(swishing)
(punching) (grunting)
- Come here.
(punching)
Hi, welcome to (bleep) with Fuqua.
That's the new title of the show.
(soft rock music)
- [Interviewer] So, when you were making the first one,
Was there always talk about a sequel?
- There was talk, but I didn't think about it much.
- [Interviewer] No?
- No because you know, you just wanna make
the best movie you can make.
- Yeah. - You never know.
So if you're thinking about a second one,
you may miss a few things.
Leave somethin' on the table and then you never
get a chance to do it.
- [Interviewer] Yeah right, you didn't wanna leave.
- You gotta go all in man, yeah.
- [Interviewer] Because when I was researching for today,
they had made an announcement seven months
before your first one came out
that they were already working on another one.
- Yeah that has nothing to do with me man.
I'm saying like that becomes a thing where people.
- [Interviewer] Project it.
- Project it and do all that, (laughs)
it scares me man, just let the audience will tell us.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- Just give us some time, they'll let us know.
- [Interviewer] Well this is your first sequel.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] What was that experience like for you?
- For me it was just, you know again, I look at the script
that Richard wrote and I say can this script
on its own, stand on its own without this movie.
Without the first movie.
If you didn't see the first movie,
will this hold up on its own.
So I just kinda make each movie the best I can make it
without thinking about sequel because that's
too much pressure to be thinking about that
for the people who really enjoyed the first one.
I just go in every scene and make it the best I can make it.
I don't put that into my mind.
What I do think about,
once we're in the development process
or in the pre-production
is things I learned from the first one
certain things the audience seemed to care about
to make sure we were delivering the goods on certain things.
- [Interviewer] What were some of those things?
- Well you know the action stuff, they responded
to certain action beats.
But it was really the character beats,
little nuances that, I'm almost surprised the audiences,
when you first started folding the napkin, you know?
There was that interesting little weirdness about it
that people liked. - Yeah.
- I remember the girl Jenny in the first one
when the guy comes and takes the ring at gunpoint
and he grabbed the hammer and then later in the movie
she opens her drawer and her ring is there
I heard a gasp from a lot of the women in the audience
that clapped you know?
And it was weird little moments and I thought,
you don't wanna lose these things
because sometimes on Hollywood we could be jaded.
We get a little too tough for ourselves, you know?
The audience just goes, they have no,
they bring their own prejudice,
their own feelings in the theater.
We have a tendency to try to edit them.
And go, this is too sentimental, this a tough guy movie,
and you go, no not really man,
it's really just a movie and if they connect to some people
like the scene with Sam the old man.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- At one point I was like, should we cut 'em out?
And there was people going, we should just cut 'em out.
The young kids won't like Sam.
I said yeah but people will connect emotionally
to certain things, don't underestimate 'em.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- You know, and so when we get test screenings,
the connection was just, some people cried.
You know and things like that, so.
And, even small things like McCall spending time
with the old guy or McCall helping the kid.
Or McCall painting a wall.
It wasn't always the big things.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- So I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss,
we weren't being too (bleep) cool.
- [Interviewer] Right, yeah there's a lot of texture.
It seems like, I mean the first movie was a hit.
Based on a TV show. - Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Obviously had many episodes.
What took so long in the development process?
Was it just aligning people's schedules?
- It was scheduling, it was really scheduling,
Richard wrote the script maybe a year.
We got a script a year after we finished it.
He finished the first one and maybe a year after,
I think it was.
Then it went to the studio and then it sat for a year
because Denzel was doing.
- [Interviewer] Some Broadway or something?
- No, Roman Israel?
- [Interviewer] Okay.
- Yeah he was doin' Roman Israel at the time and
I, what was I doin'?
I don't even remember now.
I know I've been working on my Ali documentary
that's a four hour for HBO.
And then it wasn't until his schedule opened back up
the that we were able to put it together.
You know, it take so long to make a movie.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- It takes over a year and a half or so
to really finish a movie.
- [Interviewer] I was going to ask,
was it hard convincing him to do it?
'Cause this is his first sequel too, right?
- Yeah, it was harder for the studio than me.
(laughing)
He was in with me if I was in,
but they had to do all the other stuff.
- [Interviewer] This is your fourth movie with him.
What is your relationship like
both personally and professionally,
has it changed over the years?
And what has that been like?
- We trust each other man.
I trust him, he trusts me, he knows I'ma do my job
he's gonna do his, you know?
- [Interviewer] Right.
- He knows that we're friends and I'ma protect,
as an actor I'ma protect his work
and he's gonna protect mine.
I think that's what you really need.
There's also connection creatively for me where
you find an actor that's inspiring to you,
it makes you better.
Scorsese told me the same thing about De Niro.
The relationship you have with certain actors,
the just the chemistry it's like a shorthand.
And, that's a special thing,
I'm blessed to have that relationship.
- [Interviewer] Does he still surprise you?
- Oh yeah. - Yeah.
- The scene with him and Ashton that was getting
more physical and more heated in that hallway.
And when that happened, it was one of those thing where,
I didn't know that was gonna happen, like that.
