Bizarre director calls film “the most drunken Disney movie ever”

Director Christopher Landon is back and bringing his style and genre know-how to another feature film, Weird featuring Vince vaughn and Kathryn newton. Newton plays Millie, a high school student who is a little wallflower while Vaughn steps in as local serial killer, The Butcher. The two cross paths late at night and when the Butcher attacks Millie, the ancient dagger he uses doesn’t kill her, but causes them to swap bodies.

With the film now in theaters, I had the chance to chat with Landon about his experience making the film. Check out our full conversation below to find out why an R-rating was vital on this one, the specific things Vaughn and Newton demanded of Landon as an acting director, and whether the events of Weird and Happy day of the dead take place in the same cinematic world.

COLLIDER: When we spoke for Happy Day of the Dead 2U, I remember you telling us Jason Blum was all for it, but the studio was a little nervous. Was it the same on Weird?

CHRISTOPHER LANDON: I think Jason is a great buffer and a good goalkeeper, so he maybe knew a lot more than I did. [Laughs] It was really quick, a really transparent start as far as Michael Kennedy, my co-writer, we wrote the script together, we gave the script to Jason on a Thursday night, then on Friday morning he came to see us. and said, “Okay, I have a green light. It happens. ‘It was really quick. And as long as I accept a certain level of budget, that’s it.

And I feel like what I don’t know is probably the PG-13 vs.R conversations that may have taken place in the background. It was a deciding factor for me. So I was like, ‘We’re making an R-rated movie. This movie is going to be bloody. And nobody told me anything about it, but I feel like at some point, sometimes, they must have brought it up with him.

Why was the R rating so important to you? What demanded it in this one?

LANDON: This movie demanded it because, I think conceptually, if you’re going to put a serial killer in the body of a shy, co-dependent, wallflower girl, then you have to pay that. And I think by doing something that was PG-13 and bloodless, I just think you would lose the impact of that. I’ve described this movie to people as kind of the most drunk Disney movie ever made because body swap movies are cute. They are always cute. It’s a cute concept. And so, I wanted it to kind of have this big bucket of blood spilled on it. And it was different from Happy day of the dead. Happy day of the dead to me it was a no-brainer to make this PG-13 movie because, conceptually again, we were still leading around the time of Tree’s death, but it wasn’t about seeing what happened to him. after or during. And so, it was easy to do PG-13. I actually think it’s better than we did PG-13. And there are some movies that I think should be PG-13! Why would you need to do Tremors R? Why would you need to do Fighting spirit R? Gremlins R?

I still can’t believe Fighting spirit is PG.

LANDON: I know! But of course we all know it was a PG-13 movie by the end of it. But there are just certain movies that make sense in that space, and then there are other movies that just don’t. No one wants to see a PG-13 evil Dead. So this was one of those movies that just felt like we’d be betraying the concept of the movie if we didn’t.

Speaking of concept, what were some of the slasher movie pillars that you knew were absolutely must-haves to infuse into this movie?

LANDON: I think we knew we needed the classic robotic killing machine, a man of very few words, so that we could kind of lean into those tropes and make fun of them a little bit. When people see, for example, the butcher’s lair where he lives, that’s the most hyper-realized version of it. But that’s stuff I was told about by all those other old horror movies that I watched growing up, where there were always disfigured models. We see this all the time in horror movies. And so it was pretty fun to throw those elements into this movie. But yeah, you had to have the mask, you had to have this giant creepy killer, and sure enough he’s got a really cool dagger in it.

Were there any smaller details in this regard that you were proud to have managed to get across and hope viewers will understand?

LANDON: There are definitely little nods and little Easter eggs and stuff in a lot of other movies. I want to say, many of them. But no, I think for me what was a lot more fun was sneaking into more subversive, more movie-centric content that isn’t traditionally in a horror movie and certainly not in a mass market horror film. A character like Joshua alone isn’t someone you typically see in this kind of movie, but I love that there is.

They are so good too!

LANDON: Misha [Osherovich] it’s incredible!

Your whole outfit is good, but Misha [Editor’s note: Osherovich uses they/them pronouns] in particular, on screen in the movie and in the interview we did earlier, their personality and energy just radiates off the screen.

LANDON: They are fantastic. What’s great about Misha too and what I liked about working with them is that they don’t think they’re funny. It’s true in the sense that the majority of their work has been really dramatic and he’s a really good actor. But I think the reason they work so well in the movie is that there’s an honesty in it all. They know who Joshua is, and I think we’ve all met Joshua at some point in our lives. They really had this character, so it wasn’t like some kind of caricature. He was a real person, and I think that’s what makes Joshua work and I think that’s what you see on screen.

How does it feel to work with Terri Taylor on the casting of your films? Time and time again now, your movies have introduced me to new faces and made me into a huge fan.

LANDON: I think Terri is one of the best in the business. It tastes impeccable. She never put anyone in front of me where I was like, ‘Well that’s just ridiculous! What were you thinking? ‘ No, she has great taste and a very good sense of talent. And I love that she’s always looking for new faces. It’s really fun working with her, and her whole office, everyone is awesome. It’s actually one of my favorite parts of the process of working with her.

Specifically with Kathryn and Vince, what does each of them require of you as an acting director to prepare for all of this?

LANDON: I think when it comes to Vince, what was unique to him was that I kind of had to figure out when to push and when to loosen the reins because there were times when I think he did. was hesitant to go anywhere. For example, he knew he was in a horror comedy, but sometimes he didn’t fully understand or I think he would suddenly enjoy when there were times in the movie that were actually quite emotional, and who caught him off guard. . And sometimes he would say, “Oh no, I shouldn’t be that emotional. Why am I moved? I’m like, ‘No, Vince, get emotional! Go ‘I wanted him to go there. I felt like that was what was going to give the film its heart and soul. I had to learn when to press the accelerator and when to press the brake with it. But then sometimes Vince just starts to be Vince and does things, and that’s when I kind of let myself step back and go, ‘Let’s just see where this goes because he’s gonna do. something crazy f * cking and it’s gonna be awesome. ‘

And then with Kathryn, I think for me that was largely permission. It was the encouragement and permission to step out of her comfort zone, and it really played out the most when she was The Butcher. She really understood who Millie was innately, but I think sometimes as The Butcher she kind of had to be really pushed to get to a place where she understood you could say these things. You can say these things, you can do these things and it’s okay. And when she arrived, she was unstoppable. It was part of the fun. It’s a lot of fun feeling and trying to see how we can all click and where that synergy is. But yes, I had it with both of them. This is always what I hope for and we have really enjoyed working together.

Apart from the notes, we have the impression Weird and Happy day of the dead could take place in the same cinematic world. Imagine this story taking place in another city in the same world Happy day of the dead exists in?

LANDON: Oh yeah! Totally! One hundred percent. I think they exist in the same spiritual universe, so to speak. I think I could easily see Tree and Millie get together and be like, “Well, you won’t believe what happened to me!” Because I think tonically they’re connected, I think they’re thematically connected in a weird way. And yes, I think it’s an easy and easy buy for sure.

I would like Happy day of the dead 3 good, but I wouldn’t want a crossover with these stories either.

LANDON: Well, you never know! We never know!