SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2000

Director Paul Verhoeven talks...
"Hollow Man"

This was one of the panels that I was most looking forward. The trailers for this film grabbed me by the balls a few months ago, Verhoeven has always been one to create some cool cheesy fun flicks, and the special effects looking nothing less than spectacular in this one. So let's see what this crazy Dutchman had to say:

JoBlo reviews HOLLOW MAN        The Arrow reviews HOLLOW MAN

---------------------------------------------------------

What’s the deal on the rating?

Paul says that the film will be rated R.

Did Paul need to cut a lot out of the film to achieve the R rating?

No, not at all. After having gone through this process many times before, Paul is used to how the game works. In the end, he didn’t compromise anything from the movie.

Why use Kevin Bacon as the lead, when you can barely see him in the film?

Verhoeven disagreed with this statement claiming that you actually do see Bacon for the entire film, only he is visible in different ways. You can still see his expressions, his movements, it’s basically just a different interpretation of Kevin Bacon.

In fact, when Verhoeven originally met up with the actor, he made sure to spend about 55 minutes of his one hour meeting talking about the VERY UNPLEASANT nature of the shoot for Bacon’s character, and only 5 minutes talking about the actual character. It was only after Bacon went through the entire process that he realized why Verhoeven was so adamant about telling him about the unpleasantness of his shoot. He spent many scenes covered in blue paint, green paint and major contacts in his eyes for hours on end.

How does HOLLOW MAN compare to Verhoeven’s other films?

Much like many of his other films (Total Recall, Robocop, Starship Troopers), the special effects are a very big part of the story, but unlike those flicks, this film isn’t entirely based in science-fiction. In fact, it’s really much more of a suspense thriller. Having said that, the special effects are a lot like the "main character" of the film, but despite its appearance as a sci-fi film, it is very much a thriller.

The original script was set in the modern day, what else can you tell us about it?

Paul only got involved in the project once the final draft had been completed, so he doesn’t really know much about the original concept. He did say that it was essentially a thriller based in Washington, in which the Pentagon was using the experiment for military uses. Definitely not for good causes.

Most of your films have a lot of blood in them? Is this one the same in that respect?

Yes, definitely a lot of blood! Mind you, it is a very different kind of movie than the others, but it remains quite bloody.

How many CGI shots were used in this film?

About 550 shots in all, but 400 of those were really complex. In fact, the most difficult scenes are the ones in which layers of people’s skin are disappearing one layer at a time. This task was extremely difficult and tedious to do, and took about one and a half years in all.

Actually, screenwriter Marlowe knew that this CGI effect could not be done while he was writing the script, but having spoken to many of his friends at Digital Domain, he found out that it would be possible within a year, so he included it in the script.

How long did it take to make this film?

This film was in production for about 22 weeks, and about 1 year in post-production.

Is Paul Verhoeven interested in making a "normal" film, without special effects?

Yes, certainly. But as soon as you become successful in one "genre" of film, you only seem to get those types of scripts sent to you. He always tries to do something a little geared around special effects, but always seems to get pulled back into the special effects game.

What does Paul do with the "Starship Troopers" TV series? (he’s credited as the executive producer)

Not much. In fact, the title was just given to him as a nod to his influences on the show. Many elements such as the square jaw lines, uniforms and such from his film, are used in the show, so the title was given to him as a "thank you".

FEATURETTE BEHIND THE SCENES of HOLLOW MAN

The 5-10 minute behind the scenes featurette which we were shown was very, very cool and included many new cool special effects, most of which included Kevin Bacon in various moments of decomposition and psychosis, but also a very cool sequence featuring a gorilla disintegrating into a state of invisibility. Overall, the film looks really creepy, scary and despite the featurette, and to a certain extent, the trailer, giving away many of the film’s crucial plot points, I will still be first in line to see this fun flick.

SEE SOME OF IT HERE

The idea of the invisible man has been done before. Why do it again?

Actually, the idea behind the invisibility of a human being has been around for close to 2000 years. Plato once wrote a story which asked "what would man do if were invisible?", and the answers were not pretty. Unrestrained by any societal regulations, it was said that man would steal, rape women and kill other men. Knowing that none of these things would result in punishment made them even more appealing.

This is the idea behind our "invisible man" movie, which looks at a man who starts off as a "nice guy", and ends up turning into some kind of monster.

The Arrow and JoBlo meet director Paul Verhoeven

What could one expect on the DVD version of this film?

Paul said that he found this new medium extremely interesting and that he and other directors were just starting to get used to the idea. He just finished mixing in a couple of additional scenes for the DVD just yesterday, scenes which don’t really need to be seen in order to follow the story, but certainly interesting for folks to see on the DVD. He also mixed in a new sound for the DVD yesterday, while using a smaller sound system, so that the sound for the DVD would be optimized for people’s sound system at home, as opposed to the huge cinema sound systems.

Who were some of Paul Verhoeven’s childhood influences?

The most influential film in his life was THE WAR OF THE WORLD. He used to go see it with his dad when he was only 12, and even drew a comic book based on the film while he was a kid. He wanted to be a comic book artist at that time.

He eventually decided to go into movies when he realized that his visual movement sensibilities were stronger than his drawing skills. He has also always been a major Alfred Hitchcock fan.

What's the deal with the rumors about TOTAL RECALL 2?

Actually, this film was in development at Carolco before the company went under. It was based on another story by Philip Dick, called MINORITY REPORT. The script was never finished before the film company went bankrupt, at which point, the rights to the film were sold to Miramax, and are now attached to Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise.

What are some of Paul Verhoeven’s future projects?

Nothing sci-fi on the horizon, but he would like to do a film based on the real-life of one of America’s first feminist women during the 1870s, named Victoria Woodhill, who started off as a prostitute and eventually ended up running for the Presidency of the United States. He would like to do this film if he gets the financing for it.

---------------------------------------------------------

VERHOEVEN as a person is quite talkative, uses a lot of hand gestures and speaks with an obvious Dutch accent, rambling on from time to time, but showing nothing but complete passion for what he does for a living. He also seems to be a really happy person. Not depressed or "deep in thought" about life and its consequences. He genuinely seems to be loving his life. Interesting fellow to listen to.

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2000

1) Day by day coverage by JoBlo and The Arrow

2) EXCLUSIVE new scenes from HOLLOW MAN

3) SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE / Director E. Elias Merhige / Behind the Scenes

4) X-MEN / Director Bryan Singer / Q& A Session

5) CROW 3 movie reviews / Panel with star Eric Mabius and producer Jeff Most

6) Harry Knowles: who is he, where did he come from and how did he get so popular?

7) HOLLOW MAN featurette / Paul Verhoeven Interview

8) The Official JoBlo/Comic Con PHOTO GALLERY!!!