Exclusive Wanted Interview

2 months ago 23rd Jun 10:19

Timur Bekmambetov burst onto the global film stage with the movie Night Watch in 2004 that enjoyed major success outside it’s native Russia.

This week sees the director make his first English speaking movie with the release of Hollywood blockbuster wanted starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.

I caught up with Timur to discuss his new project, working outside of Russia the success of his early movies.

You have directed your new film Wanted can you tell me a bit about the project?

Wanted is my first English language movie about a young boy who, like everybody, sits at his cubicle all his life dreaming about different life and then comes an adventure that I cannot tell because it’s a secret (laughs).

The film is based on Mark Millar’s graphic novel what attracted you to the project?

Only the graphic novel attracted me because the script wasn’t so exciting in the beginning and then I found the comic book and fell in love with the character and the story and found that it was an ancient Greek tragedy in a contemporary style?

And how influential was the original material?

It was only the comic book that made me make this movie because it has a very unique British sense of humour, full of self irony and almost sarcasm, and it was very good for and it was the only way for me to make a big Hollywood movie because it as a unique tone.

In ancient mythology there is a moment where the mentor is telling the hero about the different world and the hero saying yes and moving forward but this character, like any European man (laughs), refuses it immediately and during events that follow he is still thinking ‘am I right?’ and ‘is this real?’. And it’s this irony and this humour helps to make him human .

More about Exclusive Wanted Interview on page 2