From Marvel to Foo Fighters: Our Chat WithStudio 666Director BJ McDonnell

BJ McDonnell has the IMDB page of your dreams , with credits on Scrubs , War of the Worlds , Hatchet , Halloween , CSI , Heroes , MacGruber , Star Trek Into Darkness , Avengers : Age of Ultron , This Is the goal , Ant - Man , American Horror Story , Shazam , Malignant , and many many more . Over the preceding two decades , he ’s diligently work his way of life up the Hollywood solid food chain , moving from grip to camera operator all the way up to film director , sour everyone from Steven Spielberg to Slayer in both the film and medicine industries .

Now , for his 2nd narration characteristic film , he ’s admit on his biggest challenge yet , wrangling six rockstar non - worker who did n’t learn any of their lines . That moving-picture show is anticipate Studio 666 , the actor are the Foo Fighters , and it all worked out in the end .

establish on a storey conception by circle leader Dave Grohl , Studio 666 star all member of the band ( Grohl , Pat Smear , Taylor Hawkins , Nate Mendel , Chris Shiflett , and Rami Jaffee ) as themselves . The band is being pressured by the studio to make a fresh album , their 10th , and they want it to be special . So they end up at a creepy old home with a morbid musical chronicle hoping to capture a magical , trenchant phone . What they capture instead is a mass of brutish execution .

Studio 666 director BJ McDonnell throwing up the horns behind Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl… and some demons.

Studio 666 director BJ McDonnell throwing up the horns behind Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl… and some demons.Image: Open Road Films/Andrew Stuart

“ decent off the get - go , I told the guy rope , ‘ Hey , we have the handwriting , [ but ] do n’t believe you have to memorize the whole thing , ’ ” McDonnell told io9 over a TV call . “ ’ We ’ve get to survey the sure templates and the subject matter , what ’s going on , but aboveboard , be yourselves , because there ’s no dependable character than the one that you actually are living in . That ’s you . act who you are . ’ And I suppose once we let the guys know that , they felt make relaxed a bit more so they could just be themselves . That ’s the sport thing about this movie , masses actually get to see the guys play themselves . ”

McDonnell get to be himself too . Though he had an entire band deserving of strong personalities , he was give the reins to make the movie as he pleased . Case in point : originally , Grohl imagined the film as raw and granular . But McDonnell ’s foresighted experience in the picture show industry gave him the assurance to think larger .

“ When I met with Dave , I said , count , if we ’re going to make a movie with you guys , allow ’s make a picture with you hombre , ” McDonnell explained . “ I desire to verify this motion-picture show had a very feature film look to it . I wanted to make it expect as prominent as it possibly could because I ’m used to using the right cock , like the cranes and the Steadicam and the dollies , which actually produce the vibe of what ’s proceed on during a setting . Because really , camera enjoin a story — and with me doing what I ’ve done , and still do , I incorporate that with this movie . I want to verify that we had that palpate to it , you know ? And so I cogitate that ’s what I really brought to the mesa on this , just making sure that the vibration and the tone of what was survive on visually , camerawork - wise , also kind of worked along with the hand . ”

All members of the Foo Fighters play themselves.

All members of the Foo Fighters play themselves.Image: Open Road Films/Andrew Stuart

That script did n’t start as a book , of course . It started with a one - varlet treatment Grohl come in up with which was then expanded upon not only by the Foo Fighters but writers Jeff Buhler , Rebecca Hughes , and McDonnell himself . “ The tarradiddle was all about this band person in the ‘ 90 that [ had a ] disaster in the house and that ’s kind of what it was , ” the music director said . “ My idea was to endeavor to give it a deeper meaning of what ’s going on in the family . ” And so he envisioned a backstory where this band from the past not only died there but were the purport that presently haunt it .

Another of McDonnell ’s ideas ? hardheaded effects . Lots of them . But after hiring Alterian Inc. , the company behindZombieland , Army of Darkness and Hocus Pocus , he realized that approximation did n’t quite mesh with the improvisational vibe on band . “ It ’s a long unconscious process to make these practical effects happen , ” he enunciate . “ [ So ] you ca n’t veer too much off of that . You have to really stay on board with where you ’re going and how it ’s going to happen because those things are hard to accomplish … So we abide by the script [ for that ] . ”

Basically , the whole movie was a balancing act — not just the extemporization but the issue , performances , and mythology of the world . All of which make because the Foo Fighters trusted McDonnell completely . “ They allow me basically take the rein as the theatre director full force , ” he say . “ They were n’t demented about , like , being so possessive about what ’s happening there . They were all about get wind my musical theme and we just did it . It was rad . ”

McDonnell and Grohl.

McDonnell and Grohl.Image: Open Road Films/Andrew Stuart

That ’s the feeling McDonnell want fans to have . And though he knows not everyone is comfortable function to the theater at the moment , he thinks whether you see it in theaters or not , you ’ll have a good time watching it no matter what . “ I wanted it to be fun , ” he said . “ I wanted the kills to be fun to where people can cheer and be excited about it … Hopefully , wherever you see it , it kicks fuck for you and you have a great sentence . Just get everybody together , fuddle up , and have fun . ”

Studio 666 is now in theaters .

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Growling Grohl.