What was the inspiration for making a throwback scifi movie?
It was actually [screenwriter] Jim Swift’s idea to do this, and I said, “You know this is kind of crazy to do a ’50s style movie.” But I had a fond memory for them, so I rewatched a few and they were just like I remembered, except I was laughing at everything — everything was so out of style. So I thought it would be cool if we did a true ’50s movie, and really did it in the style — don’t do it as a comedy knock-off or a spoof or a parody, but do it really like they did it. Q: Why start the movie with a newsreel? A: The movie is so unique and different and weird, what we found is test audiences didn’t have a clear idea of what they were going to see. It took them a long time to get it. So we came up with this idea that puts us right in the time, right in the frame of reference for the movie, and it’s a funny little piece. I always can tell how the movie’s going because in the beginning, one of the characters puts two enormous steaks on a grill — if they laugh at the steaks, I know we’v
