by Gill Pringle
“We were both there on opening day of Jurassic Park, June 11, 1993, so we’ve been thinking about making our own dinosaur movie ever since. The 12-year-olds in us always wanted to write a dinosaur film where true human emotions are coming through the screen in the most powerful way throughout these set pieces,” offers Beck, one half of this creative duo who today have managed to pull off their long-cherished fantasy with 65 – their own big budget sci-fi twist on prehistoric earth, starring Adam Driver.
After co-writing the script for seminal 2018 sci-fi horror drama, A Quiet Place, Hollywood’s tightly-closed doors rapidly swung open to the Iowa natives, both now 38 years old.
And after teaming up with one of their film idols, Sam Raimi – who serves as co-producer on 65 – they were delighted to learn that double Oscar nominee Driver shared their dinosaur dreams.
“I think Adam is a secret lover of dinosaurs, no question,” laughs Woods who, together with Beck, co-wrote and co-directed 65.
“But I think Adam was also really attracted to a part that is very internal and physical. There’s not a lot of dialogue to express what his character is thinking or feeling. He has to really emote in order to play this stoic role,” he adds.
In the role of interstellar pilot Mills, Driver’s spaceship crashes on an unknown planet during an asteroid storm, where he quickly discovers that he’s actually stranded on Earth… 65 million years ago.
With only one escape pod remaining, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight for survival.
For Driver, 39, the chance to play a character whose physical battle to survive mirrors his emotional battle, was impossible to resist. “Every scale of filmmaking interests me and no filmmaking experience is alike,” says the actor.
“This movie, particularly seemed like a unique, big swing, because it was dinosaurs, so the scale was big, but it had room for thoughtful characters and big overall themes, while being extremely entertaining.
“When families go as a group to see the same film in a theatre, it’s a special thing to be a part of,” says Driver who formerly served two years in the US Marines, delighting the filmmakers by bringing his weapons expertise to the role.
“Typically, when you have somebody having to be a survivalist and using armoury, you have to put them through a boot camp of training, but Adam’s history with the Marines brought that inherently and so he was able to just jump right into this character and lend an authenticity of who this character is. He’s like a human Swiss army knife that he’s able to find a way to survive, no matter what the cost, no matter what the circumstances,” says Beck.
“It was so wonderful working with Adam. And, as far as we’re concerned, he might as well be the next Tom Cruise like action star because he’s so skillful with the physical part of his performance when he has to run through a forest and run from a dinosaur – and it’s not just about running, it’s about what is changing in his character and how he is fine tuning his performance to hit these beats. It’s just really special to watch,” adds Woods.
Essentially a two-hander, Driver stars opposite 15-year-old Ariana Greenblatt. “Koa is a sweet, innocent, brave, curious girl,” says the young actress. “She grows a lot during the movie. She starts out scared, feral, cat-like, jumpy – and towards the end, she finds her courage.
“I was really nervous coming into this project. I felt a lot of pressure because Adam is incredible – and it was just the two of us,” she says. “He’s so talented and inspiring. I respect Adam and his work so much. When I tested with him via Zoom, he even had impact through the screen; you could really feel everything he is giving you,” says Greenblatt, who began her career, aged six, on Disney and Nickelodeon fare, progressing to roles in Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, The One and Only Ivan opposite Angelina Jolie and as Young Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War.
“I made sure that I was incredibly prepared every day and fully settled into my character. But I also told myself that I can do this. No matter how young you are, where you are from, you can do whatever you set your mind to accomplishing. As a young Latina actress, it was important to me to make the most of this incredible role and of this opportunity – for myself and other Latina girls out there,” says the actress who will next be seen co-starring with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated Barbie.
If Driver spends most of 65 being chased by dinosaurs, trapped in tiny caves, falling from trees or sinking into swamps then, according to Beck, he had no complaints.
“He did it all. He did all his stunts. He really embraced the idea of shooting in all real locations. We were shooting in places that have never been filmed before, where we had to hike up mountains and go to special waterfalls or through the swamp. They were dangerous locations and if it rained or snowed, we were just going to film right through it.
“And he was an advocate for embracing the elements and battling through it and I think that lends an authenticity to the performance. And it was also just a fun challenge for all of us,” says Beck, who filmed in Oregon and Louisiana.
“We love genre filmmaking, where you go to a movie theater on a Friday night with a packed audience and seeing a movie that plays us like a piano. Horror, suspense, action, adventure – that’s the sweet spot for us. And what we love even more is to combine genre with a heartbeat and characters you really love,” he adds.
Now finding themselves in huge demand, Beck and Woods’ next project sees them collaborating with Stephen King, bringing his iconic short story, The Boogeyman, to the big screen later this year.
And while they have yet to meet the horror maestro himself, Beck says, “Even to get his thumbs up on the script is amazing, so the film is a dream come true as two kids that have consumed so much Stephen King material over decades. We feel very fortunate to even have one little foot in his sandbox in a cinematic universe.”
65 is in cinemas March 9, 2023