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Good interview with Charlie over at the Wall Street Journal. It's largely about Antkind, but Ending Things gets a mention as well. Couple of snippets:

Your new film is adapted from a novel. How did that project come to you?

I was looking for something that somebody would let me direct and it’s easier to get something made if it’s based on a book or a comic book or a movie that’s already existed. The producer I work with happened to have a deal with Netflix. I don’t know that Netflix knew going in that I was going to make it into something that was less of a thriller than the book, and I don’t think I knew that either. The book is leading you to a reveal, and I felt like that might be obvious and disappointing in the movie. Things are more mysterious in words than they are in images.

[...]

Was it easier to get an original screenplay made earlier in your career?

Definitely. Earlier in my career, I could play around and experiment, but the business has changed enormously, and it all happened around 2008 when studios stopped making movies and started making tentpoles. The reason something like Netflix attracts filmmakers is because there’s nowhere else to make those things. It’s infuriating to me when people say Netflix is ruining movies because—no, movies ruined movies, studios ruined movies, and that’s the truth. (Source)

That is all.

Here's a great longread from the New York Times, put together over the course of several interviews with Charlie while the pandemic has been going on. Needless to say it's an interesting read and there are a few particularly interesting (though admittedly trivial) nuggets.

1. He's moved to New York.
2. He has been making felt portraits.
3. Charlie calls his adaptation of I'm Thinking of Ending Things “odd, small and a little complicated[...] I honestly approached it as my last directing job.”
4. Spike Jonze compares Charlie to Kanye West. (While hesitating to compare him to Kanye.)
5. "In April, he busied himself a little, taking a job adapting a short story for Ryan Gosling’s production company." (WHAT IS THIS? ANYONE HAVE INFO?)

There's a bonus anecdote in the comments section of the article, regarding a near death experience Charlie mightn't know that he had:

Mr. Kaufman doesn't know it, but he was nearly run over back in Pasadena years ago. He was jogging next to the Arroyo Seco. I was in my car, stopped at the side of the road as I was out photographing homes, including his I think, for a local business to use in its marketing campaign.

I did not see Kaufman as he jogged up behind me, and I almost did not see him as I moved to resume my journey just as he was skirting my car. Lucky for him (and you, and all of us), I glanced in the rear view mirror one last time and - YIKES! - there was Charlie Kaufman about to jog past me.

So glad I didn't kill him.

 THANKS FOR NOT KILLING CHARLIE, INTERNET COMMENTER!

Antkind is available IN A FEW DAYS!! (July 7.) (That's an affiliate link to the book. Amazon occasionally kicks me a few cents if people buy stuff via a link on BCK.)

We have a release date, and it's September 4! This was announced on @NetflixFilm a few hours ago.

No trailer yet, but we can probably expect one soonish.

"Inspired by" is worth noting here, suggesting that Charlie's film strays somewhat from Reid's book. Says Chris Evangelista at /film:

I’ve read the Iain Reid book that inspired the film, and it’s quite good, and pretty creepy. But based on Netflix’s description above – “an exploration of regret, longing & the fragility of the human spirit” – it sounds like Kaufman has changed the story up a bit. Because not once while reading the book did I stop and think, “Wow, this is an exploration of regret and the fragility of the human spirit!” (Source)

September 4! And of course Charlie's novel, Antkind, is due for release July 7.

Got word today that Charlie's July 8 event for the Chicago Humanities Festival will be going ahead--online instead of in person, for obvious reasons. Yay!

Details:

• All tickets to this conversation come with a copy of Antkind: A Novel. With your purchase, you save 20% on the cost of the book and directly support independent bookselling in Chicago through our partner, Seminary Co-op. CHF does not earn any revenue from book sales.
  The Book + Ticket price includes shipping, and all pre-ordered books will be shipped to buyers within 48 hours of the event date by our partner bookseller, Seminary Co-op.
• If you're one of the first 200 buyers, you'll receive a signed copy of the book straight to your door! Any purchases after that point will receive a regular unsigned copy of the book.
• The live stream link will be shared with registered guests in advance of the program. Please consider supporting our events by paying what you can for a digital ticket when registering, or by making a donation in any amount. Your support makes our programming possible.
• This event will have a live Q&A. (Source)

I'm guessing Charlie's other Antkind promo appearances will make a similar change.

