The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Clip: Scarlett Johansson Talks Black Widow and Working With Daniel Adler Again
FALLON:
"Black Widow is finally here, Marvel's first movie with a female lead. How about that?"
[Applause and cheers.]
FALLON:
"Huge movie. Huge. People are very excited."
SCARLETT:
"Yeah, it took a while. Yeah."
FALLON:
"Yes, yes, it did. The other team made one years ago so it is a bit late for you guys."
[Audience laughs.]
SCARLETT:
"They did, they did. I remember telling Kevin this like what are we waiting for, let's do it, let's get the movie made. It's a character I've lived with for a long time now, so getting to finally do this movie has been really special."
[More talking about the movie.]
FALLON:
"And after that, you're busy. You're always busy, which is good. I heard you're doing a movie with Daniel Adler."
SCARLETT:
"I am, yeah. I got to work with Daniel again, which was really nice."
FALLON:
"Daniel Adler."
[The audience immediately applauds and cheers.]
FALLON:
"He was here a few days ago."
FALLON:
"He is very funny, man love having him on the show. He is also a busy man. I mean, he has a book coming out, a movie coming out. What's next? Is he going to act?"
SCARLETT:
"Oh, he is a horrible actor, so that's not happening."
[Fallon does his loud laugh, leaning back and clapping his hands.]
FALLON:
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! I mean, we can't be sure. He has already done some unbelievable stuff. I wouldn't put it past him."
[The audience laughs.]
FALLON:
"But I know you two go way back. I think it was one of your first big movie roles. I think it was his first movie as well."
SCARLETT:
"Yes, The Blair Witch Project."
[The audience applauds again.]
SCARLETT:
"That was a really important movie for both of us. I mean, we were both so young, and none of us really knew what it was going to become. It was this strange little movie we made, and then after that, suddenly, everything changed."
FALLON:
"And now you're working with him again."
SCARLETT:
"Yes, the movie is called The Usual Suspects."
FALLON:
"Robert Downey Jr. is in it too, I'm told."
[The audience cheers loudly.]
SCARLETT:
"Yes, Robert is in it, and he's great. Really great. The whole cast is incredible: Paul Dano, Tom Hardy, Alfred Molina."
SCARLETT:
"It's a great movie. I can't wait for people to see it."
FALLON:
"Well, it's a Daniel Adler movie, so it has to be good. That's the rule of the universe now."
[Scarlett laughs as the audience cheers and laughs.]
[The clip continues with the rest of the interview.]
==========
"Nice of her to give us some free promotion," I said as I watched the clip from The Tonight Show on the tablet Graves was holding toward me.
Black Widow was coming out in a week, and I was going to its premiere tomorrow. Four weeks after that, Wonder Woman 2 would release.
Two female-led superhero movies from Marvel and DC releasing within a month of each other.
There was no way fandoms were going to handle that calmly.
They were already fighting online about which one would gross more, which one would review better, which one was more important for women in cinema, which actress was better, and which costume looked better.
The usual.
A normal person might look at two major superhero movies led by women and think, oh, that's nice.
Marvel and DC fans chose war.
Graves lowered the tablet slightly.
"She has mentioned the movie a few times during the press tour," she said.
I smiled and looked out the window at the city passing by.
We were in a car heading toward the Walt Disney lot in Burbank.
I had been personally invited by Bob Iger to watch an early screening of The Last Jedi.
Six months before release.
A very unfinished version, obviously. Probably temp effects, unfinished sound, maybe even some placeholder music.
I never thought I would watch this movie again.
I mean, I had watched it in my old life. It had been one of those movies that became impossible to talk about without turning into an argument.
Personally, I had not liked it. I was a huge Luke Skywalker fan, and Luke's story arc in that movie just did not work for me. Not most of it, anyway. The ending with Kylo was great. I would give the movie that. Luke facing him without really being there, the final sunset. That all worked beautifully.
But everything before that?
No, I did not like it.
The movie was beautiful. I could never argue against that. Visually, it was gorgeous. Some shots were stunning.
But it also oscillated between boring and annoying for long stretches.
