It was extremely, extremely entertaining. I watched it two days in a row because I was just wanting to soak it in. And I think what he was hoping for was somebody who could help him bridge reality and sort of the fantasy of Broadway. He was trying to find… If you've seen the play, it was tough to interpret into a cinematic space. But then, he was very keen on what I had done on A Star Is Born, which is why he was wanting to meet with me. It didn't quite make sense to me exactly what he was talking about because I wasn't familiar with it. And then he started to describe the Broadway part of it.
But, he said for him, it was more about the story of this young woman or a teenager who's basically being ostracized for her orientation. And at that lunch, he starts to talk about The Prom. And I get a call from my agent saying that Ryan Murphy would like a meeting and he invited me to lunch.
IRON MAN 2 SOUNDTRACK RAP SINGLE MOVIE
I had just been prepping a movie with Taika Waititi and we were going to do Akira, and then it shut down. MATTHEW LIBATIQUE: The way it sort of went down is I got a call. So what was your reaction when Ryan Murphy calls you and asks you to shoot a big Broadway musical?
IRON MAN 2 SOUNDTRACK RAP SINGLE FULL
It’s a wide-ranging and hopefully insightful discussion, as Libatique speaks candidly but thoughtfully about his process and the importance of how films are presented to audiences, while also acknowledging the benefit of releasing a socially important film like The Prom to a wide audience on Netflix.Ĭheck out the full interview below. He talked about his desire to see 4K remasters and releases of Pi and The Fountain, and revealed that before he shot The Prom, he was planning on teaming up with Taika Waititi on an adaptation of Akira. Our conversation then veered into a candid discussion about the importance of physical media and theatrical presentation, as Libatique talked about trying to balance the images he crafts on set and in post-production with the compression that happens when something goes to streaming.
We even touched on Libatique’s other Jon Favreau collaboration Cowboys & Aliens, and what it’s been like making a movie during COVID-19 as he was in the middle of production on Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling at the time of our interview (which was conducted in December). He also broke down the logistics of some of the film’s most notable musical numbers, and explained how challenging it was to shoot a dance number in the middle of a fully functional mall.īut as a big fan of Libatique’s work, I also had to ask about his brilliant collaboration with Bradley Cooper on A Star Is Born, and he reflected on the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by discussing the making of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. He talked about Ryan Murphy’s approach to directing, and how he went about translating this Broadway show into a cinematic feature film. I recently had the chance to speak with Libatique for an extended, exclusive interview about his work on The Prom and some other films from his career. The film combines huge starpower (the cast includes Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and James Corden), bold musical numbers, and intimate dialogue scenes to result in an uplifting and hopeful story about being yourself. This is an unabashed Broadway adaptation with bright colors, theatrical lighting, and huge dance numbers – but it’s also an emotional story of a young girl being ostracized by her school and community for being queer. Libatique’s most recent film marks even more new territory for the Oscar-nominated director of photography, as he brings a full-on Broadway musical to fruition in director Ryan Murphy’s Netflix musical The Prom. He’s spent his career bringing an intense yet intimate touch to the films he shoots, ranging from superhero movies to thrillers to dramas and working with directors as varied as Joel Schumacher, Spike Lee, and Jodie Foster. Indeed, Libatique made his mark in a big way with his first two collaborations with Aronofsky, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, and after that he was off to the races. He was passionate about photography from a young age and started honing his craft as a cinematographer in the 1990s, working on music videos and teaming up with fellow AFI classmate Darren Aronofsky on the burgeoning director’s first few films. Matthew Libatique is as versatile as he is talented, and the guy is talented.