Gravity is now in theatres and despite a very complicated and long production, it has proven to be a tremendous success. The film is critically adored and moviegoers of all demographics seem to be raving about it. While all is well and good for Alfonso Cuarón’s space set thriller now that it’s finally out, that doesn’t mean that the road to theatres wasn’t paved with some bumps.
In a recent interview with i09, the director opened up about some of the initial feedback he received from Warner Bros. when he first pitched the film. One of the studio’s initial concerns was that there weren’t enough scenes taking place at Mission Control in Houston.
“…there are a lot of ideas. People start suggesting other stuff. ‘You need to cut to Houston, and see how the rescue mission goes,’ ” Cuaron told io9.
Another concern that the good folks at Warner Bros. had was that there were no flashbacks depicting Ryan Stone’s (played by Sandra Bullock) backstory.
“A whole thing with…a romantic relationship with the Mission Control Commander, who is in love with her. All of that kind of stuff. What else? To finish with a whole rescue helicopter, that would come and rescue her. Stuff like that,” Cuarón explained.
As much as I hate when studios stick their hands into a film and try to ruin the director’s vision, it’s easy to understand why it took a while for Warner Bros. to warm up to Gravity. It’s a wildly ambitious film and one that was a massive undertaking for all who were involved.
Luckily, everything worked out and thanks to Cuarón and his strong vision, we now have one of the best films of the year, if not the decade. I’m happy that in the end the studio allowed him to keep the whole thing set in space, for the most part, as flashbacks and cutting to the team in Houston would have broken some of the immersion. The film is perfect the way it is and if you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to see it in IMAX as soon as you can.
