Interview: Jon Spaihts

Entire series with screenwriter of Prometheus, Doctor Strange, Passengers.

I have been a fan of Jon Spaihts and his writing for years, so I was excited to have the opportunity recently to spend an hour talking with him about his career, his movies, and the screenwriting craft. His movie credits include Prometheus, Doctor Strange, and his latest Passengers, along with the upcoming films Van Helsing and The Mummy among many others.

Here are links to the six installments of the entire interview:

Part 1: “Instantly, my writing aspirations swung from the printed page to the screen, and I started researching screenwriting.”

Part 2: “I’m a hopeless romantic. There’s nothing like a love story in a movie to make me lean in. The idea of being able to do the ultimate sci‑fi shoot‑’em‑up, this big, high‑concept war movie, but also do a story of star‑crossed love…that was an irresistible temptation to me.”

Part 3: “I think film offers the possibility of a challenging and divergent first act, and that we should be brave enough to exploit that.

Part 4: “The tough bullet about that speech, which I love so dearly, is that, like a handful of other key scenes, it did not make the final cut.”

Part 5: “Invariably, you win some arguments and you lose some arguments.”

Part 6: “Read the script and then watch the movie. Watch the movie and then read the script. Watch the movie with the script in your lap. Study the parts. You have to see through the surfaces. Being a fan is insufficient. Break it down. That means slowing it down and looking at it through a series of different lenses.”

Jon is repped by CAA and Circle of Confusion.

Twitter: @jonspaihts.