HEY, it?s 1 AM. You know what, **** it. Let?s be real here.
Chronicle was an incredibly rare and easy ride. I loved writing the script. I enjoyed our producer, John Davis, and our exec, Steve. I also loved collaborating with Josh, who I think is brilliant, and whose ideas inspired my script. I fought hard for him to direct. But Chronicle was a complete fluke. We had so much control because the movie was, in relation to other movies that year, TINY. Some holes opened up in Fox?s slate and Chronicle was cheap and unique, so they were kind enough to make it. Only took 6 months.
At the time, I was like ?THIS IS ****ING INCREDIBLE I CAN?T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING.? I?d sold scripts, but it was my first greenlight. Josh, who?d been for-hire editor and whose only experience behind the camera had been a web series, was a smart, fun collaborator.
During the shooting of the film, I had almost no input, but I was lucky in that the studio and Josh stuck astonishingly tight to my script. But again, even this is a fluke. It was an original idea, a dark character movie with a first time director. Fluke. Freak of nature. But I didn?t know that and I?m sure Josh didn?t know that either. In the five years since I sold Chronicle, I?ve learned the hard way.
You take huge hits in this industry, creatively, but that?s only after you?ve been given the opportunity to take huge swings, which is rare. A movie like Fantastic Four, an assignment with a lot riding on it, was always going to have a tremendous amount of cooks in the kitchen. People always ask me when I?m gonna write a superhero movie. I have. I?ve gotten those jobs. They?re very intense and stressful.
As a writer, I?ve been lucky to work on many, many projects, and seen how different and how hard each road can be, for five and a half years. Josh didn?t get that chance, and his second major project, after one with total freedom, was one with intense oversight. So I don?t think anyone?s wrong or right, necessarily, and I don?t imagine anyone cares about my opinion. But I do think it?s important to say that if you?re not prepared going in to not FIGHT like hell, but WORK like hell, it?s gonna get ugly.
No one is trying to make a bad movie. This job is only very occasionally romantic. Don?t let it own you, try not to let it hurt you. Because sometimes it?s so much ****ing fun. But it?s still a job.?
