiences over the years have served me well, and she has,” says Howard of his approach to the lead version of the critically acclaimed media story. “I didn’t want it to feel like it was staged, I wanted it to be captured.”

Another challenge Howard faced was making a film that was mostly in Thai and fully embraced their culture.

“I wanted a Thai audience; If they didn’t know who directed it, I want them to believe it was by a Thai[filmmaker]directed,” he adds A beautiful spirit Oscar-winning director and producer.

“It was a big story, worth telling from different angles and ways; If I could be one of them, I would,” adds Howard.

Howard’s career was built on producing blockbuster event dramas eg Ransom, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Ghost, and The da Vinci Code – but is this genre dying out in a box office market dominated by comic book movies?

Howard replied, “I think we’re still learning here. It is being redefined. I believe. I believe that adult dramas entertain enough people, especially when they bring an audience to a place, create tension and are engaging enough. If the price is right, they can be a fair bet, and I think most studio executives think so. I’m not sure that studio executives are willing to make judgments about any drama other than horror that actually works and tentpole fantasy that works; animation works. It is a kind of four quadrant or date night content. I don’t think anyone has given up on the idea or pretended to really know. At the end of the day, the public will decide.

Howard also talks about his future Disney+ documentary about Jim Henson, his first animated film Shrinking tree horn on Netflix and whether there will be another western after that The missing.

Listen to our conversation with Howard below:

Author: Anthony D’Alessandro

Source: Deadline

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Trending

Related POSTS