Paramount CEO Brad Grey Buys $15.5 Million Condo in New York's Carlyle Hotel (Exclusive)

Lionsgate"The Hunger Games" Lionsgate, the studio behind the upcoming film version ofThe Hunger Games, has been sued for $10 million by a beauty products company that claims it isbeing jerked around overa deal to create special nail polish in connection with the movie's March release.our editor recommends'Hunger Games' Nail Polish Debuting in 2012'Hunger Games' Trailer Sparks Strong Reaction From Fans of the Book Series'The Hunger Games' Trailer: 5 Instant Observations While Watching Los Angeles-based American International Industries, which says it is the country's largest privately-held manufacturerof personal care and beauty products,filed a lawsuit Wednesday in LA Superior Court. The companyclaims that it closed a deal in late October to create a Hunger Games-branded version of its "China Glaze"nail polish, as well as contribute to the promotional campaignfor the adaptation of the popular Suzanne Collins novelthat Lionsgate is hoping will be a mega-blockbuster movie series similar to Twilight. But shortly after Lionsgate executives signed the contract, according to the complaint, the studio made statements to the press that the deal was "not happening," and askedAmerican to say that the parties "were merely 'discussing' a 'possible' promotional deal." American says it refused to lie, prompting a Lionsgate attorney to send an email on Nov. 17 saying that the studiowas "terminating" the contract. "However, the contract does not permitLionsgate to unilaterally terminate,"argues the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by THR. "Lionsgate attempted to justify its actions by claiming that American had supposedly 'leaked' information about the contract to the press. The claim was and is completely untrue--American did not 'leak' any information, and so informed Lionsgate immediately." American says it purchased millions of dollars in nail polish materials and expended substantial time and labor in reliance on the fully-executed contract, and it wants $10 million in damages. We've reached out to Lionsgate for comment and will update with a response. Thesuit, filed by Charles Harder and Michelle Goodman of LA's WolfRifkin Shapiro Schulman & Rabkin, alleges one cause of action for breach of contract. Lionsgate declined to comment on the suit. Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com Twitter: @THRMattBelloni PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 'Hunger Games' First Look: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson Hunger Games

Bruce Willis Selling Idaho Home For $15M

First Published: November 23, 2011 10:22 AM EST Credit: Getty Images HAILEY, Idaho -- Caption Bruce Willis poses in the press room at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton hotel, Beverly Hills, January 16, 2011Die Hard movie star Bruce Willis is asking $15 million for his Idaho home complete with a guesthouse, gym and pool with water slides. The Idaho Mountain Express reports Willis property in Haileys Flying Heart subdivision is up for sale because he hasnt been able to spend much time in the area. This is just part of Willis plans to pare his ties to the region. Hes also trying to unload The Mint bar and nightclub on Haileys Main Street after dropping the price to $4.5 million, from $6 million when it went on the market last year. Willis and former wife, Demi Moore, became part of the celebrity scene in the Sun Valley area during the 1990s. Willis still owns a ski area, Soldier Mountain, west of Hailey. Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

'Breaking Dawn' Director Bill Condon Talks Collaboration with 'Twilight's' Trio; Reveals Details From Next Film (Video)