Canto Bight felt like a pointless side quest that somehow took up too much time and not enough meaning. I did not know what the hell they were thinking with the Finn and Rose romance. The movie took the new main characters The Force Awakens had created, Finn, Rey, and Poe, and seemed determined to make sure they spent as little time together as possible.
Luke was mishandled until the very end.
And my boy Ackbar deserved better.
There were people who absolutely hated it. I understood their reasons.
There were also people who liked it. Even loved it. I understood their reasons too.
That was what made the whole thing exhausting.
Looking back, The Last Jedi was basically the movie that caused the big modern rift in the Star Wars fanbase. Not the first rift, obviously. People acted like Star Wars fandom had been peaceful before that, which was hilarious. The prequels had been bashed for years. Brutally. Loudly. With a level of cruelty people later pretended never happened.
The reality was, Star Wars had always meant different things to different people. This movie just shined a very bright, very ugly light on that.
Which made me very curious to see how it played in this world.
Because this world was different. A lot of culture and politics were different. Maybe the movie would be the same, but it could be received differently. Who knew? I was pretty sure I would find out in six months.
"Are you sure you don't want to watch the movie?" I asked Graves, knowing full well how much of a Star Wars fan she was.
She looked at me like I had insulted her.
"Why would I want to watch an unfinished movie?"
"I mean, you've been looking forward to this since the teaser dropped."
"I can wait."
"You can?"
"Yes."
"Very mature of you, Graves."
"Daniel," she said, turning toward me fully, "remember who handles your emails."
I blinked.
"Okay."
"I do not want spoilers."
"That feels like a threat."
"It is."
She folded her hands neatly over the tablet.
"I want to see the finished film in a theater like a normal person."
She pointed at me.
"No spoilers."
"Okay, okay. I hear you."
"Good."
I leaned back as the car turned into the Disney lot, and security waved us through after checking the vehicle.
Making Rogue One had been frustrating so far, especially now that the script was in the rewrite and finalizing stage. I wanted the same things from the original Rogue One movie, with some extra stuff added. A war movie set just before A New Hope. A morally gray rebel cell. A brutal look at the Empire. A story that showed the Death Star as the terrifying weapon it actually was, not just a giant ball in space waiting for Luke to shoot the exhaust port.
I wanted the movie to feel like a desperate mission carried out by people who were never going to get medals in front of cheering crowds. Vader would be in it, obviously, but I did not want to use him too much. His presence would be felt, and then at the end, when the audience thought the movie had ended, he would appear properly and maul and tear through the rebels in that great hallway scene.
I wanted all the good parts from the Rogue One I remembered, but I also planned to add some things to make the movie better.
The team at Lucasfilm had ideas too.
Unfortunately.
Some of them wanted the main characters to survive.
Which was insane.
Others wanted to focus heavily on a romance between Jyn and Cassian. Also insane, or at least wrong for the movie I wanted to make. The script intentionally avoided an explicit romance. Their bond was supposed to be built through trust and shared trauma.
If some of them had their way, the entire middle of the film would have turned into romantic longing between them.
Then there were the Vader ideas.
Some wanted him to appear more. Some wanted him to replace Krennic as the main villain.
Which sounded cool for about three seconds until you realized it made the movie smaller. Vader was too big. If he was everywhere, everything bent around him. The Empire would once again feel like just Vader and some people who answered emails for him.
Some wanted the droid to be more comedic.
Some wanted more merchandise-friendly characters.
Some wanted the ending softened.
And a hundred other things that were not necessarily bad in isolation, but were simply not needed.
That was the thing about studio notes. A lot of them were not bad. A lot of them were not even stupid. They were just wrong for the movie I was making.
The good thing was that my contract helped me with some things.
Not all things.
Some.
Enough that they could not steamroll me completely, but not enough that I could simply tell everyone to shut up and go away.
The official production start was scheduled for this month, June, though that mostly meant the machine was moving now. Casting would begin in November. Principal photography would start in September next year.
The release date, after post-production, was set for December 2020.
There was also going to be a big reveal at D23, which I was expected to attend. Disney wanted everyone to know that Daniel Adler was working with them now.
The car parked outside one of the buildings, and Graves stepped out first. I followed.
Someone was already waiting for us.
"Mr. Adler," she said with a bright smile. "Mr. Iger is already inside."