More details at the link, thanks to Stephanie!

Nothing official, but at the end of this indieWIRE article ("The Unexpected Story Behind Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Improvised ‘The Master’ Line"), the writer tips a fall release for Charlie's I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

Next up for the actor [Jesse Plemons] is the lead role in Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” which Netflix is expected to release in the fall. (Source)

There's still no sign of a trailer.

And that's American Fall, obviously, which here in Oz we call autumn--but it'll be spring here instead of fall... which we call autumn.

Anyway. Yes.

A while ago (I just checked... 5 years!) there was talk that Charlie would be co-producing a TV series for FX (and later AMC) based on the Grady Hendrix novel Horrorstör. Alas, Deadline now reports that New Republic Pictures has optioned the book for a film adaptation.

Formerly set up as a television series with Charlie Kaufman, Gail Berman and Josh Schwartz producing at Fox and then at AMC, Horrorstör is now going the feature route with Hendrix adapting his own material for the first time.

The book is set at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio where morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking. To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift with plans to patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination. (Source)

Bummer! For Charlie's fans, at least.

This is really neat.

One of the highlights of Nat Geo’s “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” was how stop-motion animation helped humanize the tragic career of pioneering Russian botanist/geneticist Nikolai Vavilov in Episode 4: “Vavilov.”

[...]

Showrunner Ann Druyan and executive producer Brannon Braga used lots of hand-drawn animation throughout the series as a visual change of pace, but wanted to give “Vavilov” a more distinctive look to help humanize the historical drama. And they were both admirers of stop-motion, especially the nuance and naturalism of Charlie Kaufman’s Oscar-nominated “Anomalisa,” which was co-directed by Duke Johnson and animated at Starburns Industries — so they approached Johnson to spearhead the episode. (Source)

That's the start of a really interesting read over at indieWIRE. Says Johnson, “We animated it practically and pushed it with visual effects. I think ‘Vavilov’ is definitely some of the best animation that I have been a part of.”

Thanks to Sarah!

At the start of last year, a teaser appeared online for a short film called Hey Charlie, directed by Shaun Irons and starring our Charlie. Apparently it played at the New York Indie Theatre Film Festival at the start of last year, and... that's about all I know. Google tells me nothing useful.

Anybody have more info? A link to the film? Review? Something?

BCKster Tyler emailed me about it, and it's funny because I was thinking about it just a few days ago. The Dublin podcast reminded me of the film when Charlie mentioned starring in his own home-made short films as a kid. Trailer below, plot under that.

"Hey Charlie" is a short hallucinatory film featuring renowned screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman. Nearing the end of his stay at an artists' retreat, Charlie’s daily ritual walk in the woods turns into an ordeal of repetition and delusion. These interruptions - either real or imagined - break into his consciousness, causing anxiety and panic as he contemplates how much (or little) he has accomplished during his time at the Colony. (Source)

Probably not a difficult question. Eternal Sunshine came in at #43, between Donnie Darko and Predator. That's a trio you don't see every day. Kind of an odd Top 5, too: Bladerunner, Alien and The Empire Strikes Back are the top 3, The Matrix is #4 and 2001 rounds it out.

Memory-tampering is a genre staple often reserved for amnesiac thrillers and mind-bending actioners. Not so with Eternal Sunshine, director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman instead using it to explore the nature of the human condition – in particular heartbreak. What happens when love goes sour? And what if you could erase the memories — both bad and good — from your mind? Would you go through with that? After learning his ex, Clementine (Kate Winslet) already has, Jim Carrey's Joel decides he will too. But as he explores what made them meld together and then fall apart, he starts to realise that he still has feelings for her. If its tech is fictional, the emotions in Eternal Sunshine are completely real. (Source)