First Real Look: The ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ Monsters

Hot damn.

Warner Bros. has given USA Today an excellent first look at some of “The Where The Wild Things Are,” and the first real look at the monsters and there faces. Aside from the ‘Wild Things’ skate photos that came out recently, almost all the photos of Spike Jonze’s live-action adaptation have been of the monsters from behind or semi-obscured, far-away shots, but these are the first true revealing photos. Maybe this means the CGI work — the last missing component of the film — is done or nearing completion?

“To me, the Wild Things are both cuddly and dangerous and I’ve always wanted to climb on top of them like Max,” Jonze told the newspaper (who said print media – even if this is online – no longer get scoops or don’t matter).The lead actor in the film is a boy named Max Records,and of course the boy in the 1963 Maurice Sendak children’s classic is also called Max. “It’s just fortuitous, kismet, circumstance,” says Spike Jonze, who cast Max after he was found through a Death Cab For Cutie video. “I can’t imagine anyone else playing Max. Max is the soul of the movie. He’s a very special sort of kid. Deep and thoughtful. Sweet and sincere.”

‘Wild Things’ has obviously been in production for a looong time and has been plagued with rumors and delays, but it’s not hard to suss out that it’s the CGI work that was the heart of the film’s “problems” (this key article we believe outlines a lot of the issues that had to do with effects planning, even producers themselves admit they underestimated/ miscalculated). And one of the producers hints at how this effected the film.

“We worked the hardest on the hardest on the facial expressions in post-production,” said producer Vincent Landay, who worked with Jonze on both his two previous features. “We’re not re-inventing the wheel in terms of technology, but we applied it in a way no one else really has.”

The teaser-trailer for the movie will be seen next Friday, March 27 in front of “Monsters & Aliens” (though presumably online that day) and apparently the only dialogue heard will be, “I didn’t want to wake you up, but I wanted to show you something,” that are spoken by Carol, as voiced by James Gandolfini. Of course that same teaser trailer will also feature the music of the Arcade Fire (though the band being featured throughout the movie musically is just wrong, sorry. or at least, that’s never been legitimately reported yet) “Where The Wild Things Are,” hits theaters October 16 and a brand new website, that only has a logo and release date just launched. We can’t wait.