SMGFan.com: Stephen Susco (THE GRUDGE 2)

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September 25, 2006

SMGFAN.com's
Exclusive interview with
Stephen Susco
THE GRUDGE 2
© 2006 SMGFan.com

Images courtesy of Stephen Susco and SONY PICTURES

NOTE: Please do not post this interview (whole or in part) anywhere else. Please provide a link to this page instead. Thank you.

JPM: What was the biggest challenge you faced in writing the sequel?

Stephen Susco (SS): Expectation. We never could have guessed the first film would be as successful as it was, and it certainly raised the bar for what people were expecting from the sequel.

JPM: THE GRUDGE 2 was already in the works even before THE GRUDGE was released. How much of the original plan/outline was kept and was there any idea/scene that you were very passionate about but was scrapped for whatever reason?

SS: The script for GRUDGE 2 went through a dramatic number of changes -- there were easily 5 or 6 completely different versions. We wanted to explore a number of approaches and characters, and experimented with a ton of different ideas. The final version is a combination of pieces from several of the different approaches. And there were PLENTY of ideas that I loved, but we had to abandon -- scary scenes, characters, twists and otherwise -- but who knows, maybe they'll appear in another GRUDGE film further down the road!

There was ONE scene in particular that was a favorite of mine, a scene I borrowed from my original script for GRUDGE 1... let's put it this way: the scene is called "Leaky Cat". :)

JPM: Sarah only does a cameo in G2. Was that the plan from the beginning?

SS: We started talking about GRUDGE 2 even before GRUDGE 1 was released in October 2004. And we didn't know what Sarah's availability would be a year off down the road. So her character had some wildly different story arcs in the various scripts we put together -- in one version, she's in almost every scene; in another, she's in about half of the film; in one, she's only in a couple scenes; and in one, she's not in the story at all. Because the circumstances of the production kept changing (when we were going to shoot, what Shimizu liked and didn't liked in the script, etc.) the role of Karen Davis was mutable through much of the development process.

JPM: Personally, I think the trailer revealed too much too soon. What can the audience expect from G2?

SS: I'd have to agree with you there -- though with that exception aside, I think they did a fantastic job with the trailer. It's pretty creepy!

It's hard to answer your question, since I haven't seen the final version of the film. But what I do know is that the film will have LOTS of scares and LOTS of surprises...

JPM: I've always wondered what goes through the mind of a screenwriter writing a horror movie. Where do you find your inspiration in writing scary scenes?

SS: Much of the inspiration I found writing GRUDGE 1 came from the nightmares I had after watching Shimizu's original JU-ON films. I still had some left over, so I used them up in G2. :)

Inspiration comes from a lot of different places -- mostly from being scared. So I generally try to keep myself immersed in that realm, watching horror movies, reading creepy novels, etc. For one draft of GRUDGE 2 I rented a cabin up in the mountains and hid away for a couple weeks. At night, I could hear the sound of coyotes jumping on top of the roof. They'd walk around, and sometimes would stop right over my bedroom ceiling... like they'd been looking for me. Then they'd scratch, like they were trying to get in. Yeah, that really helped.

JPM: What new projects are you working on?

SS: A lot of stuff -- I finished work on a science fiction film for Warner Brothers called FORGE OF GOD (based on the novel by Greg Bear) and a claustrophobic thriller for Paramount called CRAWLSPACE. I recently sold a script called SANCTUARY to Lionsgate and Sobini Films (based on the book BAD MEN by John Connolly), and am working on setting up a very cool fantasy book series -- it could be the next Harry Potter, if I have my way. :) My script RED is being directed by Lucky McKee (MAY and THE WOODS) this November, and I'm co-producing my script ZERO.DARK.THIRTY with an awesome director named John Stalberg, Jr. I'm in the middle of pitching a TV series based on the movie FLATLINERS, and I'm also producing THE DIBBUK BOX with Sam Raimi and the producers that made GRUDGE -- it's a terrifying true story, and I think it's going to be an equally terrifying film.

Thanks, Stephen, for doing another interview with us. Good luck on all your endeavors. Visit Stephen's official site for more info on his latest projects.

THE GRUDGE 2 in theaters October 13th.

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