Hollywood economics are notoriously a bit crazy, but it turns out that crashing a real 747 jet is actually cheaper than recreating such a possibility with computer graphics according to filmmaker Chris Nolan.
However you feel about Nolan’s films, one thing he’s adamant about is doing things practically wherever possible, and spending big money. Nolan is a brand unto himself and since “The Dark Knight” in 2008, he’s never been one to shy away from massive budgeted filmmaking because the audience shows up to his films.
So when the trailer for his new original film “Tenet” ends with a glimpse of a sequence in which a 747 is driven into a hangar and explodes, it appeared as just another example of Nolan’s ostentatiousness because it’s done for real. Speaking to Total Film (via GamesRadar) though, Nolan reveals there was also economic reasons for what they did:
“I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest. We started to run the numbers… It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route. It’s a strange thing to talk about – a kind of impulse buying, I suppose. But we kind of did, and it worked very well…It was a very exciting thing to be a part of.”
One of the film’s stars, Robert Pattinson, says the spectacle is something he’s not sure he will ever see again:
“You wouldn’t have thought there was any reality where you would be doing a scene where they just have an actual 747 to blow up. It’s so bold to the point of ridiculousness… I remember, as we were shooting it, I was thinking, ‘How many more times is this even going to be happening in a film at all?'”
“Tenet” is currently scheduled for a July 17th theatrical release though it’s not clear if that’ll still happen.
