With the release of most Marvel Studios films, inevitably the filmmaker behind the feature is asked about any sort of cinematic inspirations that went into the making of the latest superhero epic. And for “Eternals,” director Chloé Zhao drew inspiration from some surprising films from some of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
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When you watch the trailer for “Eternals,” it’s clear the film does look a bit different than previous Marvel Studios films. There are more real sets, fewer obvious instances of green screen, and natural lighting that gives things a bit of a muted design. All of these things are clearly the result of Marvel Studios hiring Chloé Zhao to direct the feature. And to help Zhao explain her vision for “Eternals,” the filmmaker decided to show the crew some of the film inspirations she has for the superhero blockbuster.
“I would say I pay tribute to many films and filmmakers that had great influence on me in this movie,” Zhao said in an interview with Fandango. “It becomes fanfare for me [laughs]…I try to let them inspire me in different parts of the movie because the film is so diverse, visually. I could do a lot of different things.”
She added, “Particularly with the team at Marvel — our visual effects team, the action units, the design teams — we watched [Terrence] Malick films, particularly ‘The Tree of Life’ and ‘The New World.’ We watched ‘The Revenant’ a lot, and ‘Interstellar’ a lot. We watched ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and a film called ‘Samsara.’ We watched that a lot. Obviously ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was very important, too. So, these were the films we had on repeat, and of course, there’s many other things in my life that I’ve watched that snuck into it.”
While we’re not sure specifically how films like “The Tree of Life,” “The Revenant,” “Blade Runner 2049,” and “Interstellar” have influenced “Eternals,” it does appear the run time is similar to those other features. It’s been confirmed that Zhao’s Marvel film is going to clock in at a massive 156 minutes. No, that’s not the 180 minutes that “Avengers: Endgame” came in at, but it’s darn close.
“Eternals” is set to arrive in theaters on November 5.