As expected, fans turned out in droves to see Breaking Dawn - Part 1 its opening weekend (the film is expected to make around $140 million domestically).our editor recommendsBox Office Report: 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn' Headed for $140 Mil Domestic Opening'Twilight: Breaking Dawn's' Taylor Lautner on Jacob's Pivotal Imprinting Scene, TK TK TK'Twilight: Breaking Dawn's' Robert Pattinson on Working Opposite Faux Bella Cullen; Possibility of Joining Twitter (Video)Red Carpet's Top 10: Twilight: Breaking Dawn PremiereTwilight Time Capsule LaunchesRelated Topics•Twilight The penultimate film in The Twilight Saga's franchise, which hit theaters Nov. 18, stars series regulars Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black). But, in addition to a few vampire and werewolf fresh faces in the cast, the movie's director, Bill Condon was also new to Twilight's world. PHOTOS: 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I' Black Carpet Premiere "For me, this movie, it was a combination of the romance and the romantic melodradrama - sort of classic Hollywood filmmaking in the first two thirds of this movie, and that appealed to me," he toldThe Hollywood Reporter of his vision for Breaking Dawn - Part 1. "And the last third, it felt like a flat-out horror movie. I started in horror movies and I love horror movies and I've been looking to do one again, so that combination of things really appealed to me." Condon also said that his stars were very involved in their character's archs throughout the shooting process. PHOTOS: 'Twilight' and the Top 15 Grossing Threequels of All Time "First of all, Kristen is the biggest Twihard, so for her, she was excited, because it wasn't all being crunched into a two-hour movie, so it was sort of like, "Oh, no, I miss that line, I miss that moment" stuff like that. And sometimes I agreed, and sometimes not," he said. While Pattinson "explained something that he had been playing that we never saw before and I thought, 'let's put that into this movie.' For Taylor [he wanted] to really explore the way that Jacob's point of view is expressed in the book for the first time in Breaking Dawn. We really get more inside his of head." At the movie's Hollywood premiere Nov. 15, the director, who's also helmed Dreamgirls and Chicago, told THRwhat fans can expect when the screen goes black onBreaking Dawn - Part 1(after Bella opens her eyes as a newborn vampire) and they return a year from now to see the franchise's final film. REVIEW: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 "Early on I put the scripts together, a big 220-page script, and it's the same thing. It's the same story. It is one book that we're telling and it really is the minute the first movie ends the second one begins. So it was good, I can't imagine having a year break in between those two." PHOTOS: New Images of 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn' One things fans can look forward to? A vampire flash mob that they surprised Condon with on set. "It was the most brilliant thing ever!" Condon told THR. "It's for movie two. It's going to definitely be on the DVD. It was like a Westside Story dance off, it was incredible." Related Topics Robert Pattinson Taylor Lautner Twilight Saga Twilight Kristen Stewart Bill Condon

Howard Stern Talks 'America's Got Talent': 'I'd Be Superior Compared to Hoff'

NY - Howard Stern isn't presently settling with NBC's America's Got Talent to exchange Piers Morgan like a judge, the shock jock told the NY Publish's Page Six.our editor recommendsHoward Stern Pleads 'No Comment' on 'America's Got Talent' Talks (Video)PTC to NBC: Don't Hire Howard Stern for 'America's Got Talent' PHOTOS: Howard Stern Over time "I believe I'd be superior compared to Hoff [David Hasselhoff], but you never know?,Inch the paper cited him as saying only at that week's NY premiere from the Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning - Part 1. "However, there is nothing to report about this.Inch Added Stern: "No a person's explained anything. I heard they want me to do the job . . . I am honored they would consider me." STORY: PTC to NBC: Don't Hire Howard Stern for 'America's Got Talent' Requested if he'd have the ability to avoid the cursing and edgy comments, that they is renowned for, on the broadcast show, Stern stated: "Listen, I am not insane. Basically were on the network tv program, I wouldn't curse." He added: "I have been in David Letterman. I do not just curse just like a raving lunatic. You broadcast for whatever is suitable.Inch VIDEO: Howard Stern on Jerry Sandusky: 'They Should Cut His B---- Off' The Mother And Father Television Council (PTC) now advised NBC to not "abandon and offend its family audience" by employing Stern. The Sirius XM Radio star also reiterated that he's keen on the NBC show. "America's Got Talent is a superb show," he told the Publish. "I really like watching the show, I have looked at it right from the start.Inch Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Subjects Howard Stern NBC Sirius XM Radio PTC America's Got Talent

NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs might be the best choice from the team of special agents from the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Major Situation Response Team. , a classic Marine, can be a tough investigator as well as an experienced interrogator who is dependent on his stomach instinct around evidence. Gibbs' second in command is Senior Area Agent Tony DiNozzo, a womanizing, movie-calculating former Baltimore Homicide Detective, who despite being the course clown always can get the job done. Additionally they includes probationary area agent Ziva David, a classic Mossad officer who's a skilled fighter, additionally to Junior Area Agent Timothy McGee, a pc-savvy agent frequently mocked by DiNozzo. Aiding choices are Abby Sciuto, the energetic-but-Goth lab tech who's kind of a daughter to , and Dr. Jesse Mallard, nicknamed Ducky, the eccentric medical examiner full of unusual tales. This team of elite agents, situated in Washington, D.C., solve criminal cases including Marine and Navy personnel in addition to their families, sometimes traveling the united states . States - or perhaps the world - to make it happen.

Producers back Johansson's directorial debut

Johansson"Summer time Crossing," an adaptation of Truman Capote's lost novella, is headed for that bigscreen because the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson.Project's being created by Craig Spikings, who won an Oscar for "The Deer Hunter," and executive created by Peter D. Graves with the Truman Capote Literary Trust and it is trustee Alan Schwartz.Film writer and NY playwright Tristine Skyler is adapting the Capote novella."Summer time Crossing" novella is occur NY when Gotham was emerging in the trauma of The Second World War and focuses on an 18-year-old girl breaking free from her wealthy, obstructing, family to uncover her very own identity and sexuality."Summer time Crossing" was compiled by Capote throughout the nineteen forties after which lost for fifty years prior to being retrieved and released.Johannson told Women's Put on Daily in September that they planned to direct the film. She'll be viewed next in "We Purchased a Zoo," "Underneath the Skin" and "The Avengers." Johannson's repped by CAA. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Why John C. Reilly Was 'Busted' by Roman Polanski (Q&A)

