Stalking THE HITCHER with director Dave Meyers

Monday, 30 April 2007

Terrorizing the video shelves this May 1st, 2007, still fresh from its January 2007 theatrical release; Rogue Pictures releases the retelling of the 1986 cult film THE HITCHER. Produced by Michael Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes, the film stars Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, Neal McDonough, and Sean Bean as John Ryder, the Hitcher. THE HITCHER is directed by Dave Meyers. Well known for his work in the music video and commercial industry, Meyers makes his theatrical debut with this intense psychological thriller. We recently spoke with Dave to discus the film and the release of the DVD. FEARS: You’ve worked a lot in the music video industry, and they’re known for their guerilla filmmaking style, lots of quick cuts, and requiring the director to be inventive on the fly. THE HITCHER is an action film with lots of special effects. How prepared did you feel based on our previous experience? Dave Meyers: It was actually easier than doing the videos. I say that in only that I was shooting three videos a week. What a movie provides is a singular focus for a year of your time, instead of jumping every week to a new project and dealing with different vanities. A feature allows you to get used to one group of people, one group of politics, one group of talent, one script, and so that singularity was invigorating for me. I hope to do it many more times. It brought sanity back to my life. FEARS: With so many remakes having already graced the theaters, it’s obvious that it’s a hit or miss situation. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was a solid remake. Did doing a remake of a classic film pose any concerns. Where you a fan of the original? Dave Meyers:  One, I didn’t think it had the cult status that “Texas” had. I felt it was a very small film, with a small audience and fan base. Nine out of ten people I talked to didn’t remember it. People remember, like I do, the television show that HBO did. I had not seen the original, but I did bring myself up to speed when they asked me about it. The character of the Hitcher intrigued me because I felt there was potential in it. There were a couple of new things that people were interested in bringing to the story, especially the idea of a boyfriend and girlfriend traveling cross country. I thought it made the film a more social movie, and a movie that allowed for more believable interaction. This way you don’t have C. Thomas Howell rubbing sand through his hair as the only way to express himself. I felt there were some interesting tools for the update. How do I feel about remakes? I wish they didn’t exist. However, remakes and franchises that are based on books, this is the culture we live in with movies. These are the opportunities that have been offered to me over the past six to seven years. It’s kind of the category of the types of projects that are offered to me. I didn’t want to do a sequel, because that comes on the coattails of somebody who has already established something. I didn’t want to make a remake that was a classic like Hitchcock. I couldn’t have remake “Psycho” because it’s still perfect. THE HITCHER to me is extremely well directed, the original, but it’s dated. It’s an eighties film. It’s imperfect in areas as far as being viable for the teenagers of today. In that I found a voice and a reason in the Michael Bay equation to make this film. They allow filmmakers from videos and commercials to come in and have a voice. It was a very small budget, and that intrigued me. There’s really no way that it could hurt me; to have Michael protect me, do it for a price and have it character based it would be a good thing for me when compared to some of the movies that I’ve been offered to do. FEARS: The nice thing about Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes productions is that you really feel that every dollar of the budget is up there on the screen. It must really help you, as a first time feature film director, to get you prepared for that next wrung up the ladder of your career? Dave Meyers: Absolutely does, and for me I’m as thrifty as they come. I’ve made the Missy videos, particularly, with tons of visual effects for very cheap. Anywhere Michael didn’t have a relationship I did. Between the two of us, and the producers, we all as a collective are producers by trade. I’m not credited as one, but I know where every penny was and how to spend it. I never usually have to shoot more than two takes. I think we came in two million under budget. That’s why they gave me the chance to do re-shoots. I’m just that kind of guy. I don’t want to waste footage. I don’t like fat. As an audience member I hate sitting through scenes that you can predict. Everywhere that they allowed me to change it from the original I did. There are certain areas where we need to be true to the original. Those I tried celebrate the original by upgrading those scenes and tried to make them even tenser. I loved that equation and it’s a great group of people to do your first film with. FEARS: You have a great cast but the lynchpin of the film is the casting of John Ryder, THE