Interview: Sam Akil, Jason Blum, Simon Kinberg, Robert Kirkman, Shawn Levy, Jonathan Nolan, Melissa Rosenberg
A roundtable with writers and producers of some of the most popular movies and TV series in the horror, science fiction, and fantasy genres.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
“High school was tough, but we won,” Robert Kirkman jokes during The Hollywood Reporter’s first Genre Roundtable as the conversation turns to the passionate fans who have made horror, sci-fi and fantasy film and TV projects the bedrock of the entertainment industry. In 2017, seven of the top 10 hits at the domestic box office and the most watched cable shows were superhero, horror or sci-fi projects. Adds Simon Kinberg, the guiding hand of Fox’s X-Men universe, “In the echo chamber of the internet, the fanboys and fangirls are the loudest voice.”
An excerpt of the conversation:
Your projects all have rabid followings and fans who often share ideas online. Who here has used one of those suggestions?
SIMON KINBERG Is anyone gonna say yes?
SHAWN LEVY Even if it were true, it would be such a slippery slope.
JASON BLUM Why? When we did the first Purge, everyone said, “We want to know what happens when you go outside!” And when we did the second Purge, we were like, “We gotta show the streets.”
KINBERG That’s a little different than actually ripping off somebody’s idea. Shawn’s worried about getting sued. (Laughter.)
LEVY Everyone wanted Barb to somehow be miraculously alive.
MELISSA ROSENBERG Yes!
LEVY When it’s about what people think they want, you have to trust that you know a little bit better. In the case of Barb, I’m not going to lie, we spent maybe 20 seconds talking about it — notwithstanding the slug of death that was coming out of her mouth in the nether.
KINBERG I co-wrote X-Men 3, the “Dark Phoenix” story, which is probably the most sacred of the X-Men storylines in the comics. Fanboys and girls did not love the movie [X-Men: The Last Stand]. When I wrote X-Men: Days of Future Past years later — it was a time travel story — I thought, “Well, here’s an opportunity to rewrite this mistake — bring Jean Grey back to life.” I got to go back and essentially erase a $200 million movie. (Laughter.)
JONATHAN NOLAN When I wrote The Dark Knight, [his brother, director] Chris [Nolan] had to figure out how we’d tackle the Joker. Chris had a good meeting with Heath Ledger. And no one got it — I didn’t get it, the studio didn’t get it. And the fan community was … we were fucking pilloried for it. “Disaster, worst casting decision ever!” Chris just stuck to his guns. It was a question of not giving the fans what they’re asking for but what they want — which is, “Let’s find a really fuckin’ serious actor, somebody who’s going to come in and just tear this role to pieces.”
What’s the most ridiculous spoiler or theory you’ve seen about your own show on social media?
ROBERT KIRKMAN Every week someone comes up with a brilliant idea of Rick Grimes is in a coma, and this is all a dream. I love it because someone comes at it like it’s a new idea. I love the fan interaction. Being able to decipher that feedback, to see what people are saying, is a gift.
NOLAN The challenge is not to let it steer the ship.
How do you tune that out?
LEVY You have to do that magic trick of having taken it in but now being myopic and a little bit deaf to it and just listening to the quieter inner voices that brought you to the party in the first place.
KINBERG In the same way that you have religious fundamentalists, you have fanboy and girl fundamentalists. Being true to the essence of the book is what you’re trying to do, but [you can’t be] true to every letter. If you actually read the Bible literally, you’re a crazy person and stoning people to death. You have to acknowledge the fan in yourself first before the fans out there — stick to the thing that got you excited in the first place.
SALIM AKIL On my show, we’re also dealing with this idea of being one generation out of Jim Crow. There are not a lot of African-American superheroes. I can’t ignore that. I had seen superheroes fighting in space, superheroes fighting in made-up worlds, but I was always wondering, “Why don’t nobody take they ass down to Chicago and clean that up? We could use Batman down there, right?” I knew I had to address some of those real-world issues because if I didn’t, those fanboys and fangirls — but also the African-American audience — would call foul.
ROSENBERG Having written all the Twilight movies, I will tell you there is no more fierce a critic than a tween girl. You take your life into your own hands if you mess with their stuff. (Laughs.)
