We were treated this lunchtime to a couple of clips from the forthcoming September 16th, 2011 release of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY. The special presentation took place at the Indig02. On stage to introduce the trailer and three clips from the film were producer Robyn Slovo and screenwriter Peter Straughan.
Not much make sense, but we’re liking what we are seeing. Lots of footage featuring Gary Oldman as George Smiley, Ton Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Following the presentation, a Gary Oldman message played to the packed crowd. The actor was unable to make the 02 today as he’s off filming THE DARK KNIGHT RISES over in the USA. The actor says that he chose to do the film because of the director, the cast attached and the fact that he got to play the iconic character of George Smiley. Oldman also confirmed he is to make the premiere of the film in September.
Empire’s Ian Nathan takes to the stage.
Apologies, but I paraphrase the following….
Empire: Why remake it?
Slovo: It’s a great book and a great story. It’s a very low tech film, but has a very complex story to it. It’s iconic.
Straughan: It was really really hard [to adapt]. The TV series is the book page for page, and we couldn’t do that with the film for obvious reasons, so we went back to the book and tried to capture the essence of it. We merged some characters together but we didn’t mess about with the book all that much. Most of it is there.
What was it like to work with Le Carre, as he was a spy, and Gary Oldman, who is George Smiley?
Slovo: To pick an actor for George Smiley is really hard. We had a list and on that list was Gary Oldman. I’m not sure if we would have done it without him, or even as effectively without Gary Oldman. He’s a really superb actor and a really hard working actor. With Le Carre. Both of the performances are based on him [in the TV series and the film]. He’s an extrodinary person. Both actors also met him, and obviously Smiley is based on him.
Questions from the floor…
When you write a script like this, do have an actor in mind?
Straughan: No. Not really. I don’t think it would be helpful to. Sometimes you have a rough idea as to cast, but I had no one in mind for Smiley, and when we were writing Gary wasn’t attached.
There were also another couple of questions fielded, but as press, we were positioned right at the back so it was inaudible.
From what we’ve seen of the film today, it looks like an interesting spy thriller with a complex plot and superb cast that includes Kathy Bates, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Tomas Alfredson directs.
More coverage from the show coming…
