Chloé Zhao Used Images from Denis Villeneuve’s Movies to Pitch Marvel
It's good to have inspiration in your pitch decks.
When you're pitching a studio or even a producer on a project, you want to make sure your vision is clearly communicated and easy to understand. It helps to pull images from popular movies and TV shows that are indicative of the kinds of worlds you want to build and the tone you want to set.
Well, Chloé Zhao revealed in a discussion with Denis Villeneuve for Harper’s Bazaar that when she sat down with Marvel, she made sure to bring images from Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario to sell them on the world she picked out for Eternals.
Zhao said, “You know, when I went to pitch Eternals, I had stills from your films as references. I’m naturally drawn to filmmakers who have a very strong hand in world-building. When I watch your films, even though they’re of different genres, from Sicario to Arrival to Prisoners and then Blade Runner 2049, you managed to build such visceral worlds I can feel and almost touch.”
Zhao got that job and is ready to debut that movie this year. Villeneuve has been doing the rounds for Dune, which we are highly anticipating.
I love when directors support one another. And we are so lucky to be living in the time of Villeneuve and Zhao. Their collaboration and inspirations they take from one another and their friendship are a model for the rest of us. This is not the first time Zhao has waxed about Villeneuve's work.
Zhao recently told Sight & Sound magazine, "It gives me hope that a filmmaker like Denis can really harness his vision and put together something that’s so incredible, so cinematic, I’m just blown away by the experience I had in that room. But I’m terrified about how many people are or aren’t going to have that experience like I did, in a theatre, and what that means for the future.”
It will be interesting to see how the rest of 2021 treats both filmmakers. Each has a huge movie coming out.
Dune will be released in theaters and HBO Max starting Oct. 22, 2021. Zhao’s Eternals has a Nov 5 exclusive theatrical release from Disney.
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