With the trailer arriving earlier today, and the news that both I Am Number Four and fellow Disney/DreamWorks release Real Steel will be seeing release in the IMAX format, it’s not completely a coincidence that Empire got a chance to chat with director DJ Caruso as he slaved over a hot Avid machine with editor Jim Page at the Amblin offices on the Universal lot in Los Angeles.
Caruso showed off several scenes from the movie, including one set in a school hallway that features Teresa Palmer’s Number Six saving John and Sarah from their evil extraterrestrial attackers in a moment that definitely had echoes of Terminator 2. So we couldn’t resist asking if this is the director of Disturbia and Eagle Eye channelling his inner James Cameron.
“Maybe in a sci-fi way,” he laughs. “I think there's a little bit of that. I did some Dark Angel way back in the day and Cameron worked on the pilot, which was kind of fun, but yeah, I think it's a little bit of everything that you take from. It's fun studying the gunshots from alien weapons and we studied all these movies from **Star Wars **to G.I. Joe, trying to figure out what energy and how it works in the guns. Anyone would like to channel a little Cameron!”
And there are some other slightly well known directors actively involved with the film as producers: Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay. “Steven came in on Friday,” reveals Caruso. He's right across the way, so any time we want to show him something- visual effects things, he comes in. Whenever we're stuck, like when we have two versions of something and we're not sure, I'll always try to get his opinion.”
As for Bay? It won’t surprise you to learn that he has his own specialties… “Michael Bay is really helpful with ILM and the monsters and how you get these things integrated and what atmosphere to add and depth of field and focus on lenses, so he's been really helpful that way. A lot of times, he'll be up at ILM and call and say, 'Do you want me to go into your room and check things out?' and he'll go do that, so he's great that way. And Steven's helpful in story shaping. So it's a good combination. But for Michael Bay, my act three or reel six is his reel one! And I'd say probably four or five times the budget!”
And as for those creatures, Caruso seems excited to have one of - if not the best – effects house in the business shouldering some of the burden of bringing I Am Number Four to the screen. “ILM is doing the creatures, but we don't have them at our disposal the way that someone else might have! We had to kind of beg them to take us, I think the producers sort of guilted them into it. So we're kind of a small show for them, but what I found was they're the most creative in really trying to do certain things and even making suggestions to Jim Page the editor and I as we're cutting about shots. It's fascinating to see how things work.
"When you grow up dreaming of making movies and you get to do visual effects at ILM, you feel like you made it. Lots of times, my frustration with visual effects houses is they're like contractors who just redid your kitchen. You go in there and it's crooked, and you say, 'Something's f****d up here, right?' And they go, 'No, no, come stand over here...' So I find that a lot, but I don't find that with ILM.” Bet they’d be rubbish with sinks, though.
**I am Number Four **is out on February 18.