- Title: 'The Discovery' looks to the afterlife
- Date: 23rd January 2017
- Summary: PARK CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 20, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ACTOR JASON SEGEL ACTRESS ROONEY MARA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS ROONEY MARA, SAYING: "The seed that I was told when they were writing the script is that the story is about what happens in society when a scientist definitively proves that there's an afterlife, how does humanity respond to that information, yeah." (Reporter: How do you think you'd respond?) "I don't know, I don't know it would really affect me that much because I do believe there's some sort of - I don't know if its afterlife - but I believe in some sort of something." ACTRESS RILEY KEOGH (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS RILEY KEOGH, SAYING: "The afterlife and that subject is something that I think about a lot and I haven't read a lot of scripts about it or seen a lot of films about it. I think it's something that freaks people out to think about because it's really scary and huge and overwhelming but I think about it a lot personally so I felt very comforted knowing other people think about it too. So I sat down with Charlie and I loved him and I loved the script and the way that he does sci-fi but with humanity and emotion and all that. I loved it, yeah." SEGEL ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR JASON SEGEL, SAYING: "I'm very comfortable by the fact that we know so little that to think that you have any idea is pure arrogance. The movie actually explores that a little bit of not taking for granted it is we think we know." DIRECTOR CHARLIE MCDOWELL WITH STEPFATHER TED DANSON AND MOTHER MARY STEENBURGEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, CHARLIE MCDOWELL, SAYING: "In one night, it goes out to the world which is so insane and absurd to me but also amazing, and then also 90 million users now. It's so massive, what it sort of becomes. That to me was the most exciting part. I get to make something that millions of people see."
- Embargoed: 6th February 2017 19:47
- Keywords: Jason Segel Rooney Mara Robert Redford Charlie McDowell the afterlife
- Location: PARK CITY, UTAH, UNIITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: PARK CITY, UTAH, UNIITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA00260AYQFH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:One of Netflix's centerpieces at the Sundance film festival, 'The Discovery' had its launch at the Sundance film festival on Friday (January 20).
The film, which is directed by Charlie McDowell and stars Rooney Mara, Jason Segel and Robert Redford is a drama but at its heart it's a sci-fi film.
"The seed that I was told when they were writing the script is that the story is about what happens in society when a scientist definitively proves that there's an afterlife, how does humanity respond to that information," explained Mara at the premiere.
Robert Redford plays the scientist at the center of the discovery and although a founder of Sundance, the veteran actor failed to show at the premiere.
Elvis Presley's granddaughter Riley Keough turned out at the premiere and admitted it was the subject matter that made her want to get involved with the film.
"The afterlife and that subject is something that I think about a lot," she said. "I haven't read a lot of scripts about it or seen a lot of films about it. I think it's something that freaks people out to think about because it's really scary and huge and overwhelming but I think about it a lot personally so I felt very comforted knowing other people think about it too. So I sat down with Charlie and I loved him and I loved the script and the way that he does sci-fi but with humanity and emotion and all that."
The film, which centers on Jason Segel as the scientist's son Will, sees the number of suicides escalate after the discovery.
Speaking at the premiere, Segel admitted "I'm very comforted by the fact that we know so little that to think that you have any idea is pure arrogance. The movie actually explores that a little bit of not taking for granted it is we think we know."
'The Discovery' will not be released in theaters but instead will premiere on Netflix on March 30.
"In one night, it goes out to the world which is so insane and absurd to me but also amazing, and then also 90 million users now," explained the film's director Charlie McDowell. "It's so massive, what it sort of becomes. That to me was the most exciting part. I get to make something that millions of people see." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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