Since his Boogie Nights porn star Reed Rothchild introduced, with conviction, "People let me know I kinda seem like Han Solo," John C. Reilly has occupied a coveted devote the hearts of cinephiles because the medium's most endearing underdog. Whether he's crooning the sweetly sad "Mr. Clear wrapping" for his Oscar-nominated role in 2002's Chicago, "trembling and baking" with Will Ferrell in 2006's Talladega Nights or playing the father of troubled boy within this fall's dark drama We have to Discuss Kevin, the Chicago native handles to continually inhabit the area between emotional realism and absurdity.our editor recommendsRoman Polanski's 'Carnage': Exactly what the Experts SayJohn C. Reilly in Trailer for Sundance Film 'Terri'Roman Polanski Receives Standing Ovation at Zurich Film FestivalRoman Polanskis 'Carnage' to spread out NY Film FestivalKate Winslet, Jodie Promote Shooting Roman Polanski's 'God of Carnage' in ParisVenice 2011: Al Pacino's 'Wilde Salome,' Roman Polanski's 'Carnage' Win AwardsRelated Subjects•The Race Here, the actor discloses how he arrived his latest coup, a job in director Roman Polanski's four-person farce Carnage, why he's most happy with his three collaborations with director Paul Thomas Anderson, and why he's dying to experience a priest. VIDEO: 'Carnage' Trailer The Hollywood Reporter: What's the response visited your speed and agility in Carnage? John C. Reilly: Great, really. It's funny. ... You question: Are folks Europe getting this? It's occur Brooklyn is movie intended for a united states audience? However it got huge laughs in Italia. These were entertaining it on just like a boxing match! I believe people around the globe can connect with its universal story: parents attempting to resolve conflict with respect to their kids. Every character is absurd in some manner or any other. What's most absurd may be the figures' hypocrisy, and my guy is the first to express: "There's an elephant within the room! This really is absurd! What exactly are we doing?" Being an audience member, you're waiting for your relatable moment. He breaks the strain by saying: "F-- it. This really is who I'm.Inch STORY: Feinberg Forecast: 'Carnage' Divides, 'Extremely' Intrigues, 'Moneyball' Develops THR: For individuals who follow your job, it's been fun to express "John C. Reilly" and "Roman Polanski" within the same sentence. How did this completely different role come your way? Reilly: Honestly, it may sound strange, however it arrived during my lap. Roman really asked for me. Eventually this telephone call comes that states, "Roman Polanski wants you arrive at Paris and shoot a film.Inch Funny enough, I'd really been contacted about doing the play a couple of in the past -- the part that ultimately visited James Gandolfini -- and so i had been very conscious of the fabric. I suppose he or she must have experienced something he loved during my work! FILM REVIEW: We have to Discuss Kevin THR: Likely it had been your nailing the semi-coherent TV commentator Dr. Steve Brule around the late-evening sketch series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Congrats! I don't know this without a doubt, however i'm speculating you're the only real actor that has made an appearance both in a grownup Go swimming program along with a Polanski film. Reilly: (Laughs.) Yes, you will find most likely a myriad of odd details like this from my career. I've cast a large internet, everywhere, as you would expect. THR: Had you been nervous or reluctant to agree Carnage? Reilly: Reluctant? No. I had been so honored to become requested. However I was certainly nervous. Becoming an actor is much like constantly being the brand new kid in class -- you don't know anybody. I literally didn't know anybody within the cast. A minimum of Roman had met other stars before and understood their personas. But there' was, relaxing in this room, battling to seem like I belonged there. I attempted to embrace it, though. FILM REVIEW: Carnage THR: Have you do anything whatsoever special to organize for that role? Reilly: I just read the play a couple of more occasions, and that i didn't do this for research, however i viewed Chinatown again because I had been so looking forward to dealing with Roman. I needed to refresh myself. Guy, that movie really stands up. The very first time I first viewed it years back, I hadn't lived in L.A. Now, getting been for a very long time, it had been like, "Wow, it is really an incredible story relating to this city." THR: What have you find out about filmmaking from Roman? Reilly: It's funny, however when you're hearing a director, you typically you need to translate the things they say right into a functional note on your own. I've labored with amazing company directors like Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman, however they don't really speak from an actress's perspective sometimes. However with him, it had been like getting another actor dealing with you. He's an excellent feeling of precision of human behavior he will explain should you're doing something false. Throughout rehearsals, I'd have this book during my hands, and I must set this book lower to be able to perform the next little bit of acting, and that he would say: "Why can you place the book lower? You don't realize that you're going to get the bottle yet. You're doing that since you know you'll need both hands free, but that doesn't seem sensible.Inch God, he busted me. He's totally right! He's this type of great eye. THR: Was he as interactive throughout shooting? Reilly: Really, hardly whatsoever. He'd give lengthy notes towards the lighting and seem departments. Using the stars, he'd make certain you had been in your mark, but he wouldn't provide you with direction. Eventually, I began feeling: "Am I getting this? Am I doing the work right?" and that i requested him, "Roman, how's the acting department doing?" and that he goes, "You would like me to stroke your ego?" and that i'm like: "No! I'm just searching for some feedback." And that he stated, "If there is anything wrong, trust me, I'd let you know.Inch Lots of great company directors work this way. You select the best people, make certain you're on a single page and allow them to get the job done. I type of relaxed next. I recognized that Roman informs tales through composition within the photography. I'm accustomed to company directors attempting to tell a tale with the script, with many different concentrate on stars. Following a couple of days, I loose up. THR: You might also need the dark Lynne Ramsay film We have to Discuss Kevin within the honours conversation this season. Does getting made an appearance in 2 noncommercial films consecutively mark a brand new chapter inside your career? Reilly: Well, Carnage is really a comedy, and somewhat, it's pretty playful. But yes, it's not "jokey" like lots of things i've done. I simply think I take what comes my way. It's nothing like I deliberately went into comedy in a certain point -- that chance came about. I believe many people take a look at stars in the outdoors and think: "Ah, he's selected to get this done! And the master plan's this!" However I think should you speak with any actor who's honest with him- or herself, you're always hitching with other people's wagons, just wishing to ride a momentum that's been produced by others. It's another art from as being a painter who's producing their own direction. Really, it's much more about saying no thanks that influences the direction you're going. But what you could agree is much more about luck and exactly what the world really wants to see in a with time. It's altering just a little, but for some time, the only real factor people desired to see were comedies! They couldn't make sure they are fast enough. For me personally, it had been like: "Well, OK, I'm able to be funny in the event that's exactly what the world wants. That's awesome." THR: What are the roles you're still dying to experience? Reilly: I've always aspired to perform a Western. I've really optioned a magazine which i'm searching for a director to defend myself against. It's known as The Siblings Siblings, by Patrick DeWitt. I've also always aspired to play a priest. It's this kind of interesting theatrical and emphatic character I believe I'd be suitable for play. I'm also thinking about tales of survival and exploration I've read lots of books about this stuff. But, gosh, that's a difficult question to reply to. I'm accustomed to giving up towards the randomness of the items comes my way being an actor. I rarely make wish lists. THR: What exactly are you most happy with inside your career? Reilly: The films I created using Paul Thomas Anderson -- Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia -- were really personal expressions born from a genuine creative collaboration. Individuals movies also marked the very first time I had been being requested to behave not only "job in" being an actor. I had been area of the storytelling inside a much deeper, a lot more personal way. Actually, the smoothness I performed in Magnolia, the cop, was created from some improv periods Used to do with Paul. I'm really happy with individuals movies. But when it comes to a general effort made, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was among the greatest endeavors I ever began. We recorded 35 original tunes on the six-month period before we even began shooting the film! I've heard it's a bit of a cult classic among music artists. But is the fact that my personal favorite film? I don't know. It's like picking your preferred kid -- both get their merits and mark a particular amount of time in your existence. I generally don't spend considerable time searching back -- it's too strange. At some point I'll maybe possess a more retrospective attitude for the time being, I'm generally too busy worrying by what I'm likely to do next. MY FIRST SAG JOB: "It had been my first movie, John P Palma's Casualties of War, in 1989. Formerly to that particular I'd been an additional inside a beer commercial, but which was AFTRA. So Casualties was my first SAG job. It had been a milestone moment for me personally -- I never imagined I'd be inside a movie. I was raised doing plays like a kid. Then all of a sudden I've this membership card: SCREEN Stars GUILD. The best factor was getting medical health insurance and being protected when it comes to things i could earn. I'm a large believer in unions. They obtain a bad rap, however i believe they may be an excellent pressure permanently. SAG is a blessing for me personally. I'm able to't imagine what it might be enjoy having to hustle available for healthcare." Related Subjects SAG Honours Jodie Promote Kate Winslet Martin Scorsese Will Ferrell Roman Polanski Paul Thomas Anderson Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ough Bobby Boogie Nights We have to Discuss Kevin John C Reilly Carnage SAG Honours 2012 Honours Season Preview

