Libertyville's Chris McKay reteams with Chris Pratt for 'The Tomorrow War'
Teaming up to battle aliens isn't the first time Chris McKay worked with Chris Pratt.
McKay was an animation supervisor on 2014's “The Lego Movie” and moved to the director's chair for 2017's “The Lego Batman Movie” — both featuring Pratt's vocals. So, did that influence McKay to cast Pratt as the lead in “The Tomorrow War,” now streaming on Amazon Prime?
“Actually,” McKay replied, “Chris was already attached to the movie when I came in, so I had to audition for him!”
Before he became an established Hollywood director, writer, producer, editor, animator and visual effects artist, McKay grew up in Libertyville, graduated from Libertyville High School and picked up his degree from Columbia College in Chicago.
After successful stints directing TV shows such as “Robot Chicken” and “Moral Orel,” he broke into films. “The Lego Batman Movie” was his impressive feature directorial debut before taking on “The Tomorrow War,” about a family man traveling to the future to fight aliens.
I conducted a Zoom interview with McKay earlier this week. Here's what he had to say.
Q: Why are people so fascinated by time travel movies?
A: What fascinated me about this movie was the idea of using time travel as a way to talk about second chances in your life.
When I pitched it to the studio, I talked a lot about “It's a Wonderful Life.” If you had a chance to see the future, what would you do today to change your future self? That was really appealing to me.
Q: How did British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock influence your interest in movies?
A: My mom was a big Hitchcock fan. I understood who directors were because my mom would talk about Hitchcock movies she saw when she was a kid and how they would affect her.
That made me watch Hitchcock films and study them. From a visual standpoint, from a storytelling standpoint, from an obsession standpoint, Hitchcock was a fascinating filmmaker.
Q: How does Hitchcock apply to “The Tomorrow War”?
A: I knew this movie had elements of suspense and horror. The stairwell scene, in particular, is a scene that would be something straight out of a Hitchcock movie. What you do see. What you don't see. What you slowly reveal to the audience.
I wanted you to see little bits and pieces of them (alien creatures) first, so that you get an idea of what they are. Suddenly they come flying at you. That was kind of how Hitchcock as a filmmaker influenced how I approached this movie.
Q: You reference “Jaws” by not showing the metaphorical shark for a long time. Yet, by showing the aliens in all the commercials and theatrical trailers, the marketing undermines both the level of suspense and the movie's dramatic impact on audiences.
A: Yeah, that's a tricky question to answer because obviously I appreciate the work that the marketing team has done.
It's hard to get people out to see an original science fiction movie. If it's not a brand, if it's not a known property, if it's not a sequel, or something like that, it's tough to get people to show up, especially in the numbers needed to support a film with this budget. But you and I are on the same page.
Q: Did you know you went to the same high school as Marlon Brando?
A: Well, he went there at a very different time than I went there. At Libertyville High School, they had a movie class. I got to see ”The Searchers” and “The Seven Samurai.” We didn't have cable or DVR. I think I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker after I saw “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.” and “Ghostbusters.” Those were the films that influenced me.
I also read about movies and filmmakers. I would go to the library and read books about them. Some filmmakers would talk about other filmmakers and suddenly you're hooked on world cinema.