Nacho Vigalondo knew that he had a challenge on his hands when he was making the Anne Hathaway sci-fi thriller “Colossal.”
“You’re dealing with real-life elements like domestic abuse, for example, and toxic relationships,” writer-director Vigalondo told TheWrap’s Steve Pond at Sundance on Saturday. “And, at the same time, you’re making a lot of jokes and making the effects.”
The film, which screened this week at the Sundance Film Festival, stars Hathaway as a woman who discovers that severe catastrophic events involving a Godzilla-like creature are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she’s suffering.
Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis and Tim Blake Nelson co-star.
“I’m really happy about how the movie is being received,” Vigalondo said. “Because if the movie wasn’t talking properly about this stuff, they would be throwing stones at my head right now.”
Nahikari Ipiña, Nicolas Chartier, Zev Foreman, Russell Levine, Dominic Rustam and Shawn Williamson produced “Colossal,” while executive producers include Jonathan Deckter, Garrett Basch, Justin Bursch, Chris Lytton, Lee Jea Woo and Vigalondo.
Last May, Voltage Pictures, the production house behind the film, was sued by Toho, the Japanese production company that created “Godzilla.” They claimed that the company used copyrighted images of the famous movie monster to sell “Colossal.” A settlement was reached between the two parties.
The film is due to be released this year by the new indie distributor founded by Radius co-founder Tom Quinn and Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League.