The spectacular events that take place in Nicolas Cage’s new film “Knowing,” opening wide today (March 20), couldn’t possibly happen in real life.
That doesn’t mean the thriller abandons scientific principles.
“Knowing” director Alex Proyas (“Dark City,” “I, Robot”) says he had a team of consultants on the set to bridge the gap between science and fiction.
“It’s a bit of a challenge to make that aspect work. You want to make it as real as possible, but you have to make some concessions to dramatic license,” he says. “You have to find that sweet spot.”
“Knowing” stars Mr. Cage as a college professor who watches his son’s class unearth a 50-year-old time capsule. Some papers removed from the capsule contain a series of random numbers, but Mr. Cage’s character figures out the digits allude to catastrophes both past … and future.
But can he crack the entire code in time to prevent the latter?
Mr. Proyas grew up loving science fiction, but he often had to turn to literature to scratch that itch.
“Science fiction [film] projects were few and far between,“ he says, although “The Outer Limits“ and “The Twilight Zone“ stood as two happy exceptions.
He considers “Knowing” more science fiction than fantasy filmmaking. He says he’s much more comfortable working within the confines of the real world. And anyone who saw the underrated “I, Robot” would have to agree.
The disaster sequences at the heart of “Knowing” play out with gritty sound effects, not the usual triumphant score in the background. That wasn’t an accident.
“I wanted to avoid glamorizing the events, make them as visceral, real and unsettling as possible,” he says, a reaction against how Hollywood movies typically treat destruction on a major scale.
(Photo: Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage are trying to prevent an imminent catastrophe in “Knowing,” a new sci-fi thriller coming to theaters March 20.)
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