“Warrior,” the new feature film from Lionsgate, starring Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Morrison, opens in theaters nationwide on Sept. 9. Gavin O’Connor, director and screenwriter, recently took some time in between screenings to talk with BR about the movie.
BR: There have been a few MMA movies, but there isn’t really a “signature” MMA film. How can “Warrior” fit that definition?
GO: My hope is that it is because the story works. I never envisioned it as an “MMA movie.” MMA is the backdrop. Like “Rocky” uses boxing as a character study. I had these two brothers who grew up communicating through violence, whose lives come together in the cage. One had to surrender to be reborn. That’s what I aimed for in making the movie. I love the sport of MMA so much and thought it hasn’t been utilized that way in cinema. I wanted to be the first to do it in a way that introduces the sport to an audience that doesn’t necessarily know it. In many ways, it’s a love letter to the sport.
BR: You produced “The Smashing Machine,” the documentary on fighter Mark Kerr. Was that how you became interested in MMA?
GO: It was. I knew nothing about MMA, just peripherally. When I became involved with “The Smashing Machine,” it had already been shot but not cut. We had hundreds of hours of footage. It was kind of an introduction to the sport for me. I got hooked. And, after that, I followed the sport.
BR: Do you see parallels between “Miracle,” which you also directed, and “Warrior?”
GO: What we tried to do in “Warrior” is you know who you are rooting for throughout the film. There are two different entities, then the challenge is to ask the viewer who you are rooting for at the end [among the two]. That’s unusual in cinema. In “Miracle” we had the added challenge that everyone knew the outcome.
BR: The MMA crowd is tough to please when it comes to representing their sport—but in this case, reaction has been overwhelmingly positive? What aspects of the film do you think appeal most to those die-hard fans?
GO: I’m just speculating here, but I think it probably has to do with being a big fan of the sport and surrounding myself with people who are involved in the sport. Everyone loved the sport so much we were rigorous about capturing the true essence. We didn’t want fighting to seem forced. People feel the reality of the way we staged the fighting, making it hopefully seem authentic. We took great care in making it authentic.
BR: Who are some of the MMA people who you consulted in putting the film together?
GO: The technical adviser, Greg Jackson, to begin with. Greg was instrumental in forming not only fighting, but also the corner with “Frank.” Everything Frank said in the corner, we ran by Greg, asking, “What would you say now?” He was always signing off on whatever we did. And Greg is into classical music, that’s how I got the idea to include that in the film. Greg uses music in his own training. He was big. All the fight coordinators are MMA guys. And Sam Sheridan, as the announcer, is so knowledgeable. We had people that love the sport.
BR: What would you say to movie-goers who are not MMA fans? Can this movie still be for them?
GO: The lesson that we keep learning at screenings is that people, women especially, are saying that although they have no interest in MMA, they are not fans of the sport, now that they’ve seen the movie they will not only recommend it, but they will go watch UFC fights. They had a preconception of the sport, and we’ve dismissed that, which makes me really happy.
BR: Were there any MMA fighters that you had in mind when creating the characters in the movie?
GO: No, not at all. The only one in mind was Fedor, a little bit. But there is no one else they are based on.
BR: Did you have any cooperation or were you interested in working with the UFC or any other organizations?
GO: No. I give a nod to them because I have respect for the UFC, but I wanted this to be very different from the UFC, not to take them on. A Grand Prix tournament is a one-weekend affair, and the way I lit it and staged the tournament, down to the girls with beach balls, everything is different from what the UFC does. I didn’t in any way want to step on their toes or compete with them. And I didn’t want their help and didn’t know if they’d even be interested.
BR: Will there be a “Warrior 2?” Three? Seventeen?
GO: I talked to the studio before we made the film and said I think there’s a trilogy in the story. If people like it and we have the time to do it correctly, maybe it will happen. I wouldn’t want it to become like “Rocky,” where after “Rocky 2,” they just started to become exploitative. I never want to do that.
See the trailer and learn more about “Warrior” at WarriorFilm.com.
Jerry Milani is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained first-hand.
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