The Digital Fix attended a panel at SDCC 2023 in which three directors discussed their methods, their new movies and the current state of cinema (including the debate regarding AI). And Fast X director Louis Letterier was extremely excited – not about his own movie – but about fellow panelist Gareth Edwards’ new original, big-scale epic science fiction movie – The Creator.
Gareth Edwards exclusively revealed at the panel that The Creator was made in quite a revolutionary way, so revolutionary in fact, that Louis Letterier thinks it will “change cinema forever.” Edwards said that the camera used for the movie was the new Sony FX3 – which anyone can acquire at a Best Buy or other electronics store.
Edwards says that it looks like film (not digital), and it can shoot in moonlight (very low light) – this is why Letterier was losing his mind over it, as he thinks it will revolutionize filmmaking. Edwards explained that he didn’t need to have the usual big lights on set, just one person holding a LED, and that he could shoot for 25 mins at a time.
Edwards says that thanks to this camera, The Creator looks like “a much bigger film” than it actually cost to make. Edwards also described how he was given a month to shoot what he describes as “a guerilla, low-budget film” at the end of The Creator shoot – going to 5 different countries with the main cast and a small crew – and that these scenes are in the final movie.
Edwards describes The Creator as an “original, big-scale, big-swing, epic sci-fi movie” and that hardly any other studio movies that aren’t part of franchises or based on existing IP will do well at the box office this year.
The camaraderie on the panel between Letterier, Edwards, and Justin Simien (The Haunted Mansion) was heart-warming. Letterier could not contain his excitement about The Creator, which he called “mind-blowing.” Host Steve Weintraub had also arranged for some special guests such as Roger Deakins, Edgar Wright, Top Gun 2’s Joseph Kosinski, and John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski to record themselves asking questions of the panel. Stahelski and Letterier are good friends, so the banter was good there too.
While we wait for The Creator to be released, check out our guide to the best action movies.