The Zone

A Swanberry production. Created, directed, written, edited by Joe Swanberg. Camera (color, DV), Swanberg, Adam Winguard seem, John Bosch. Examined at AFI Film Festival (Spotlight), November. 8, 2011. Running time: 70 MIN.With: Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Kate Lyn Sheil, Kentucker Audley, Joe Swanberg, Adam Winguard, Kris Swanberg, Dustin Guy Defa.The most recent inside a blitz of 2011 releases from mumblecore auteur Joe Swanberg, "The Zone" consists of little to lure neophytes into his fold. Contrary, it'll really be considered a harder sell compared to relaxation of Swanberg's oeuvre, because it can serve as nothing more than an autocritique of their own filmmaking (in other words, the 3rd entry within an auto-critique trilogy, after "Silver Bullets" and "Art History"). But though this film mostly finds the helmer exploring ever-much deeper recesses of their own navel, its moments of genuine insight and knack for tugging the rug upend a number of its problems. The prolific Swanberg makes something of the small-empire unto themself together with his number of highly sloppy photos that contains ample self-referentiality and much more ample superfluously naked youthful stars. Though his films are often ugly, there is something to become stated for that filmmaker's steadfast tries to be absolutely modern, as far as that his points of aesthetic reference hew far nearer to the fringes of YouTube (in other words, YouPorn) than the most low-budget indies. Inside a typically Swanbergian touch, probably the most cogent critique that may be laid upon "The Zone" originates from the film itself. "You are worrying about creating movies about worrying about creating movies," states the helmer's real-existence wife, Kris, within the most dramatic of countless 4th-wall ruptures, before evaluating the pic (unfavorably) to "Art History." The director themself finds it tough to argue together with her. "The Zone" is split into three parts, with just the first being clearly imaginary. Within this first, poorest segment, Swanberg spotlights three hipster roommates (Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine and Swanberg regular Kate Lyn Sheil), as are all lured consequently with a cameraphone-carrying houseguest (Kentucker Audley), inside a kind of no-budget re-development of "Teorema." Following the last seduction, the narrative abruptly halts, and that we see the 3 of Kentucker's paramours (all stars playing themselves, though different selves these were playing formerly) watching the preceding footage using the director (Swanberg). They critique his editing options and explain his heteronormative prejudice, then lengthily prepare to shoot an psychologically draining menage a trois scene. Because the filmmaking process seems to become reaching the purpose of complete meltdown, the pic again changes perspective, and also the two Swanbergs (together with a gurgling infant) discuss the faux behind-the-moments footage which has just performed. Whilst lamenting his narcissism (does mumblecore actually need its "8 1/2" already?), you have to applaud Swanberg's bravery in supplying a glimpse at a few of the damage that his type of intrusively intimate filmmaking can wreak around the associations between his subjects, and between his subjects and themself. The central problem here's that Swanberg continues to be focus from the piece even if he attempts to permit dissenting voices, and the own troubles with finishing the film, with justifying it to his audience, eventually shoehorn the more provocative exterior questions. It might also help when the film-within-a-film at "The Zone's" center were not this type of transparently offhand canvas for Swanberg to experience out his particular various insecurities -- at leastFellini's spaceship were built with a beach to sit down on. As always for that director, the film consists of numerous inventively staged, shakily shot extended nude moments, including one concentrating on a really ugly quilt, and the other including a spray-fresh paint sunburn. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

CAS to recognition vet helmer

Marshall The Cinema Audio Society is adoring director Make the most of Marshall having its filmmaker award within the CAS Honours on Feb. 18 within the Millennium-Biltmore Hotel in La.Marshall's work spans Broadway, TV and films, including Oscar best-pic champion "Chicago" and, most recently, "Pirates in the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."Marshall may also be an Academy Award, Tony and Golden Globe nominee, plus an Emmy champion for TV movie "Annie" and special "Tony Bennett: A U . s . States Classic."Re-recording mixer Scott Millan, Marshall's "Nine" friend, can get the CAS career achievement recognition. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Harrelson On For Seven Psychopaths

Alongside Tom Waits and Olga KurylenkoIn Bruges author/director Martin McDonagh is obviously searching around for a lot of interesting talent to fill the relaxation from the lead slots within the Seven Psychopaths cast: he's just hired Woodsy Harrelson, Tom Waits and Olga Kurylenko for your comedy drama.Psychopaths finds Bruges veteran Colin Farrell as Marty, a scriptwriter fighting getting a brain-rotting situation of writer's block. He's trying to complete the titular script but he's missing real inspiration.He finds it when he'll get confused inside the dognapping antics of pals Billy (Mike Rockwell) and Hendes (Christopher Walken). The issue really starts each time a beloved Shih Tzu possessed with a wild gangster (Harrelson) will get lost. Soon, Marty has all the inspiration he might need. But he might not necessarily survive the process...Although there's not sure on who Waits or Kurylenko may have, McDonagh also provides the type of Ronnie Gene Blevins, Ernest Lyle Taylor and Kiran Deol aboard. Even though we're crossing our fingers for Brendan Gleeson to cameo in the Bruges reunion, nothing continues to be recommended relating to this yet. Mickey Rourke appeared to become mentioned to remain in talks, there's however no confirmation on whether he sealed a deal.7 Psychopaths is becoming in pre-production.

