When news of the Wachowski siblings teaming up with Tom Tykwer to produce a film adaptation of David Mitchell’s ‘Cloud Atlas,’ was announced, many were skeptical. Recently, a six minute trailer for the movie was released and proved that the team accomplished what most thought was nearly impossible to do: to put in linear form a book that spanned 1,000 years over several continents involving a multitude of characters. In the latest video for ‘Cloud Atlas,’ the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer (who directed, produced and wrote the film together) appear in what they call is an introduction to the trailer.
While the video really doesn’t explain much of the movie, it does have the trio discuss how the idea of making ‘Cloud Atlas’ came about and the hardships of trying to make a film of this scope. The film is a treat to watch as the three are obviously good friends that wanted to make “the kind of movies that made us want to watch movies.” They go on to say the movie they wanted to make had to be massive in scope, relevant to normal life and encompasses romance, drama and comedy and have lot of action (emphasis on the action). If that wasn’t enough, they also added that their dream film had to be political, philosophical, set in both the past and future and involve every genre. They found all this in ‘Cloud Atlas.’
The video is also something of a premier for Lana Wachowski as it one of the few times she has appeared on camera since her transgender decision 10 years ago.
After watching the video, you can’t help but want to root for this team and for the success of ‘Cloud Atlas.’ It’s great to see directors be enthusiastic and passionate about a project and to see it turn into something this epic.
‘Cloud Atlas’ stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Grant, Ben Wishaw, Keith David, Jim Broadbent, and James D’Arcy and will be released in theaters on October 26th.
