One of the big releases this December is the new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still, and in the new issue of Empire we sat down with star Keanu Reeves and director Scott Derrickson to get the skinny on the film - and scored a four exclusive new images in the bargain.
"One of the last lines in the film is from Jennifer Connelly," says Reeves. "She says, 'This is our moment.' It's interesting because it's a two-headed snake. It could mean, 'This is our moment to begin again,' or, 'This is our moment to begin the end.' It's wonderful; it's alive and it resonates, and I was hoping in a mainstream Hollywood movie (that) this film could really provoke interesting conversations as well as be entertaining"
Empire asked about the relevance of a remake in the modern climate. "The communal fear response in the original is more pertinent to the modern world than it was even then. It's only gotten worse. Our tendency at least in America, is to respnd to the unknown with overreaction," Derrickson tells us. Hopefully their belief in the subject matter will resonate with the audience, as the grand ideas they are touching upon sit alongside newspaper headlines of economic and environmental crisis and war.
A remake of the 1951 original, the film concerns the arrival of an alien space ship in Washington D.C. - a warning from the stars to stop our war-hungry ways and find peace, or face destruction. Reeves plays Klaatu, the alien herald who has come to deliver the message, who is greeted with hostility by the US governement, and must go on the run. He is helped by Connelly's astrobiologist, who believes his story and tries to keep him from the government while helping deliver his message. Then of course, there is Klaatu's robot bodyguard, Gort, who is programmed to ensure his master's survival at any cost.
The film is causing much controversy among fans of the original and it remains to be seen how it will compare to the original, but thanks to these new stills, exclusive to Empire, at least we know it's going to look great.
Click for full details on what's inside th e Empire Sci-Fi issue
To read more of our interview with Keanu Reeves and Scott Derrickson, read this month's Empire magazine, out October 28.