Skip to main content

Happy 10th to War of the Worlds


It's time for another celebration.

On this day, 10 years ago Steven Spielberg's adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds went on general release in the US.

To celebrate this, let's take a few looks behind the scenes of the making of the film that had a 72-day shooting schedule, just like Spielberg's Schindler's List and Raiders of the lost ark before that.


war of the worlds spielberg

war of the worlds spielberg
Spielberg directing his main stars: 
Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning

war of the worlds spielberg

war of the worlds spielberg

The film was originally slated for a 2007 release, however when both the director and the star became available, it was decided that the new date would be 2005, even though that left Spielberg and his team only 7 months between the first day of shooting and the premiere. 

To achieve that Steven decided to start off by filming the various mass-sequences first and he decided to step down from his usual storyboarding and opted for a digital Pre-Vis system George Lucas had demonstrated to him during the making of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

war of the worlds spielberg
Spielberg directing one of the mass scenes

dennis muren and steven spielberg
Dennis Muren and Steven Spielberg on set

dennis muren and steven spielberg



Producer Kathleen Kennedy, 
Director Steven Spielberg and D.o.P. Janusz Kaminski


Stunt Co-ordinator Vic Armstrong giving advice 
to star Tom Cruise and Director and Steven Spielberg

Concept Maquette by Jordu Schell

Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning

One of the alien-designs

Scripter David Koepp


War of the Worlds marked the third collaboration between David Koepp and Steven Spielberg, where David wrote the screenplay for a film Steven directed. But David wasn't the first choice. Originally Steven asked J.J. Abrams to write the screenplay, but due to other commitments (Abrams' was working on the pilot for Lost at the time) J.J. turned down the offer.

Here's a transcript of an interview David did, in the days preceding the premiere of War of the Worlds.


And for those who don't remember what the film was all about: 





On the day War of the Worlds opened in the US, Steven started principal photography on his next project: Munich, that would open in 2005 as well.

Happy Birthday.

Ronny.

The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and John Williams

THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK
THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER
THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+
THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST

CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Paul Freeman Accidentally Eat A Fly In Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Famous Indiana Jones Fly In Belloq's Mouth Scene.  Did It Really Happen? I've always wondered if Paul Freeman unintentionally consumed a fly in this scene in  Raiders of the Lost Ark ?  It's the scene where Indiana Jones shouts down to Bellosh...I mean Belloq and threatens to blow up the ark.  Did a fly go in his mouth? I remember watching this scene back in the early eighties and my ten year old mind thought he definitely had a snack while filming.  I recall talking about 'flygate' in my school playground at the time and the general consensus with my friends was that Freeman definitely had a sneaky snack. Paul Freeman talks about the famous 'fly' scene in an interview with TheIndyExperience.com  and settled 'flygate:' This is a bit of a dicey question so don’t get too upset. (Laughs) A movie’s always got bloopers in it, some have a lot, and some only have three or four. And the most remarkable blooper was right before the opening of th

Star Wars VII Movie Poster - Every End Is A New Beginning

Star Wars VII Movie Poster Just saw this Star Wars VII movie poster on Kyle Newman's Facebook fee d.  The poster is by  Lyndon Berresford and Paul Bateman.  I am loving this.  Who do you think the two characters are?  Lando and Leia?  Han and Leia's children? Have you seen other Star Wars VII movie posters?  Let me know. Rob Wainfur @welshslider

Pinewood Studios To Expand To The Usa

BBC News have reported that Pinewood Studios are to expand to the USA.  This is great news for the famous studio that is rich in movie history. UK film studio Pinewood Shepperton has announced plans to build its first sound stages in the United States. The Pinewood Atlanta complex will be built on 288 acres of land south of Atlanta, Georgia, as a joint venture with a US investment company. Georgia has been among the US states drawing film-making away from Hollywood with tax incentives in recent years. The deal is the latest sign of expansion at Pinewood, the home of the James Bond franchise. Earlier this month it announced a joint venture with a Chinese media group, potentially giving it access to the fast-growing Chinese market. Read the full article here. THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+