There are so many days that I am reminded that living in New York City is much like living in a dream. Exploring the streets with the girls will sometimes take us to the set of a movie. A simple picnic in the park will have us running into Barbara Walters (literally.) The street in front of our apartment building will be shut down for a movie with Channing Tatum, Jude Law,Bradley Cooper, or Will Farrell (all four have filmed right outside our door.)
It’s these little things that have become our ordinary and yet they are so unordinary at the same time.
Late last year I had the opportunity to live in one of those dreams as I actually set foot onto a New York City film set to see the newest DreamWorks film, Delivery Man. The movie, starring Vince Vaughn and Cobie Smulders, follows the life of a man (Vaughn) whose donations to a fertility clinic have him learning he has fathered 533 children. His world is turned upside down as he learns to face reality and be a dad.
We sat down with writer and director Ken Scott on the set of the film. It’s always so interesting to speak with someone with so much passion about a film. Scott originally wrote and filmed this movie in France and has now decided to do an American version, making the film rather unique.
“There’s very little examples of this, of a director re-doing his own movie.” admitted Scott, “I had the chance to see the original movie with many American audiences, and I saw their reactions and I really thought that, it was a story that could really connect with an American audience. It’s the same story, yet it’s just integrated into the American culture.”
Although Scott had already done the same movie in France, he didn’t want it to be an exact replica of the original.
“Directing a remake, especially since it was my original, I had to get into a frame of mind of making sure that two things may seem opposite. I wanted to make sure everyone that I worked with – the actors, all the heads of departments, and even myself, I wanted to make sure that we were not just copying something. Because, you know, we wouldn’t have that great creative energy, the magic that you want in a movie.” said Scott, “For me that was very important not to just copy something. But then again, I didn’t want to be trying to make something different just for the sake of making something different. So, you know, basically I tried to forget the other movie and just go through the same process. And sometimes going through the same process you end up exactly at the same place, but at least you know why you’re there. And it feels the same thing and it feels real.”
So why choose New York City over all of the other American cities for his re-make of the film?
“You know, five hundred and thirty-three kids have to live in the same town”
Good point.
Stayed tuned later this week for my exclusive interviews with both Vince Vaughn and Cobie Smulders!
Delivery Man hits theaters November 22.
{Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I was invited on the set of the movie. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}
