Leterrier’s vision of Clash of the Titans—which retains some essential plot points (release the Kraken!) while telling a brand new story—hits theaters this Friday against such counter-programming as Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too and the Miley Cyrus vehicle The Last Song—a far cry from June 12, 1981, when the original Clash of the Titans was released on the same exact day as something called Raiders of the Lost Ark.
When we spoke with him, Leterrier explained why he had to make such drastic changes to the plot of the original film—including the controversial removal of one quite polarizing Owl named Bubo (though, rest assured Clash fans, Bubo does make a quite hilarious cameo)—as well as why everybody was expecting his star Sam Worthinton's previous movie, Avatar, to bomb.
Did you have any reservations about directing this film and possibly screwing up a film you admired?
Oh, yeah. It’s funny, every movie I make I say “no” to at first. I didn’t want to do a remake, first of all. And I didn’t want to do a remake of a movie I loved growing up. It’s true that it’s the first movie I saw—I saw it before Star Wars. Not the first movie, but the first movie where creatures interact with actors. And it was like the magical universe of Disney that I was used to, but that was different because it was drawn; this was brand new. So, I told [Warner Brothers], “I understand why you’re remaking it: It makes sense, it’s exciting. But you shouldn’t. It’s bad. Don’t do this.” I left—I was promoting The Incredible Hulk [Leterrier's previous directorial effort] —and I kept thinking about it and I kept reading the screenplay. Although the screenplay needed work, I was like, Oh, this is such an amazing universe; that’s a universe I want to visit. I called them back and I said, “Without making a big announcement that I’m directing it, can we try writing it? Can we try meeting actors?” And they said yes.
What about the original film did you want to change?
I watched the original again. I went to a shop and bought the DVD and the stuff I love was still there. But it’s funny: memory is the best editor. So it was like, Oh, really? This was in it? It’s that simple? He goes on a journey because he fell in love with her? Really? I felt like what needed the most work was not the creatures, because they were fantastic (and, yes, we use different technology to bring them to life). It was really the story and the motivation. Why would this guy go on this suicide mission, this impossible mission, for the love of a princess? That was not working for me.
I think if you’re in a certain age range, and even with all its flaws, you have to love the original film. When I was six years old, this was one of my favorite movies.
And for you Americans, it’s even more! Because everyone tells me it was on HBO every winter. there were only three movies on HBO in the beginning.
Right, I think they were Airplane!, Midnight Madness, and Clash of the Titans.
Exactly, so you were watching this movie and you’re so used to it. For me it was different: I saw it once in a movie theater, then 10 years later on VHS, then 20 years later on DVD. But the memory of it just jolted me and made me who I am today: a dreamer. You cannot say yes to a project like this right away, but you cannot say no. Let’s do it differently, I said. Let’s keep the Clash of the Titans name and keep The Kraken, Medusa, the witches, and Pegasus. But let’s make the rest quite different. And let’s explain the interaction: How are gods linked to humans? How are humans feeling that they’ve had enough of the gods? And how can they fight the gods? That’s an insane proposition: A war between god and man.
Where was Sam Worthington in his career when he signed on to play Perseus? Had Terminator: Salvation been released yet?
Terminator was not out. Nothing. He was nowhere.
Well, that had to be a pleasant surprise, that now he’s starred in the biggest box-office success of all time. How closely did you follow the box-office numbers of Avatar, knowing he was the lead in Clash of the Titans?
He had just finished... actually, he never finished Avatar. That kept going. Avatar was still shooting when we were done with Clash of the Titans. Avatar was a weird project when I spoke to Sam for the first time. It was a project that everyone was like, Really? Aliens? Blue? James Cameron? Sam Worthington? Who is that guy? Avatar turned out to be great but everybody, everybody was bracing for impact. They were like, Oh my God, look at the King of the World, here he is, he’s going to crash and burn. And Sam was linked to that.
With Sam as your star, were you bracing for impact if Avatar bombed?
I don’t think in these terms. I’m not a guy who reads the tracking numbers, or who reads the box-office. I don’t really care about that. I met a great actor when I met Sam. I met a great friend. I met a great guy I could relate to. We spoke for hours about the character and that’s the sort of communion I want to have with an actor when stepping onto a project like this. I need the face of the movie, my wingman, to be like me, to be my twin. I didn’t care about that. If Avatar had been the biggest, most horrible flop in movie history, Sam is still a great actor. Sam would have kept being a great actor. Yes, he’s done this great, big, successful movie, but he’s still humble. This has not changed him. You know what? It has changed him a little bit. It’s made him a little bit more secure in his choices.
Who was the toughest actor to replace from the original? Ammon stands out for me. Played by Burgess Meredith in the original, it’s now not a central role.
The Burgess Meredith character, for me, was always like Mr. Exposition. He was explaining everything. I don’t think in this movie it’s necessary because Perseus, to an audience member, is the one lost in this new world. I didn’t want it to be voiced by a single character. I wanted different people, from different walks of life. And that’s why I created so many new characters around Perseus to go with him.
I get the impression you’re also not on Team Bubo? [A “lovable’ armored Owl from the original film.]
Bubo I loved when I was eight. It’s funny, people don’t really care that we’re remaking Clash of the Titans. What they care about, what they get passionate about, is the Bubo camp versus the No Bubo camp. It’s like, What made this movie terrible was Bubo! versus Oh, no, that’s what made this movie interesting! He brought levity! Blah blah, blah. (Laughs.) Clash of the Titans came out three or four years after Star Wars. Bubo was Clash of the Titans’ equivalent of R2-D2. And I didn’t want that sort of easy comic relief. So I decided just to have him a little bit in there to pay homage to the original one—but not that much. I’m not sure that Bubo was [producer and visual effects director of the original film] Ray Harryhausen’s favorite character.
Speaking of Ray Harryhausen, what’s your opinion of the stop-motion animation used in the original film versus C.G.I.? The Medusa scene in the original film still freaks me out to this day.
I love stop-motion. I talked to Ray Harryhausen a couple of times and I wanted him to do one stop-motion sequence, just to put in it. Although even if he had accepted, I don’t think we would have edited it in. It doesn’t fit that photo-realistic look. In 10 or 20 years people will ask what we think of computer-simulated realities, C.G.R., versus that old C.G.I.. Stuff is just moving forward and the artistry of C.G.I. is as exciting as the stop-motion artistry from 30, 40, or 60 years ago. I love Ray Harryhausen. I called him twice and kissed the ring. I was like, “Sir, you are my hero and I’m hoping to pay homage to your great movie and your great work by doing Clash of the Titans. The only thing he said was, “Be careful to your cast. We had a great cast.” So I really followed his advice. So thanks, Ray, I followed your advice and I got a great cast and got great performances.
