The word “epic” is often mentioned, but GrendelThis is a real-life retelling of John Gardner’s 1971 novel of the same name, and it’s no exaggeration. Writer-director Robert D. Krzykowski adapted the book into a modern classic that retells the old British epic beowulf See it from the perspective of the monster Grendel, who has been terrorizing the Danish kingdom of Hrothgar for 12 years.
The cast is epic too, with Jeff Bridges as the titular monster, Bryan Cranston as King Hrothgar, Dave Bautista as the warrior Beowulf, T. Burnett plays the blind, harp-playing Shaper.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop handles the creature work and design. Filming will begin next year in Europe.
Palisades Park Pictures is handling international sales; CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group represent North American rights.
hollywood reporter recently spoke with Krzykovsky about Grendel’s deeply conflicted worldview and why his story will never get old.
There are many movies based on mythology, fantasy and comic book worlds. It’s strange that Grendel’s story wasn’t explored more in the movie.
completely. i think it is [the] Rooted in mythology – you know, comic books are kind of our modern mythology – and then you have Beowulf, which is kind of like the original comic book hero, and Grendel is the ultimate, original villain in English literature — So we go back to the roots.
you have been with Grendel for a long time. Tell me about your relationship to this book.
This is something we learned in high school, and I was just fascinated by it because we read all kinds of books at the time— to kill a mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye and Don’t be proud of death ——They all caused topics, but about Grendelthe whole classroom was lit up. everyone has something to do
Arguably, everyone has their own theories, which compete with their personal philosophies, religious leanings, and political leanings. It’s great to see young people getting involved and it sparks conversations, which has always stuck with me.
From left: Jim Henson Co.’s Brian Henson and Allan Trautman.
How familiar were the actors with Grendel’s story, especially Jeff Bridges, Bryan Cranston and T. Burnett?
T Bone is probably the person who understands this world and this philosophy best. philosopher [Jean-Paul] Sartre – T Bone actually created a Twyla Tharp movement piece about Sartre in New York. So, there is Grendel While getting close to him, he really understood the way John Gardner was trying to overturn Sartre’s philosophy – it was really ironic. [how] It’s too difficult and too much for you to philosophize, [and] You may miss the forest for the trees and a life worth living. So T Bone figured it out pretty quickly because he was already living in that zeitgeist. Jeff has a deep philosophy about how we should operate in the world, and I think Grendel This is a very interesting warning. [Jeff] There was a lot of talk about the yin and yang of everyone and Grendel, who is really a conflicted character, I think he found that really interesting. [Grendel] Eventually he gets into a situation from which he can’t save himself, which we all agree is an interesting warning when you’re dealing with monsters. It’s a great lens to look at yourself through, because you’re inherently less critical of others—you get this monster and it becomes your proxy.
The Shaper is a unique character who exerts an almost magical power through music. How did you decide to cast Burnett in this role?
Jeff and I discussed the issue and he wanted me to see T Bone immediately. He said, “I think you’re really going to like him,” because we’re talking about musicians who fit the mold. T Bone jumped on Zoom with Jeff and me, and he had this beautiful, soft, whispery voice that sounded like you wanted him to read a novel to you. Then he started sharing inspirational poetry, and a couple of the songs he’s written recently are really incredible in the style of what we’re doing. when he is reading GrendelT Bone said, “Everything in this is something that I’m really thinking about right now, so I really wanted to illustrate that in the music of this film.”
Is Burnett writing the score?
Joe Kramer, he did it Mission: Impossible: – “Mysterious Country” and Jack Reacher and The man who killed hitler and bigfootwill write the symphony for the film, and T Bone will write all the Mead Hall music and all the Shaper songs. So they express different styles of the film.
GrendelThis book is written in the first person. Will Grendel narrate the film?
Of course, Grendel is an untrustworthy narrator, and we see everything through his eyes. So he talks to us, he tells, and we hear his thoughts. He talks to other characters who can’t necessarily hear him, and sometimes he imagines the conversations they’re having with him. …So instead of always having him watch from the mead hall window, sometimes he would just sit at a table in the mead hall and no one would recognize him, but he could be in the room illuminated by real light , and feel more like a part of the kingdom of Hrothgar and his people. So it brings a sense of intimacy and now the actors are very close to him. It’s kind of like: you know every rule, you’re breaking every rule, but you know exactly what the audience is going to accept psychologically.
renderings Grendel From The Jim Henson Company
Tell me about Grendel’s face design. This is very different from the novel covers many people saw growing up.
This sounds interesting but we were looking for the right shape and we didn’t want the face to be too flat and humanoid. We want him to be scary and you’ll believe he can take on all these fighters. So it felt like he needed to get into that mode – you want to create a classic movie monster, a memorable movie monster. One day while I was sketching, I was looking at the Pink Panther and the shape of his head. I just love the rounded head and nose, and I started thinking that the way Grendel teased Hrothgar reminded me of the way the Pink Panther taunted and teased Inspector Crusoe. And then I started thinking, “This is really neat for a creature show, because now the head is no longer down at the actor, and it’s not in their face. It’s going to be above them, which is a great thing about puppets, animatronic puppets.” Real opportunity. So you have the person off-screen controlling the eyes and the mouth, and then the person underneath is really focused on a dance-like movement, like what Jeff Bridges did in Skywalker. [Ranch] Because of his physical performance. Here are some ideas. I like [Arthur Rankin Jr.-Jules Bass] 1977 hobbit — I just think the character designs are so cute. I just love that design but I’ve never seen anything like it [design] in 3D. These are some inspirations for trying to make it a reality. Then we collaborated with two artists from Herne Hill, Jordan Nieuwland and Nikita Lebedev [Media]interpreting my sketches and trying one version after another until you see the three-dimensional version you have now.
How much of the set do you plan to shoot on stage compared to the actual set?
About a quarter or a fifth of the movie will probably make it to the stage. Very, very handmade and very fantasy. I think of Ridley Scott’s legend There’s also some sneaky stage work, and [Jim Henson Co.’s 1987 TV series] storyteller ——It uses every technique in the book to tell the story fascinatingly, while also constantly bringing you new artistic surprises. Grendel Divided into a series of chapters, each one is very unique. As such, these provide opportunities for real transitions between chapters. …and then I wanted to use as many outdoor physical locations as possible, just because it had that Terrence Malick texture [where] The camera was free and with Grendel and able to live with him. I think it’s going to feel really good to the audience.
Grendel It is a bloody story with some strong blood flavor. How would you feel about violence?
We all agreed to make a PG-13 movie, but that meant we didn’t necessarily get to spill blood on the screen. But all we had was really grueling action scenes. So it’s like some Hong Kong-style guy stringing where people spin up to the rafters, break through tables, and get thrown into the fireplace.
Grendel grew up watching humans kill each other and destroy the environment. He desperately wants to believe in a better world, but he is filled with anger and despair. Given the state of the world today, it’s hard not to agree with some of his feelings. Did you discuss this with the actors?
I guess none of us are angry people, but we all need an outlet, and Grendel provides that outlet. He’s an angry, cynical, deep thinker trying to make a difference in the world but not knowing how. I think we’re all asking some big questions, the big questions of life, and Grendel just asks them over and over again in about 20 different, really interesting ways. We just found it really nice to talk to each other about it. This is therapeutic. So I think that’s one of the gifts of the job, is that the more you think about it, the more you understand yourself, or your flaws, or the world. Because it’s bold enough to ask those questions and trust that you won’t answer them, so that’s the real art, that’s really smart writing. I think that’s why it keeps revisiting people. Grendel It didn’t go away and I again felt like it could be written today.
