EXCLUSIVE

BATMAN v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder has described George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road as the best film of the year, and says the phone is open for the Aussie director to take his pick in the DC Universe.

The movie rumour mill went into overdrive last month with speculation that the 70-year-old had been tapped to direct the sequel to Snyder’s 2013 Superman reboot Man of Steel, but that was quickly shot down.

Snyder confirmed he hadn’t spoken to Miller yet, but that the phone was always open. “No one would say that the best movie of the year isn’t Fury Road,” he told news.com.au in an exclusive Australian interview.

“It’s just a f***ing great movie. George doing one of the DC movies? Oh my God, absolutely. George can do anything he wants, in my opinion.”

The acclaimed director, whose previous films include 300, Watchmen and Dawn of the Dead, got his start in the advertising business making car commercials — and now he’s going back to his roots.

The 49-year-old has teamed up with Doritos for its last-ever Crash the Super Bowl competition, which invites budding young filmmakers to create their own 30-second TV ad for the chance to win $US1 million and have their creation played during the world’s biggest sporting event.

Better yet, this year’s winner will get the chance to collaborate with Snyder, Warner Bros Pictures and DC Entertainment to kickstart their film career.

media_camera Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

“We’re giving consumers one last shot to make their mark and see their homemade ads air during the Super Bowl broadcast,” Frito-Lay vice president of marketing Jeff Klein said in a statement.

“This is truly last call for all of those who not only want a shot at $1 million — but want a chance to jump-start their career in Hollywood.”

The competition, which has been running since 2006, first opened up to international entries three years ago. Since its beginnings, the contest has received 32,000 submissions and handed out more than $US7 million in prize money.

Aussie fan favourite ‘Finger Cleaner’ made the final five in 2013-14 but missed on the big prize — probably as gloryholes are not prime-time friendly. The ad’s creator, Sydney filmmaker Tom Noakes, went on to secure commercial work.

Speaking to news.com.au from the US this morning (before the fire alarm went off), Snyder talked advertising, Aussie filmmakers, Steven Spielberg’s dire prediction for the superhero genre, and more.

NEWS.COM.AU: Advertising is obviously close to your heart, so being involved with this competition is almost going back to your roots a little bit.

ZACK: Yeah, when they approached us and said would you be interested, I said yeah I’d be super interested, because when I was in film school I made a bunch of spec commercials and basically launched my career through those spots. So the idea of launching a career or getting someone a start through a spec spot was a thing I could really relate to. It’s $1 million, so that’s amazing, but the other thing I think that’s interesting is that in the end I’m there to say, okay, what do you want to do? The thing that’s really amazing about it is it’s legit, in that the people who are doing the spots — and I hope a lot of people do it — the audience gets the opportunity to hear this really unique and real voice from someone who is following a thing all the way through on their own. There are no focus groups, there’s no committee, there’s no advertising agency, it’s really one person’s vision all the way through, and I think that is the thing I’m most excited about. When you watch the other spots [from previous years] you can really feel the personality of the filmmaker in them, you know? I think that’s really exciting.

media_camera Zack Snyder says Mad Max: Fury Road is the best film of the year.

NEWS.COM.AU: Does that mean you think advertising has had the creativity squeezed out of it?

ZACK: Well no, I think that’s been true all along. There are great spots, there have always been great spots, and advertising agencies attract smart people who are creative and they come up with amazing things. But I just mean in the normal process, what’s produced in a way is designed to eliminate ... I guess to feel the personality of the filmmaker is not a thing that is probably 100 per cent in their wheelhouse of wanting to achieve. I think that is the very thing that when you watch these spots that have been done in the past, you really feel like this is done by a person, you know what I mean? I think that’s amazing.

NEWS.COM.AU: Can you tell us a little bit about the actual prize and what they’ll be doing with you? I don’t think that’s been explained in detail.

ZACK: No, and by the way I think we’ve left it like that because we don’t know what the person’s going to want. What we’re trying to do is be open and perceptive to the individual that wins — where do they want to go, what do they envision their career looking like, and how can we help them achieve that? Then we can say, here’s a path that can get you there, or here’s a task, here’s a thing we have right now on our movie you can try. It’s to try and get them working and see what it’s like to be in the business, but also get a sense of the individual and what they’re interested in.

NEWS.COM.AU: What’s your impression of Australian filmmakers?

ZACK: Well you know I spent a lot of time in Australia at Animal Logic in Sydney. I’ve done a lot of visual effects with them — they did 300, I did Guardians with them, they worked on a bunch of my movies — and then WB has a great relationship with them. They did the Lego Movie, and I’m still really close with a lot of the guys over there. Not to mention my stream of Australian actors that I’ve worked with in all my movies. And by the way, no one would say that the best movie of the year isn’t Fury Road.

NEWS.COM.AU: I was going to ask you about Fury Road actually. What would be your review?

