11-11-11An Interview with Darren Lynn Bousman
by Wilson Morales
November 10, 2011
Coming out this week is the latest film from Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed ‘Saw II,’ ‘Saw III,’ ‘Saw IV,’ ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera,’ and ‘Mother’s Day.’
’11-11-11′ stars Timothy Gibbs, Michael Landes, Wendy Glenn, Lluis Soler, Ángela Rosal, Brendan Price, Salome Jimenez, and Benjamin Cook.
After the death of his wife and child, an author travels to Barcelona to see his estranged brother and dying father, where he learns that his life is plagued by events that occur on 11/11/11.
Unlike his earlier films, Bousman’s latest film is very independent and was filmed on a modest budget compared to the high profiled studio films that financed the ‘Saw’ franchise.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Bousman talked about ’11-11-11′ and filming in Barcelona.
How long had you been planning to make a film about the date?
Darren Lynn Bousman: The producer called me and wanted to pitch me an idea about the date, 11-11. I had seen that number for years and years, and I always took it to mean like a wish. As I grew up, I was told that when you see that number, to make a wish. When the producers said they wanted to make a movie on the date, I thought it was a horrible idea but then was told to go home, think about it and read some stuff on the date. I went home, look at the package and then typed in the date on google. If you haven’t done it, do so and you will see the amount of page devoted to this 11-11-11 phenomenon. Those who believe say that on that date, you may be contact from a being of another world. It comes from the mythology of something called the aranthia book, which folks believe was written by being from another world as a bridge from the bible to science.
Is your film similar to other films that had titles referring to a number?
DB: The horror fan in me wants to get on the message and say no. The closest thing in vain that I wold compare it to are the religious horror films that came out in the 70s. Films like ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘The Omen’ and that kind of idea. It’s much more based on religion. I would definitely say it’s more closer to ‘The Exorcist.’
Your previous film was ‘Mother’s Day,’ which is the second Sunday in May. With this film set around November, do you have a fixation with numbers or months of the year?
DB: It might as well be. I may end up doing ‘Father’s Day’ next. (Laughs) It’s crazy, but it’s a movie business and it’s easy to find something that has some built-in marketing and built-in promotion around it. With this film, you start with the date and then ask yourself if you can make a movie around it. Sometime you can’t. The date 11-11-11 set itself up a for a movie, but I’m going to stay away from “date” movies because there is so much pressure to have a movie ready on time. This movie would have been written, shot, and edited under a year. That’s hard. That’s really hard. It’s too much pressure to get a movie done within that time. It was fun but I’m getting too old now. I’m not as young as I used to be. When I did the ‘Saw’ films, I could turn those around within six weeks.
What sort of research did you do for the film so that it would make logical sense for audiences?
DB: That was the most important thing when making this movie. I want it to be based on reality and I think some films based on that are scary. They have authorities telling stories on Lucifer and the devil and things like that. I put myself in a deep dark hole and focused on conspiracy theories, especially religious conspiracy theories. I went down this deep path and researched all this stuff. Most importantly, I grew up in a religious household. I grew up believing in all that stuff, but I didn’t want to preach in this movie. You see films that preach to you and this is not. I wanted to make a movie that is plausible to some extent and at least was based on some reality. If people believe in religion, you have to believe in demons, the anti-Christ and the devil. You can’t have one without the other. I find myself gravitating towards religious books and religious texts because of that. If society believes in one, then you have to believe in the other.
Without a studio attached initially, were you able to get the film under a moderate budget?
DB: Yes. This was done on a fraction of a cost. We did it in Barcelona and it’s so different from working in the states, because in the states I could never have pulled this off. We got to shoot in this huge Cathedral and lots of cemetaries and amazing places. In Barcelona, we’re not paying a location fee. You get a permit to film all throughout Barcelona. It was a unique process.
How did you get Thomas Gibson as your lead?
DB: Here’s a crazy story. He’s a veteran actor who’s been in ‘Sex in the City’ and voiced the character Max Payne in the video game, but he had given up acting and moved from New York to Barcelona. He was living above the place where we were doing casting sessions and came downstairs. When he heard we were casting for the film, he asked if he could audition for it. I was looking for an American in Spain. He was an American living in Spain. He came in and nailed the audition. It’s funny because he retired from acting nearly 10 years ago and returns in this film and he’s fantastic. I can’t say one negative thing about the guy. He’s a very down-to-earth cool guy.
Will this film be shown in massive theaters?
DB: As a filmmakers, you want your film to be shown in as many places as possible, but the reality is that I can’t compete right now with the big dogs. You’ll never compete with the ‘Immortals’ and ‘Jack and Jill,’ when they are being shown in 4000 screens. This is definitely an independent film. Every theater that I get is a victory. This is a film that doesn’t have the names of George Clooney or Tom Cruise, or even Tobin Bell selling it. For lack of a better word, we’re dealing with an unknown cast. Michael Landes was recently in the last ‘Final Destination’ film. It’s a hard battle, but you hope people will find interest and attend.
What’s next?
DB: ‘The Barrens,’ which I just finished, will come out next year.