Werner Herzog on Acting, Americana, and Journeys Into the Abyss

The hardest-working filmmaker on Earth was back in NY last week, making the latest of what have basically become semiannual tours in support of his movies. Thus what felt like a continuation of last spring’s chat with Werner Herzog, whose latest documentary, Into the Abyss, finds the endlessly curious director exploring one of American society’s darkest. sparsest frontiers: Capital punishment. But don’t call it an issue film. Herzog doesn’t make those, and indeed, Into the Abyss is not without his customary wit, openness and inquisitive fervor. They abide throughout the story of condemned killer Michael Perry, who, along with his lighter-sentenced accomplice Jason Burkett, rended the fraying small-town fabric of Conroe, Texas, in 2001 with a brutal triple homicide. Herzog talks to parties on all sides of both the crime and its punishment — the convicts, the victims’ families, a police investigator, a death-row chaplain, a prison bride, a retired executioner and more — in search of his cherished “ecstatic truth” of nonfiction filmmaking. That’s not all he’s up to. Herzog’s forthcoming Hollywood acting debut as the villain in Tom Cruise’s One Shot follows another whirlwind of directing projects that would prostrate even Tyler Perry with fatigue. We spoke last week about his agenda, his ambition, and the grave urgency of Into the Abyss. Another press day already! Amazing. I am doing my duty. I wouldn’t complain. Does this get any easier over the years? No, but it is part of your duty as a filmmaker — to somehow bring across a film to an audience. That’s why the media are there. It’s a natural concomitant of what I’m doing. Let me say one thing: I hear filmmakers often complain about it, but I’m not in the culture of complaint. So we have about 15 or 20 minutes to talk, which isn’t a lot less than you had with some of the subjects of this film. How did you get what you needed to get for this film in that time? Well, I’m a filmmaker. I’m not just a fly on the wall. Sometimes you hear filmmakers postulating, “We should be like flies on the wall.” I don’t want to be the security camera in Wal-Mart and record hundreds of hours of something where nothing ever happens. We are storytellers. I get involved. I focus. By the way, when you have 50 minutes only with someone, you have to hit the right tone instantly. So, in a way, you have to know the heart of men to find the right tone. For example, I’m [interviewing] the death-row chaplain — who appears at the beginning of the conversation almost like a TV preacher — and I crack him open. All of the sudden he starts to unravel, and I ask him to tell me about an encounter with a squirrel. And he unravels. And all of the sudden you can look deep inside of him. So… How can I say it? That’s why I’m a filmmaker. The flipside are these long, silent, lingering shots that are so customary in your documentaries: The chaplain, the detective, the wife… The captain of the tie-down team. There’s a long moment of complete silence where he really looks anguished. There’s a written caption before that: He quit his job working in the death house as a tie-down captain at the cost of losing his pension. And I didn’t even put it under his face. I put it on black. Now you are watching his face and there’s nothing — only silence. But the silence is so significant and so anguished. Other filmmakers wouldn’t do that, but I do it. You see, I’m a storyteller, and this is in the story. All of the sudden you have a silent inner story — the parallel story that looks deep inside the human condition. You also chose not to apply your trademark narration to this film. What was your thinking behind that? You have to make your decisions according to the subject. The subject dictates the form. I think it wouldn’t have been right — me as the one who asks questions and has discourse, and then the same voice commenting. And it doesn’t need commentary. Sometimes you have a few written captions to let the audience know some fundamental things: that one of the inmates committed his crimes as an 18- or 19-year-old teenager, and now, 10 years later, he’s facing execution. It’s OK that you know that as audience, but that you know it through captions. What’s the perspective of the film? You state very early on that you are steadfastly against capital punishment, but— Which is OK! I also say I respectfully disagree with the practice of capital punishment. I am