HITCH. For me, Rutger Hauer was The Hitcher and I had my doubts when I first saw the film. I have to say that Sean Bean has the chops and pulled it off. How hard was it for you in casting the right actor to play John Ryder Dave Meyers: It was really hard. In fact, so much so that we didn’t have him cast until two weeks before we started shooting. It wasn’t so much so asking people and have them deny it, it was more internally trying to figure out what name could compete with Rutger and secondly, because nine out of ten don’t remember the original, to find someone contemporary audience would love to see be evil. We had interest from folks way up and way down the ladder. I was kind of shock at how many people were interested. The studio was really passionate about it having I be somebody who you’re familiar with, but you don’t really know his name. Clearly film buffs know Sean from “Lord of the Rings” and several of the films he’s done. He’s got this essence, and he has this drama in face that makes him a great subtle actor. He said yes and it was a blessing and a relief two weeks before shooting to know whom my Hitcher was going to be. Once Sean was on board and we talked, both our takes were to very real and cerebral with the character. We wanted to make John Ryder somebody who was grounded and believable. Rutger’s Hitcher was very eccentric, ghostly, and kind of bizarre. If we went anywhere near that with Sean I was afraid that, first, it wasn’t Sean and not who he is as an actor. Sean is a different type of actor with a different range. I tried to highlight Sean strengths and allowed him an individual voice with his take on the role. FEARS: It sounds like you’re a lean and mean director. So in putting the DVD extras is there a lot of content that was shot that didn’t end up in the theatrical release? Dave Meyers: Sadly enough, I didn’t get consulted on the DVD stuff. I’m not sure exactly how all that gets put together, but I just found out a few days ago what’s on the DVD. I don’t know deleted scenes they have, but one thing I am excited about is the alternate ending. The original ending, that I wanted and assume that is what it is, deals with Sophia. At one point I wasn’t satisfied with the ending, I felt that after all she went through to just have three gun shots and she’s done was a little anticlimactic. On the third shot there are no more bullets in the gun and she lowers the gun. He gets a little last smirk in and Sophia goes ballistic and pistol beats him until he is a bloody pulp. I assume that some version of that has been recut for the DVD. FEARS: Any comments on that Dave Meyers: They didn’t ask me to. I volunteered! FEARS: At this point are there any other projects you’re attached to? Dave Meyers: Yeah! I’m definitely reading a bunch of scripts and chasing a few projects that would be more a director for hire, the next step after THE HITCHER. I’m not signed on specifically to anything that’s immediately ready to go. The thing I’m most excited about, that I’ve been developing all through THE HITCHER – developing something takes a few years – is this “Witch Hunter” franchise that I’ve been developing with New Regency and Arnold Kopelson. The quick way to describe it is that it does for witches what “Pirates of the Caribbean” did for pirates. I threw everything in there from the kitchen sink in my mind, and my dudgeons and dragons background. I’m such a geek for that kind of stuff. THE HITCHER is probably as straight laced as my personality can sustain. I;m much more eccentric than that. So I found this group of people and Arnold loved my pitch on it. It was actually this dead project he had called “Witch Hunter.” I started diving into the world and told him how I want to change the script. He said okay. Now a year has gone by and I’ve turned in a draft and everyone loves it. Now I’m prepping my visual presentation. In a month will show that to the studio and hopefully they’ll give us a green light. What’s really helped is “300.” It was a non-established director who came in with a visual style that I’m very familiar with, but the world is not. I saying I’m familiar because it relies on things that we’ve been doing in videos and commercials for years. It’s awesome that Zack did that, and did it is such a thrifty and cleaver way, and that the world loved it is even more amazing. It just opened up this huge door for this project for me. Everyone is really excited, especially that I just finished a horror film. There’s a lot of good buzz on it and it would be a really great geek out film for me. I live and breathe that fantasy world. It’s full eccentrics, and it has this “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” fight scene in the middle of all this chaotic “Lord of the Rings” type visuals. It will be a lot of fun if it happens. FEARS: The stuff our readers live for. So please feel free tom come back and gives us some news and things develop now that you’ve wet our appetite. Dave Meyers: And “Witch Hunter” is not based on anything! No book, no Disney ride. It’s quintessential Dave Meyers. Hopefully in a few months I’ll have some news for you. LINK THIS ARTICLE

 

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