All Fun and Games Directors Name New Movie ‘Amblin Meets John Carpenter’
young stars Unleash creative momentum All fun and games, the new horror thriller from the writer/director Eren Celeboglu (Scrubs, the internet kills), Ari Costa (Avengers: Engame, Extraction) and the Russo brothers’ (MCU-acclaimed) AGBO company. Asa Butterfield and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth from sex education And son of a critch, or throw aside the good boy image a bit all fun and games while Ms. Marvel‘s Laurel Marsden and Natalia Dyer by stranger things Try to be the grounded forces of good in this twisty thrill fest.
The plot is enticing and perfect for fall’s more menacing story time: a group of innocent Salem teenagers discover a cursed knife that unleashes an evil demon, forcing them to play cruel, deadly versions of childhood games where there are no winners, but only survivors can give. Consider it a close relative of Talk to me but with other imaginative surprises. Writers/directors Eren Celeboglu and Ari Costa share more about their new film in this exclusive MovieWeb interview. You can watch the full video interview above.
Talk about deep cuts
All fun and games is produced by Anton and AGBO under their Gozie AGBO banner, dedicated to promoting exciting visionaries in independent film; Her previous co-productions include: Everything everywhere at once And relic. This new film’s story takes a look at the cruelty inherent in various children’s games like Flashlight Tag, Hangman and Hide ‘n’ Seek to shed light on what happens when the games just go too far – and someone get hurt.
In the film, young Jo (Ainsworth) discovers an old knife in a bucolic neighborhood of Salem. He soon realizes that the knife bears an inscription and apparently supernatural, evil elements. Jo sees disturbing images and hears voices telling him what’s on the knife. Soon after, a malevolent demon is unleashed, wreaking havoc on Ben’s squad – siblings Marcus and Billie (Butterfield and Dyer), their friend Sophie (Marsden), and others. Annabeth Gish co-stars.
“The script actually came as a spec to AGBO, Joe and Anthony Russo’s company, in 2019,” noted Ari Costa, who has worked with the Russo brothers for many years. “You saw our short film The bride, a horror spaghetti western set in Iraq, and they encouraged Eren and I to find something to direct. This film appeared in the JJ Braider (Vampire Academy) wrote, with the initial introduction of a demon playing horrific, twisted versions of childhood games. But Eren wanted to humanize it and find a relatable ending point.”
To that end, the duo delved deeply into the mythology of the story, but also into the importance of establishing solid characters. “We wanted them to be relatable,” Costa added. “We watched movies like Lady Bird And Eighth class, and we were like, ‘okay, how do teenagers sound? What problems are they dealing with?’
That element runs throughout the film as these Salem kids realize that, according to legend, if you lose the evil demon’s games, you’re dead.
Will Amblin meet Michael Meyers?
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Another point of contact for Costa and Celeboglu was the Steven Spielberg classic film AND, especially since the aim was to create an authentic image of a family. But Eren Celeboglu who went out scrubs To The internet kills and other dramas, has been teased to explore a combination of genres and subgenres All fun and games.
“Things like obsession and to some extent slasher movies too,” he explained. “We love genres because we believe you can put interesting and meaningful ideas into genre films.”
We like to say [this film] is… Amblin meets John Carpenter. That was our sonic mantra – we were trying to maintain the tension between something very heartfelt and naturalistic, because now everyone says Amblin is idealistic.
One of Celeboglu’s deeper observations is thought-provoking. “If you go back and watch ANDFrom the publishing point of view, it’s pretty real. You know, it really is Halloween and this notion of a relentless Michael Myers, targeting everything you love. And those are actually the two things that we were like, ‘Okay, that’s what we’d like to play with as filmmakers, and also the personal part of it.’
How the cast surprised the directors
When asked what he thought could captivate audiences the most All fun and games and even the most surprised, Ari Costa said, “Perhaps what audiences will be most surprised by is the essence of the film… and that it’s a coming-of-age horror film.” We tried to do that do, but not necessarily many films do that.”
He added that there is a parallel journey of the character Jo, played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, as he navigates through the fire of trauma and the rift it created in his family after the departure of her abusive father, and the demon and moved by his traumatic journey. Common Coast:
We’re really trying to humanize our antagonist at the end and I’m not trying to spoil anything, but what ultimately happens to him should strike you as a conflicted audience.
When it came to working with the dynamic cast of young actors, Costa and Celeboglu felt they had hit the bull’s eye. They pointed to Ainsworth’s appointment. “We absolutely fell in love with Ben when we saw his tape,” Costa said. “He was funny. His performance was extremely emotional and he hit every punch honestly. And when we finally had a directing session with him, we realized that he was acting like a little assassin. He just nailed every emotional beat really well. Ben is well prepared.”
“We were very fortunate that Natalia Dyer and Asa Butterflied responded to the script the way they did,” added Celeboglu. He continued:
“We really wanted both of them to take on roles that they had never done before. Natalia is obviously famous for it [playing] Nancy [on Stranger Things]but Nancy is sort of the girl next door and Billie [in this movie] is more of a biting, nervous, sometimes overbearing young girl. Basically, they were such different actors to work with, but both of them just brought so much in terms of collaboration.”
Now you can see everything that these young actors and their two experienced directors brought to the film All fun and games In theaters and VOD starting September 1st, courtesy of Vertical.
