With “Jussica World Rebirth” set for release on July 2, director Gareth Edwards will add his cinematic prowess to the Turner Classic Movies schedule throughout June as part of the channel’s TCM Picks series, joining the ranks of Steve Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro and Ron Howard. Edwards told TCM that his father helped introduce him to classic cinema.
“As a kid, every week, my dad would go down the local video store and we’d bring back a classic film that he loved as a child, and he’d try to explain to me its place in cinema history,” the director said.
The director is known for his original takes on classic sci-fi tales, so he will appropriately begin his series with “Forbidden Planet” on June 5.
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“You can see all the influence that this film had on the science fiction that was later to follow,” Edwards said.
The filmmaker, who helmed 2014’s “Godzilla,” will present “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” on June 18.
“Before I started working on ‘Godzilla’ in 2012 I ended up doing this trip to Japan for an event. And as I was leaving, I just noticed my shoelaces was untied and started tying up, and I felt this tap on my shoulder. I looked round, and it was this very kind, old-looking gentleman who introduced himself as Mr. Banno. And I realized it was Yoshimitsu Banno, who had directed ‘Godzilla vs. Hedorah’ – otherwise known as ‘The Smog Monster.’ So, I ended up spending this amazing day with him,” Edwards said.
But it’s not all creature features for the man behind “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “The Creator.” On June 18, Edwards will introduce “Paper Moon” and on June 5 “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” which he said holds particularly importance to his career.
“I always felt like I was going to let my parents down by not doing an academic subject. And that summer we went on holiday to Spain, and it just so happened that we went to the very location that they shot [the movie] in Almeria,” Edwards recalled. “So, one day me and my dad, we went on this little trip together, and we went and visited the actual locations … And it was very inspiring to see my dad’s face, who was so excited, it felt like he was at Mecca or something. And it made me realize that maybe filmmaking had parental approval, and I wasn’t totally wasting my life. So that summer, I chose to become a filmmaker.”
Edwards will close his picks with what he cites as a quintessential L.A. movie, “Point Blank,” largely owing to his special connection to the Santa Monica hotel where much of the film takes place.
“During the pandemic, I sat and watched [the movie] again and realized that there’s this whole section of that film all set in the Huntley, in this place I lived in for ages,” Edwards said.
Watch the director discuss his TCM Picks below:
