David Twohy Quotes

You do a drama, and you are limited by the rules of reality, and in science fiction, you create your own reality. Some people find that daunting; I find it challenging.

Strangely, I always have a lot of cut scenes. I keep writing shorter and shorter scripts, thinking that this time, I’ll get all my scenes in.

With an independent movie, it’s like, ‘Okay I know what I want, and I got to go for it.’ I just got to get the A version of this. Occasionally we’ll try a B version, but not often. We’ll just get what’s scripted and try to do that as best we can, so you sort of edit while you shoot an independent movie.

I don’t want to have so much humor [in films] that it undermines the jeopardy, but enough to sometime relieve tension.

We got together and realized that Universal made it clear that they were out of the Riddick business. They didn’t want to spend that kind of money anymore. So, it was going to be an independent movie.

After I script the movie, I have to storyboard it out, I have to budget it, and I have to understand if I can afford all those visual effects or not.

I’ve learned never to count Vin Diesel out. Just don’t do that. And I guess it’s because he is a very smart guy. Smarter than people give him credit for.

You hear people say that there’s too much CG in movies today, but CG is what allows me to take a green-painted wall in a studio and make it disappear, and then put 100 miles of landscape in. CG, in the right hands, can be a marvelous tool.

In all my science fiction movies, I try to blend the familiar with the futuristic so as not to be too off putting to the audience. There is always something familiar they can grab onto.

My hands are already full writing and directing, because that’s a full time job. Actually, that’s why I don’t produce as well, as there’s already enough producers.

Theres so much diversity of opinion out there, so ultimately you have to listen to it, put it aside, and make what you want to make.

In all my science fiction movies, I try to blend the familiar with the futuristic so as not to be too off-putting to the audience. There is always something familiar they can grab onto.

There are trappings of science fiction which I kind of embrace, but there are also cliches which I run from.

If I know what my finale is when I’m writing a screenplay, then I don’t always have to chart out every scene before that. I can adequately find my way. I’m experienced enough to do that.

To come up short when you reach too far is not such a bad thing rather than not to reach at all, right?

I guess you don’t make any franchise movies unless the fans are there.

Sometimes, if you leave yourself open, an actor can bring nice nuances to a character.

When you do a studio picture, all the paperwork and legal stuff is already taken care of!

There’s so much diversity of opinion out there, so ultimately you have to listen to it, put it aside, and make what you want to make.

I went to Long Beach State, started out as an actor.

Damn, my first cut that I showed to distributors was probably about two hours and 20 minutes, even though my contract said two hours. So, I had to lose 20 minutes. It’s incredible that it just keeps happening.