Interview With Stuart Beattie, Director of Tomorrow When the War Began

Tomorrow, When the War Began Full Length Trailer HQ on YouTube

The name Stuart Beattie should be instantly recognisable to fans of big, summer blockbuster films. As a screenwriter, he co-wrote Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, decided what Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise would say to each other in Michael Mann’s Collateral, adapted James Siegel’s novel into the Clive Owen/Jennifer Aniston-starring Derailed and, most famously, turned a theme park ride into the now-four-movie-strong Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

For his first job as director, Stuart chose to tackle the adaptation of John Marsden’s beloved young adult novel Tomorrow When the War Began, in which a group of teenagers return home from a weekend getaway to find their country has been invaded by an unknown, foreign force. The result is a non-stop adventure epic against which all subsequent Australian teen films will be measured.

We were lucky enough to have a quick chat with Stuart about the adaptation and the industry.

PORTABLE: You’ve got a great reputation as a screenwriter, what made you decide to tackle TWTWB as your first job as director?
I have always wanted to be a director and I had reached a stage as a writer where I felt I was ready to make the transition. I wanted my first film to be Australian, to be commercial, and most of all to be a great story. TWTWB was all of those things.

Stuart, the source material for the film is beloved among generations of Australians. How did you deal with the pressure of the book-film adaptation?
I think the key is to love the source material as much as the fans do, otherwise don’t take the job. It’s only because I love the books so much that I agreed to adapt them and fought to direct them. I felt protective of them and wanted to make sure they got to the screen “intact”. Then I just tried to make the best version of the movie that I would like to see as a fan and hope that most of the other fans agreed. I kept a copy of the book on set with me everyday as well and never let anyone in the cast or crew forget that that was what we were all working towards.

You’ve got a handful of other writing jobs in the works at the moment, are there any plans to direct these or any other films?
I would love to direct some of the screenplays that I have written. They are all very close to my heart and I would love to see them up on the screen. I love directing and hope to be able to keep doing it.

Judging by what we see in the trailer, TWTWB looks like an epic action/war genre film, particularly by Australian standards. What films inspired you aesthetically or thematically?
Aesthetically, Lord of the Rings, Saving Private Ryan, Heat, Aliens, and Mad Max. Thematically, Lord of the Flies, Saving Private Ryan (again), Alive, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Guns of Navarone.

A lot has been said about the reputation and future of the Australian Film Industry, how do you see it represented both locally and internationally?
I think every film industry needs a healthy balance of different kinds of movies and over the past few years we’ve seen a marked swing in that direction. More comedies, thrillers, horrors, and now action/adventures. Hopefully this continues because people all over the world love Australian movies and want to see more and we as Australians have a lot of great stories to tell.

Tomorrow When the War Began is released in Australia and New Zealand on September 2.