a guest of your country, I do not have voting rights. I have a different historical background, and I’m speaking of the Nazi [era] with the genocide and euthanasia and everything. And I would be the last one — I would be the last one — in the position to tell the American people how to handle criminal justice. So that’s why I say, “I have a different opinion, and I respectfully disagree with the practice.” Are you still trying to work out your feelings about America after all these years? Yes. In a way, it’s kind of about Americana — much of what I’ve done. Grizzly Man is Americana in a way, and that’s why it somehow struck a chord with audiences here in the United States. This film, I hope, will strike some sort of a chord, but of course I’m somebody from outside. I have a fresh and different look, but a fascination about Americana — about Conroe, Texas, about an American Gothic, about criminal justice, about families of victims of violent crimes, and on and on. I think the question comes up in another film I made on a death-row inmate. There’s Into the Abyss, which is a feature-length theatrical film, but parallel to that, I have filmed with other death-row inmates for a series of shorter films for television. Those are more focused on just one person. One of them, who was 23 minutes away from execution, got a stay. He tells me about his last trip from death row — which is in Livingston, Texas, but they don’t have a death chamber. So they’re transported 43 miles to Hunstsville, to Walls Unit, where they have a death house. And for the first time in 17 years, he sees trees. He sees other cars; he’s riding in this van. Actually, I did this trip now with a camera, because he says something very, very beautiful: Seeing an abandoned gas station, for example, or seeing a cow in a field is something very magnificent. And he says for him, it was like Israel — it was like the Holy Land. All of the sudden I look at America — the forlorn, kind of bleak part of Texas between Livingston and Huntsville — and everything appears like the Holy Land. You see, because of this project and talking to death-row inmates, my perspective has shifted somehow. And it’s not just America. If I travel from Munich to the village where I grew up, this is holy land. I’ve asked a few people about this recently, but what is it with the enduring preoccupation with America — particularly Texas, or these forlorn stretches — for foreign filmmakers? To visit, to explore— But I’m not a visitor; I live here in America. Of course, but before that. Or, say, something like Stroszek. I am a guest, but I am still a Bavarian deeply entwined in my culture. I have moved to a different country, but I’m still attached to my own culture. I guess I’m wondering if there’s something to reconciling the European experience with the American experience. I don’t have to reconcile with America. I love the country. Otherwise I wouldn’t live here. And I love my wife. Otherwise I wouldn’t live in America, let’s face it. Of course in some questions I have an ambivalent feeling, like probably every citizen has some ambivalence about his home country. And I respectfully disagree with certain things that I see. It’s as simple as that. And you can have a very civil discourse about capital punishment with people in Texas. It’s very easy, and the respectfully differ from my opinion. But America is such a fascinating country, and I’ve looked at it with more and more fresh eyes recently. What have you seen, aside from what’s presented in Into the Abyss? Well, for example, talking with every single death-row inmate, I ask them, “How should we conduct our lives — we outside? How should we do it right? You have not done it right.” And it always comes down to something I have almost overlooked in recent years: Family values. Small family values. In a way, almost like Hollywood movies are insisting on small family values. They prevail at the end of a movie; there has to be a happy end, and they prevail. I kept looking down at it a little bit, and all of the sudden, it moves dead center: These guys are right. Yes. And then I look at family values with great intensity — with much more sympathy, with much more attention than ever before. Does any of that have to do with your age? Getting older? No. No, it has nothing to do with age. It has to do with insight. And insight doesn’t come from me — from thinking. It comes because I have been in intense contact with men and one woman on death row.