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In the dark horror/comedy, The Voices, from Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) and Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect 2) are on the run from Ryan Reynolds (Buried). In an exclusive interview with MStars News, producer Adi Shankar (Dredd) discusses the similarities between the anti-hero, Deadpool ,and Reynolds' main character, including his thoughts on the recent Power/Rangers Bootleg.
The Voices centers on Jerry (Reynolds) Fiona (Arterton), Lisa (Kendrick), and Dr. Warren (Jacki Weaver). Jerry is a likable guy, who's very interested in his office crush. Things though take a sinister turn when his date stands him up. All of a sudden, Jerry needs the help of his evil-talking pets, Mr. Whiskers and Bosco, to get him out of his own bloody mess.
With The Voices arriving on DVD and Blu-Ray, Shankar dishes on how the project came about, finding the tone with his ensemble cast, and teases his next film in the Bootleg Universe.
MStars News: The Voices is an interesting mix of horror and comedy. How did you become involved in the project?
Adi Shankar: Well, it was a script that everyone in town really loved. It had been floating around. It's an interesting project in the sense that it doesn't really fit in to one genre as you pointed. Is it a horror movie? Is it a comedy? Is it a psychological thriller? Or is it a drama?
People compare it to Fight Club. People compare it to American Psycho and I don't know. I guess I need a check-up because I love putting myself in impossible situations where I can't possibly win.
MS: Tell me about Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. Jerry is a psychopath but, on the other hand, he plays him very likable and sympathetic.
AS: I kept telling him this on set, I was like, "Dude, you are basically playing Deadpool." He's playing Deadpool, right! Because that is Deadpool.
Deadpool on the one hand is a psychopath. He's part of the Weapon X program. His classmates are Wolverine and Sabretooth. It's literally the world's greatest mercenaries and greatest killers.
Then all of a sudden, he's like really likable. And it's this interesting dichotomy, which you really don't find, that very few characters possess.
And I think Ryan just knocked it out of the park, because he really got that balance. He brings so much sincerity to anything he does.
Check out this clip from The Voices here:
MS: Reynolds also plays the voices of the animals, such as Mr. Whiskers and Bosco. Was that always planned from the start?
AS: No it actually wasn't. I really wanted Chris Rock to voice Mr. Whiskers so much to the point where I was just trying to get in touch him. It then became this weird thing with, like "Well, you can't have just one." I don't know how I can say this, "one black dude in the movie." He'd be voicing the cat to tell the white dude to kill. I just thought it would be funny to have Chris Rock being an evil cat.
And I woke up one day, I had an email in my inbox from Ryan where he had basically recorded the scene in the bathroom where Bosco and Mr. Whiskers are debating whether or not what he should do with Gemma Arterton's body. He just recorded it on an iPhone.
The cat wasn't written on the script as Scottish. He just kind of did that and the cat is actually based off of his agent at the time, Darren Statt, The dog I think was based off of Billy Bob Thornton.
The moment I heard it, I was like, "Boom! This is hilarious! Done! This is awesome." It makes all the sense in the world because these voices are in his head. So of course, he should voice them all. And he's a highly paid voice actor, so boom, double bonus! And I wasn't getting any of my phone calls returned from Chris Rock, so then there's that.
Check out this clip from The Voices here:
MS: Tell me about finding the tone with with Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton.
AS: I'm really glad you pointed that out. I think finding the tone, well it's almost like the tone found itself. I don't know is that a cliché thing to say? I don't know but what's interesting is I always looked at the movie as a bootleg universe movie. The movie is basically bootleg Garfield right!
And I always kind of looked at it in those terms. You were asking earlier about what drew me to the script and what not. I viewed it in a lot of ways as a revisionist's take on Garfield and an examination on mental illness.
Check out the Power/Rangers bootleg here:
MS: Speaking of bootlegs, I also wanted to discuss with you about the Power/Rangers Bootleg. Because it was done on such a short amount of time, especially with the special effects, were you surprised at how the final product came out?
AS: I wouldn't say surprised. It was mapped out pretty early on and Joseph Kahn, he is no joke, is the best director I've ever worked with. In terms of preparation and execution, everything that he shot was used, everything was storyboarded. I wasn't surprised because Joe's such a good director and he planned this meticulously.
MS: With Dredd and The Punisher bootleg film, Dirty Laundry, what is it that you want audiences to come away with when they see your comic book adaptations?
AS: That I am a fanboy that somehow convinced the powers it be in Hollywood that I was one of them! Or that they should let me pretend to be one of them for a little bit longer!
MS: What other projects are you working on now?
AS: There's so much! I'm going to be announcing some cool stuff in the next few weeks. And I really like the idea of doing a Crow bootleg, but done like Only God Forgives; done in that style. So it's like gothic film noir mixed with kind of a European sensibility.
The Voices is available on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 7, 2015. Highly recommended, audiences should pick this one up.
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