Quotes

[on directing Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)] We are, first and foremost, an origin story. We're not so much trying to wipe the slate clean, but to lay a foundation from which other films can come that will ultimately lead to the original Planet of the Apes (1968), which is 3,000 years away.

[n walking the fine line between depicting 'Caesar's triumph' and 'our own doom' in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)] We were using human traits as much as we could..so we could grow to feel for [the apes]. And it's very easy to do that, in one respect, because they're the oppressed, they're the incarcerated, they're the underdogs. In terms of how they bring about our own demise, interestingly, it's less them. We bring about our own demise, in a way, through our own hubris, our own evolution.. This film is less about the conflict between humans and apes. It's how these apes rise up to be in a position to find a freedom, to find a place where they can evolve themselves. And that's where our film is heading to... they're trying to find their own paradise.

[observation, 2014] You're not seeing as many of the younger generation coming up on the basis of the craft, of the work. The movie stars of the Meryl Streep generation and the generation beneath her, in some ways are the last generation of filmmaking. Now the popular culture is beginning to dominate.

[on 'The Gambler'] This film is less about a gambling addiction and more about a guy gambling with his life. It's more of a redemption story, and that's what intrigued me, because this guy is really circling the drain.