Even Glass Onion Producer Ram Bergman Missed Key Details When First Reading Rian Johnson’s Script
Netflix By Joshua Meyer/Nov. 18, 2022 7:26 am EST
The intricate plotting of a murder mystery like “Glass Onion” even kept producer Ram Bergman on his toes and had him going back over the script, picking up on new details he missed the first time around. The sequel to “Knives Out,” which earned writer-director Rian Johnson his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, “Glass Onion” sees Daniel Craig back in the saddle as private detective Benoit Blanc. This time, he’s on an island in Greece with a new murder to solve and a new star-studded suspect list.
Bergman has served as a co-producer for every one of Johnson’s films going back to his directorial debut, “Brick,” in 2005, but despite their long collaboration, he still finds himself poring over Johnson’s dense scripts and noticing new things each time. /Film’s Vanessa Armstrong recently interviewed the producer, who explained (with no spoilers) how “Glass Onion” came together, starting with Johnson’s pitch. “He literally worked through all the key bits,” Bergman said, “and we talked about the conceit of the movie, which was like, ‘Wow, okay, this is completely different, as it should be.’ But I didn’t expect it, and it’s a challenge.” That challenge is one Bergman was definitely up for, however. He continued:
“If I’m always going to bet on somebody, I’m going to bet on Rian. He went and wrote the script and sent a first draft to me. When you read one of Rian’s scripts, they are very dense. You read them, and you read them again, and you still know — the same way when you’re watching a movie — that you’re going to miss so many different things. You read it, and you read it again and you realize, ‘Oh, you missed this. Oh, this is what he meant, you missed it.’”
Even Glass Onion Producer Ram Bergman Missed Key Details When First Reading Rian Johnson’s Script
Netflix
By Joshua Meyer/Nov. 18, 2022 7:26 am EST
The intricate plotting of a murder mystery like “Glass Onion” even kept producer Ram Bergman on his toes and had him going back over the script, picking up on new details he missed the first time around. The sequel to “Knives Out,” which earned writer-director Rian Johnson his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, “Glass Onion” sees Daniel Craig back in the saddle as private detective Benoit Blanc. This time, he’s on an island in Greece with a new murder to solve and a new star-studded suspect list.
Bergman has served as a co-producer for every one of Johnson’s films going back to his directorial debut, “Brick,” in 2005, but despite their long collaboration, he still finds himself poring over Johnson’s dense scripts and noticing new things each time. /Film’s Vanessa Armstrong recently interviewed the producer, who explained (with no spoilers) how “Glass Onion” came together, starting with Johnson’s pitch. “He literally worked through all the key bits,” Bergman said, “and we talked about the conceit of the movie, which was like, ‘Wow, okay, this is completely different, as it should be.’ But I didn’t expect it, and it’s a challenge.” That challenge is one Bergman was definitely up for, however. He continued:
“If I’m always going to bet on somebody, I’m going to bet on Rian. He went and wrote the script and sent a first draft to me. When you read one of Rian’s scripts, they are very dense. You read them, and you read them again, and you still know — the same way when you’re watching a movie — that you’re going to miss so many different things. You read it, and you read it again and you realize, ‘Oh, you missed this. Oh, this is what he meant, you missed it.’”
Bergman has served as a co-producer for every one of Johnson’s films going back to his directorial debut, “Brick,” in 2005, but despite their long collaboration, he still finds himself poring over Johnson’s dense scripts and noticing new things each time. /Film’s Vanessa Armstrong recently interviewed the producer, who explained (with no spoilers) how “Glass Onion” came together, starting with Johnson’s pitch.
“He literally worked through all the key bits,” Bergman said, “and we talked about the conceit of the movie, which was like, ‘Wow, okay, this is completely different, as it should be.’ But I didn’t expect it, and it’s a challenge.”
That challenge is one Bergman was definitely up for, however. He continued:
“If I’m always going to bet on somebody, I’m going to bet on Rian. He went and wrote the script and sent a first draft to me. When you read one of Rian’s scripts, they are very dense. You read them, and you read them again, and you still know — the same way when you’re watching a movie — that you’re going to miss so many different things. You read it, and you read it again and you realize, ‘Oh, you missed this. Oh, this is what he meant, you missed it.’”
‘This one was a real ride’
Based on Bergman’s experience, it sounds like “Glass Onion” offers a similar roller coaster of a narrative. He continued:
Bergman added, “The first [‘Knives Out’ mystery] was a ride, but this one was a real ride, so I just could not wait to see how it turned out.”
“It was such a fun ride reading the script. I was like, ‘Holy s***, he pulled it off.’ But right away, I said, ‘Okay, I knew what the conceit is going to be. I need people who don’t know what the conceit is and see how they respond.’ So we have a close group of people, Rian’s friends, that don’t know anything. We started testing it with them to see how they respond. And then we keep working and just made it better and better through all the stages of making the movie.”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” comes to select theaters on November 23, before making its Netflix premiere on December 23, 2022.
