As we all know, Steven Spielberg is already well into shooting "The War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise, in New Jersey locales including Bayonne, Howell, Newark and upstate New York. There's one big problem though - time. Spielberg's take on the HG Wells classic is due in theaters on June 29, less than eight months after the November 7th start oflensing. For a summer tentpole movie containing 500+ visual effects shots, this is nearly unheard of.
The man however has a solution according to Yahoo Movies. Spielberg's plan for the 75-day shoot is to shoot the big action segments first. In the first weeks of shooting, production included action sequences with alien forces bombing streets, ripping up sidewalks and blasting apart buildings. A segment in early December with 1,000 extras in Athens, NY is already planned.
Already sequences are being submitted to ILM and it's hoped by the time production wraps, ILM will either have finished or be working on at least half the FX shots. Spielberg's famous for his quick shooting, The 140 setup "Catch Me if You Can" was completed in just 56 days. Paramount and DreamWorks are co-financing the $128 million budget, but the Spielberg and Cruise deals call for no fees against a large amount of the gross.
Thanks to 'Dust Bunny'.
