frank marshall
Producer of classics. Hero.
One of Hollywood’s most successful producers, Frank Marshall, 69, has been nominated for five Best Picture Oscars, including for Raiders Of The Lost Ark, his first movie with longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg and future wife Kathleen Kennedy. He and the ’Berg’s latest effort, Colin Trevorrow’s dino-sequel Jurassic World, is the thirdhighest grossing movie ever. Were you staggered by what happened to Jurassic World this year? Yeah, staggered is a good word. It was way beyond our wildest hopes. It was the perfect storm of box office: the right place, the right time and the right movie. Did you and Steven Spielberg place any bets on how the film would perform? [ Laughs] No, we don’t do that. But I have to say the projections for the first weekend were better than any movie either of us had ever had. A little over $100 million, which was fantastic. But to do double that was crazy. You guys don’t have a pre-release ritual? We don’t like to jinx it by saying how much we think it’s going to make. We hopefully make a good movie and we hold our breath. It was a most amazing weekend because every hour it was changing. It was really, really nuts. Do you have a favourite film you’ve worked on? I’d have to say Raiders. I met my wife on it. It was my first sole producer credit, it was my first Academy nomination, it was my first blockbuster. And it was an incredibly exciting and fun production. We travelled all over the world to make it, and then it turned out to be a fantastic movie that was so satisfying for me on all levels. And it started my relationship with Steven and George [ Lucas]. That’s the one that stands out for me. Talking of that franchise, there’s talk that your Jurassic World star Chris Pratt might play Indiana Jones. Is that likely? There are a lot of rumours. We haven’t sat down to even talk about Indy yet... at some point we’ll sit down. But there’s a bunch of people who could probably take the baton. We’re not doing the Bond thing where we’re going to call somebody else Indiana Jones... we have to figure this out. Can you believe both The Goonies and Back To The Future are celebrating their 30th anniversaries this year? Yeah, I have to say it is kind of mindboggling. I still feel the same age I was when we made those movies. I just have a lot less hair right now! It seems like yesterday. I saw that there was also a big reunion for The Warriors in Coney Island. That was in the ’70s! Time is really flying. That’s why I make three or four movies at once now! You have both Assassin’s Creed and the fifth Bourne movie shooting now, right? That’s correct! I didn’t plan it that way. I would rather do them one at a time, but it was just how it worked out.
Assassin’s started a couple of weeks before Bourne, so I was able to get that one started and then go back and forth. What’s it been like to watch Matt Damon reprise Jason Bourne? It was great. The first couple of nights we shot down in Tenerife... both he and Julia Stiles are back. It was like nothing had changed, like we shot last week. It was like a family reunion. You also directed films like Alive and Arachnophobia. Do you find producing is more for you? Directing is a singular project for me. I go into the tunnel and it’s all I can think about. Producing... I can dabble in several different ideas, and that’s satisfying too. I kind of like both but directing is harder for me. JM
ETA | Out Now Jurassic World is available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand.
‘Time is really flying – that’s why I make four movies at once now’