"Great," I said.
Graves stayed beside me as we were led through the building.
We reached a large room. Inside, I saw Bob Iger, Alan Horn, Kathleen Kennedy, Ram Bergman, and Rian Johnson.
Bob was the first to walk over.
"Daniel," he said warmly, extending his hand. "Glad you could make it."
"Thank you for the invite," I said, shaking his hand. "I've been looking forward to seeing the movie."
A lie.
A very professional lie.
Bob smiled and turned slightly.
"You know Kathleen, of course."
Kathleen greeted me with a smile. I shook her hand.
"Daniel."
"Kathleen."
Bob continued.
"Alan Horn."
Alan shook my hand next.
"Ram Bergman."
"And Rian Johnson."
Rian stepped forward, looking both excited and slightly nervous. Showing his movie to Disney executives was probably stressful.
"Big fan of your work," Rian said.
"Same here," I said.
That part was not a lie. I did like some of his work, like Looper, and of course, the movies he was going to make, like Knives Out. I wondered if I could have him work with Midas when he made it.
I sat down as a few more people made their way into the room. Drinks were served while everyone settled in, and I talked with some of the most powerful people in the business.
"This is our biggest movie of the year," Bob said.
"Only a few things are bigger than Star Wars," I said.
Bob smiled.
"And if all goes well, maybe it even beats that Justice League of yours."
Everyone laughed.
I laughed too.
"Hey," I said, holding up my hands, "as long as we keep taking turns breaking records, we all win."
That got more laughter.
Rian and I got talking as well. He was easy to talk to. I might have had issues with The Last Jedi, but I did not dislike the man. People online had turned him into some kind of villain, and perhaps it would happen here as well.
Eventually, he brought up Knives Out.
Which, honestly, I should have expected. If he was looking for a production company or studio to make the movie, I was probably at the top of the list now. Midas had the money, the prestige, and enough goodwill with actors that assembling a great cast would not be hard.
Rian took a sip of his drink and said, "I have this murder mystery movie I've been sitting on. Very Agatha Christie-like, but more modern."
I looked at him. "Oh? What's it about?"
"A dead patriarch," he said. "A house full of suspects who are also relatives of his. A detective who comes in and starts pulling at threads. It's a little funny, very character-driven."
I nodded.
"I was going to take it around properly," he continued. "Maybe Toronto, maybe talk to MRC. But since you're here, I thought I'd ask if you might be interested."
I smiled slightly.
"It depends on the script, Rian," I said. "Show me a treatment first, and then we'll talk."
He nodded. "That's fair."
"It sounds interesting, though."
A few minutes later, we were finally led into the screening room.
As we walked in, Bob glanced toward Kathleen.
"Oh, Kathy," he said.
She turned.
"You know, Daniel was telling me about this great idea he had for a Star Wars movie. Maybe even a new trilogy."
Kathleen looked at me.
"Oh, really?"
I looked at Bob. "I think I mentioned it last time we played golf, Bob."
"Yes," Bob said. "It was good."
Kathleen's expression remained polite, but I could see the curiosity there.
Bob continued. "It takes place thousands of years ago. Jedi and Sith fighting in a massive war. Very different from the Empire and Rebels we have going on. I thought it was great."
I shrugged lightly.
"It's just an idea I had," I said with a smile.
There wasn't much media in this world about the Old Republic. The games made by BioWare here were set in the High Republic and had an entirely different story, so everything was ready for me to bring the awesomeness that was Knights of the Old Republic to the big screen.
Kathleen said, "That is something to think on."
Her voice was pleasant.
Noncommittal. Very executive.
Bob nodded. "Exactly."
I smiled again and took my seat. Bob bringing it up in front of Kathleen was not accidental. Nothing Bob Iger did in a room like this was accidental. He was floating the idea. Testing the temperature. Letting Kathleen know he liked it without making it sound like an order.
Everyone settled in.
The lights dimmed.
The screen came alive.
I leaned back in my seat, watching as the familiar blue text began to form.
God, I hoped the milk scene was unfinished.
.
.
.
You can read up to chapter 329 here.
p.a.t.r.eon.com/Illusiveone (check the chapter summary i have it there as well)