ZACK: My review is that it’s a just f***ing great movie. I don’t know if you can write it exactly like that but you get the gist. I know George, I’ve had dinner with him a couple of times, and just to see the movie — it’s so perfectly fetishised in the way that I love, and it’s so specific, and it’s just perfect, I really love it.

'Mad Max: Fury Road' official trailer Take a look at the fiery world inside 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. The world goes mad this May. Courtesy: Warner Brothers/Roadshow

media_camera The 300 director is teaming up with Doritos for an advertising competition.

NEWS.COM.AU: It’s the kind of movie you feel like you haven’t seen for a long time.

ZACK: No, and that’s what I mean, you really don’t. And I guess that’s the thing I love, my favourite kind of movies are where the filmmaker’s voice is really strong in the movie, and that’s a perfect example of it to me. Fury Road is like a singular vision, and that’s what I really love.

NEWS.COM.AU: It was almost a bloody-minded vision given how long it took to get made.

ZACK: Yeah! Everything about it, you know, the entire experience. I know a lot of people who worked on the movie and it was like, you know, it’s a crucible, it’s amazing. But it shows in the movie, you can see the passion on every actor’s face, every location, everything. I just can’t say enough about it, I was just blown away by it.

NEWS.COM.AU: There were rumours going around that George was taking on a DC property, which got shot down. But is that something you would be keen to do in the future?

ZACK: George doing one of the DC movies? Oh my God, absolutely. George can do anything he wants, in my opinion. We haven’t talked about it, and to be frank I just didn't know what he was thinking of doing next. But yeah, if I was to think he had any interest in them of course I’m happy to talk to him.

NEWS.COM.AU: So the phone is open to George?

ZACK: Oh my God, so open.

NEWS.COM.AU: Just on the competition, what would your advice be to young people thinking of entering?

ZACK: Well for one I would say, if you’re thinking about it even in the smallest way, you should do it. Because it means that if you don’t do it you’re going to be the guy who says, you know what, I could have won that. And none of us want to do that. For two, the truth is it’s real. It’s a real competition in the sense that you have as good a chance as anyone. And if you look at it from the standpoint of making a million dollars, it’s pretty good odds — that’s if you have any talent. You really have a shot.

NEWS.COM.AU: What was your favourite entry from last year?

ZACK: I’m not sure what year it was but the kid riding the dog was pretty awesome. ‘When Pigs Fly’ is pretty awesome. But I feel like the introduction of visual effects is a really interesting sort of evolution that’s gone on. ‘Time Machine’ doesn’t have any visual effects, it’s just a clean idea — sometimes just a clean idea will work. I think that’s the whole thing. Even though there’s this mass of technology, in a lot of ways sometimes the purest thing is just the cleanest idea. But again, I’m all about the voice of the filmmaker and seeing something surprising and beautiful and all those cool qualities.

media_camera Zack Snyder says he hasn’t seen Ant-Man yet, but superhero movies must evolve.

NEWS.COM.AU: It’s fair to say the critical reaction to both the latest Avengers movie and Ant-Man was lukewarm. Do you think the Marvel Cinematic Universe has peaked a bit, or is in danger of collapsing under its own weight?

ZACK: It’s an interesting question. I haven’t seen Ant-Man. I just haven’t had time. I’ve been so stacked, I’ve been in post, but I do want to, I have an interest in seeing it. But to me it’s like, there’s undeniable and amazing talent and entertainment in the movies they make, and Joss [Whedon] is really good. The question is whether or not — or how — the superhero genre evolves, or does it stay the same? Steven Spielberg made that comment about [superhero movies] going the way of the westerns, and my reaction is: then you’ve got to make a better movie. That’s the reality. I know that doesn’t really answer the question, but the feeling is that we can’t stay the same, that’s one thing for sure.

NEWS.COM.AU: Are you talking about maybe more genre-style movies or getting a bit more creative with the format? Because the common criticism of Marvel movies is they’re very homogenous, they all kind of have the same look, almost the same tone.

ZACK: Yeah, and we don’t. We’re very much all about, we don’t know what the movie is going to be. I think that’s the best thing. We’re making a movie where we don’t have a formula, we don’t have a peg, we’re just trying to make the best movie we can.

NEWS.COM.AU: And how is it coming together?

ZACK: I’m super-excited about it.

[News Corp fire alarm test system goes off]

NEWS.COM.AU: I don’t usually do these interviews so I’m not sure if this is a faux pax, but I just wanted to say Dawn of the Dead is one of my favourite movies of all time.

ZACK: Oh geez, no that’s fine. Appreciate that, I do. I love it too, by the way. It’s completely bizarre.

[Fire alarm intensifies]

NEWS.COM.AU: I should probably go. The building’s about to collapse.

ZACK: All right. Go. Don’t die.

frank.chung@news.com.au

Batman v Superman

Originally published as Why superhero movies need to toughen up