We rehearsed it in blocks certain, the scene.
But we always leave each other room.
I leave him room and he leaves me room.
I'm always there to get it 'cause I know
when something's coming.
That's part of knowing your actor.
- [Interviewer] Is part of it his artistic ability
and it seems like a lot of too is just his professionalism.
Like you don't have to worry
about anything with him, right?
- Absolutely not.
He's there to work.
- [Interviewer] Right, you gotta do a few more movies
then you'll be Tony Scotts.
- Yeah, I think, what did he do, five with Tony?
- [Interviewer] I think so, yeah.
I always wanted to ask about Denzel about that.
- I think he did five with Tony yeah.
- [Interviewer] The last movie you did with him
was obviously Magnificent seven
and the end of this movie
has a certain sort of western feel,
did you sort of apply that too?
- So like High Noon?
- Yeah it is. - Yeah.
- [Interviewer] That climax is so cool.
- Yeah High Noon.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah that was my High Noon with a hurricane.
(laughing) Exactly.
- [Interviewer] It's so awesome.
- Yeah I love westerns man.
- [Interviewer] Would you go back to the--
- Yeah I would, I wouldn't shoot it,
never say never, but I wouldn't wanna shoot it in Louisiana.
- [Interviewer] Is that where you shot it?
- It was so hot.
It was so hot man, it was 110 112, it was crazy man.
But when we shot the last two weeks in New Mexico
and it was beautiful.
It was perfect.
The weather was nice, the sky was big.
I was so mad at MGM man, shooting in Louisiana man.
Oh my God but yeah I would do it again, it was worth it.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, Tarantino said you gotta do three
before you're considered a western director.
- Is that what he said?
- [Interviewer] Yeah, yeah.
- I don't know (bleep) where that comes from
but whatever man he always got some (bleep) shit.
(laughing)
Whatever man.
- [Interviewer] Did you learn anything else
from Magnificent Seven because it didn't quite--
- I learned it's hard
to make a western. - Yeah.
- [Interviewer] It connected with modern audiences.
- It's hard man.
It's hard physically.
It's uncomfortable if you're really out there in it
and it's tough to get a modern audience no matter
who's in it to connect to it.
They just, it's hard man.
And the horses and cowboys felt like a thing of the past
but if you can get it right,
if you can get it right, you might connect to stuff.
- [Interviewer] Do people come up to you and say
that they've seen it and like it?
- Yeah. - Okay.
- Yeah I've had a couple guys come up to me and ask me
you should make a sequel
with Denzel, the Native American Martin and the Mexican.
- [Interviewer] I'm down.
- And I was, yeah well call MGM.
(laughing)
- [Interviewer] Well, I was gonna ask in terms of sequel,
you got a different cinematographer,
you have a different editor,
was that part of your intention?
Did you wanna kinda shake it up
and try everything stylistically?
- Yeah stylistically wise yeah
because this one was a little more brutal and personal
and I wanted a little grittier.
Me and Mario, I love Mario, I'm always working with Mario,
but the first one was a little more slicker
a little more impersonal.
So I wanted to work with Oliver Woods on this one.
Editor wise, me and Conrad Buff,
this our forth movie together or fifth movie?
So, I work with Conrad a lot,
we've been tryna work together for a while.
John (mumbles) my other editor
is doin' James Cameron's film, he's on that another one,
he did the first one too.
- [Interviewer] So he'll be on that
for forever. - We're doing' forever.
But I worked with I don't know how many other editors.
But I wanted the opportunity to work with Conrad buffing
it anyway, he did Training Day for me and all that,
it was good to get me, him and Denzel a get together again.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, I mean the action in this movie
is very clearer and you understand where everyone
is at all times, is that something that
you find is incredibly helpful for an audience
and how do you feel about action sort
of cinema in general these days?
- Yeah, the geography and the clarity of the action
is really important because it's dialogue.
It's still storytelling right?
If you do an action scene and they're confused
about what happened and how that happened
it's just like the missing lines.
It's like the not hearing what someone said.
Right 'cause every stroke, every cut,
everything is the reason to be precise that way.
I think that if you're still talking to the audience
if you've got a powerful actor,
there's still talking to the audience
it's just with violence.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- That's telling you something about that character.
When he killed the guy in the corridor with the waves
and he slices 'em.
That's very personal thing to do.
- [Interviewer] Right, was it hard to kinda try to top that?
Even people who haven't seen the movie I say
you gotta see this sequence and the kind of Home Depot.
(laughing)
Was it harder to kind of top that?
- You know, you think about it then you have to dismiss it
because it's a different movie and you know,
you hope that people will enjoy it as much or more
but it's one of those things that
when I hear people respond to the drill in
the back of the head or the fact that I made a noose
out of like barb wire, you go I don't know,
I don't wanna try and do that
because then what am I gonna be doin,'
you know what I mean, it's like,
it can get nutty and then it can get really goofy.
- [Interviewer] It becomes a Final Destination.
- Yeah so I couldn't do that.
I just made the movie.
- [Interviewer] Well, this one, I think it's gonna be a hit.
