WGTC: Or what about crazy radicals from other countries coming to the US to purge? Draw even more inspiration from The Warriors and have groups from different countries taking part in our Purge like gang warfare…
James DeMonaco: Exactly. In a weird way, it’s almost so endless, thinking about it becomes overwhelming. Like you said, are you going to bring people overseas to the US? Do we go overseas ourselves? Do we follow Michael K. Williams? Now I’ve got to juggle all this stuff! [Laughs]
WGTC: Also, when you look at Frank Grillo’s car…
James DeMonaco: No one else has brought that up yet. Thank you!
WGTC: How has no one brought that up yet? What a sweet ride that is, plus it helps build the whole Purge atmosphere as its own universe where these souped-up creations can exist.
James DeMonaco: There’s all this ceremonial stuff that goes along with purging. Fortifying your car, your windows, wearing body armor, so – you know, I was so pissed. Thanks for bringing up the car! That took me a lot of time!
WGTC: Well I ask because I want to know if people are preparing for The Purge all year round, like kids get brand new shotguns for Christmas instead of a bike…
James DeMonaco: I wrote a lot of webisodes for the first movie that never got shot where it was exactly that. It was all this stuff where we saw more of the ceremony. You see all the buildup where yes, for Christmas kids are getting Purge gear, because the movie is really a statement about guns in America, but that’s exactly it.
WGTC: So what happens after The Purge? Again, another movie! How does someone go to work with someone they might have shot and only wounded?
James DeMonaco: Or even in the first one, the neighbors who tried to kill Ethan Hawke’s family, they have to wake up the next day, mow their lawns, and look directly at each other. I think that’s interesting. Now you have to live with whatever happened, but everyone is probably just holding that anger for the next Purge. Each Purge is fueled by this anger, it’s an exponential thing where the increments keep growing into more violence each year because all these people are getting pissed off at The Purge.
Here’s the other question, does The Purge lead to a falsely polite society where we don’t want to piss anyone off because they might come for you next Purge? Everyone is a killer. I might piss you off in this interview, and you might come for me, so now I might not do that – not that I would – but I might be afraid you’ll come get me. Everything forces everybody into a The Stepford Wives type of scenario, just very strange.
WGTC: But is that not better?
James DeMonaco: Maybe it is? Who knows. It’s this false ideal that’s been created.
WGTC: Can we just write the next Purge movie right now? Me and you?
James DeMonaco: Dude, let’s do this thing right now, you’ve got more thoughts than I do! [Laughs] Lovin’ it.
WGTC: Oh, I just have way too much time to think about this stuff – but I’ll be waiting for your call any time. Alright, getting to the production of The Purge: Anarchy, how was it working with both Blumhouse Production and Platinum Dunes? Did it help financially? What do they bring?
James DeMonaco: On the first film we were at $2.7 million. This time around I’m not allowed to say, but we did have more budget, not by much, and by Hollywood standards we were still tiny. You’re making this film out of studio, for the amount of money we had, and it’s still so tiny – Universal made Battleship for about $150 million, so to us, we’re still just given beans. I found out that the catering on Oblivion cost more than both Purge movies put together, so with such a small budget, your producers tend to leave you alone.
With Jason Blum, you get this wonderful creative freedom. Now, with that freedom, you’re not guaranteed any kind of release, so it goes both ways. What Platinum Dunes gives you is access to great artisans, great technicians who have worked on these blockbuster epics. I had the best special effects guy, which is huge on a movie like this, who worked on Transformers – yet he’s on my tiny little film! Then I’ve got my third producer who is actually my main producer, Sebastien Lemercier, the daily guy sitting next to me – my overseer – so it’s an interesting thing. But you know you have backup [with all of them]. If shit hits the fan…
WGTC: Did you draw up any characters in either Purge movie from real psychopaths?
James DeMonaco: This is going to sound weird, but everything I write is based on Charles Manson. I love true crime, and I was obsessed with Manson as a child because I accidentally saw this movie – circumstances I won’t get into – but it was a 1970s miniseries. I saw that at 6 years old and it truly messed me up, I didn’t sleep for years. So yeah, everything from me is informed from my viewing of Manson and love for true crime. There’s no one specific psychopath for any one character, but some definitely stem from all the shit I’ve read over the years.