Special screening of The Day the Earth Stood Still

Based on the 1951 sci-fi classic, Keanu Reeves returns to his strong suit in The Day The Earth Stood Still as he plays Klaatu, a humanoid alien from outer space. Klaatu comes to Earth accompanied by an indestructible, heavily armed robot named Gort to try and stop humans from destroying each other and the planet. Caught in the midst of it all is Princeton University Prof. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) who had been recruited by the government for an event which they believe threatens the human existence. 

Paying homage to the original, director Scott Derrickson stated the trailer playing on-line and in theaters concluded with the image of the robot Gort instead of Klaatu. “It was intentional,” Derrickson said. “I certainly took a lot of time to explore other possibilities. It wasn’t just a foregone conclusion in my mind that we would be sticking to the original. I tried looking at a lot of different possibilities, worked on a lot of different ideas with artists and just always a nagging sense that there was something right about the way the original, that there was something about the alien entity choosing a human form. I am a fan of the original film. You have to also just have some respect for Gort. Gort is Gort.”

 “One of the biggest challenges of the movie was whether or not audiences would really buy the whole idea. There’s no question that you buy it, there’s no question that you believe Keanu’s performance. He really thinks through every moment and every beat with tremendous rigor. He is very clear, I think, about what works for him and his physicality,” Derrickson said. “And yet it’s not like he’s doing things that are highly unusual or highly quirky. What he’s doing is something that’s not quite so upfront and center or distracting, but it still really gives you a feel of alien-ness and keeps you aware of the fact that this being you’re walking through this movie with is not a human being.”

“I think the film in some ways is an attempt to address a number of issues that are amongst the most pressing issues for the human race. The original being a Cold War film was addressing what was clearly the greatest threat for the human race at that time, mutual nuclear destruction, and that’s not the most pressing threat that we face now. It’s also man vs. man. We are destroying each other as well. Our country is at war right now. I think it’s a movie about human nature as much as anything else and how human nature is acting itself out in the world right now,” Derrickson added.

 The Day the Earth Stood Still   will have a special screening tomorrow, Dec. 10 at Imax theatre (SM Mall of Asia).