Are you at least looking, sort of,
to where McCall's next adventure will be?
Is that something on your mind?
Have you talked to Robert or anything else?
- Not really.
Richard the writer?
- [Interviewer] Richard yeah.
- Not really, I've mentioned to them that I
would love for it to be overseas
if we were lucky to do another one.
I would love to see Denzel overseas, you know?
- [Interviewer] Yeah!
- Somethin' more international but I leave
that up to the studio and the writer.
- [Interviewer] Did you look at the old show before?
- When I was a kid. I didn't watch before shooting this.
- [Interviewer] Okay.
- I grew up watching that
and Miami Vice and stuff like that.
Yeah but I didn't take anything from that.
- [Interviewer] Right, does Denzel have sort of,
did he sort of have ideas about
where he wanted his character to go in this one?
And has he started talking to you about
where he wants this character to go?
- If there's a third?
- [Interviewer] Yeah!
- No man.
Denzel ain't even talked about a third one.
You can't even have a conversation with him about that.
He's just like, let's just see what this does.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- He won't even talk to you about that.
- [Interviewer] I was gonna ask if part
of the appeal of doing these movies
is actually making a franchise for an adult audience?
So many, every franchise seems to be for all ages,
was that sort of the appeal to you?
- Yeah because I think that there's no movies being made.
We used to make movies for adults
in the '80s and some of the '90s.
There were movies that we made more for adults.
The action thrillers, you know, like no way out
those kind of films.
They just stopped I don't know why.
All of a sudden they just stopped making those movies.
Tony was making some of those movies and revenge exactly.
And then they just stopped so,
I would love to start making more of those.
- [Interviewer] Is it easier when you have Denzel?
- Yeah, much.
- [Interviewer] You don't have to fight.
- Not as much.
- [Interviewer] Quite as much.
You've done so many different genres at this point.
Is there something that you itching to do?
Like does a sci-fi movie interest you?
- Yeah, absolutely.
The right one, yeah, something, yeah,
the right one makes sense for me.
I love all kind of movies.
I just don't see myself doin' a flat out comedy,
although, I will watch them.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- And laugh my ass off.
But I don't think I wanna make one (laughs).
It's hard being funny those dudes are amazing.
I watch these guys I'm like (bleep).
I feel jealous 'cause they look like they havin' a blast.
That one with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell.
- [Interviewer] Daddy's Home?
- Oh man.
Had me in tears man, you know?
They did another one again the two.
They played two cops.
- [Interviewer] Oh yeah The Other Guys!
- The Other Guys, hilarious man.
- [Interviewer] I don't think people watching you're movies
would think big Other Guys fan, this guy.
- You know what man?
It's just funny man, you gotta have a release man.
But Mark's a friend and I'm a fan of Will Ferrell.
- [Interviewer] Does doing like a super hero movie
or a Star Wars or anything like appeal to you?
I'm sure you've been approached.
- Yeah they talked to me about doing Morbius
but I'm not doin', another director is doin' that, yeah.
- [Interviewer] Not a lot of appeal?
- Yeah the right one, I just haven't.
The only one that I actually really
for me at the moment at that time,
was interesting for me was Batman the one Chris Nolan did.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
I think that was cool.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- That's more in the world I would play in.
- [Interviewer] Well what did you think about Black Panther?
- I thought it was a good movie,
I thought Ryan did a good job. - Yeah.
- Yeah, but that wasn't for me.
I had other people mention that to me
before about Black Panther.
Online there was a lot of people sayin',
Antoine you should do Black Panther,
and when I worked with Wesley Snipes back in the day on
Brooklyn's Finest before he had to go to prison.
That kinda came up again talkin' about doin' Black Panther.
But they picked the right guy for Black Panther.
Ryan Coogler was right for me, I just.
My sensibility is just a little darker.
- [Interviewer] It also seems you like working with actors
and that it seems like on these movies,
that is the last thing you have to do
because you're worried about the special effects
and all that, is that sort of a daunting?
- From what I understand, yeah.
It's very...
You got people doing your story boards,
I haven't done it so I don't know.
Guys that do it they do it well.
The Russo brothers, those guys havin' a great time doin' it
I guess, I know it's hard work
but I have a tough time some days
when I'm just lookin' at green screens on anything.
It's just like my whole body shuts down.
I'm like, I don't know what to do with this.
You gotta put Denzel Washington against a green screen,
it's (bleep), what the (bleep) is that man
you know it's like (laughing).
I like being in a real environment,
it's just, you know what I mean.
But if I found a right one,
'cause I love wonderment and all that,
I love what Cameron did with his film.
I would do something like that.
I would do Avatar, I would do somethin' like that.
I would like to. - Really?
- Yeah, somethin' big, somethin' big.
- [Interviewer] That has the same kind of
feel? - Yeah a little grittier.
A little tougher you know.
- [Interviewer] Well.
- Somehow those big movies, somehow it's become like,
I guess if there's so much money you wanna make
sure kids can go and stuff so it becomes very poppy.
Becomes very, I don't know.
That's something that gets me excited.
(light thumping) (light zapping)