SUCOPRESS/Raquel Laguna. From Blumhouse, comes an original horror film that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends – and begs the question: Are they really figments of childhood imagination or is something more terrifying lying just beneath? Director Jeff Wadlow and producer Jason Blum talk in this interview about their movie IMAGINARY. They also talk about the biggest challenge making this film and about having imaginary friends in their childhood. In IMAGINARY, when Jessica (DeWanda Wise) moves back into her childhood home with her family, her youngest stepdaughter Alice (Pyper Braun) develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey she finds in the basement. Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that begin playful, and become increasingly sinister. As Alice’s behavior becomes more and more concerning, Jessica intervenes only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believed him to be.
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00:00 - Jeff, where does the inspiration for this film come from?
00:05 - It came from three points.
00:06 It came from Jason.
00:07 I just signed a first look deal with Blumhouse
00:09 and he challenged me to make a classic Blumhouse movie,
00:12 you know, those movies that are about families
00:14 and a single house and there's a bump in the night,
00:16 that kind of thing.
00:17 I had always wanted to make an imaginary friend movie,
00:20 a movie that dealt with subjectivity.
00:22 And then my co-writers, Greg Erb and Jason Ormland,
00:25 they wanted to make an evil teddy bear movie.
00:27 So all three of those things kind of came together
00:29 and that inspired Imaginary.
00:30 - Jason, why Imaginary is the perfect fit
00:34 for the legacy of Blumhouse?
00:37 - Well, I think that if you can force the audience
00:40 to imagine something and to make stories
00:44 about what you can imagine,
00:45 I always think that's scarier
00:46 than what you can actually show.
00:48 And so we're in the business of scaring people
00:49 as much as possible.
00:51 And we've had a great experience with Jeff
00:52 on two prior movies, on Fantasy Island and Truth or Dare.
00:55 And so I thought it was a great topic to tackle
00:58 and I thought it'd be really scary for people.
01:00 - Jeff, how was working with Greg and Jason
01:02 during the writing process?
01:04 - Oh, working with Greg and Jason was fantastic.
01:07 I love collaborating.
01:08 It's one of the reasons why I love filmmaking.
01:10 I like working with other writers.
01:11 I like working with producers, actors,
01:14 where we all contribute to this creative stew we're making
01:17 because the final result is just something far richer
01:20 than I could have ever imagined on my own.
01:22 - For both of you, do you remember having
01:25 an imaginary friend when you were kids?
01:27 - I had a big, I had many,
01:30 there's not one specific friend I remember,
01:32 but I had a big imaginary life.
01:33 I was an only child and I had a very active,
01:37 made up, make believe life when I was a kid.
01:42 So I remember that very well.
01:43 - I mean, I was a little film nerd.
01:45 So all my friends were imaginary.
01:48 I mean, I just stayed at home and watched movies.
01:50 So yeah, I'm having a hard time thinking of the real ones.
01:53 - Jeff, what was the biggest challenge
01:56 for you making this film?
01:58 - The biggest challenge for me making this film, wow.
02:03 I would say, hmm, that's tough because honestly,
02:07 making a movie is very challenging.
02:09 Every part of every day is a challenge.
02:13 I would say probably casting the movie,
02:15 like finding the perfect actors.
02:17 And when we did, and I feel that we did do that,
02:20 and it was very much a team effort finding these actors,
02:23 that was a huge sigh of relief for me.
02:25 I just sort of felt like, okay,
02:26 now I've got my all-star team together
02:29 and now we get to go to work.
02:31 - Jason, what can the audience expect from "Imaginar"?
02:35 - The audience can expect to be super scared
02:38 and also, and equally importantly, have a lot of fun.
02:41 I think there are a lot of horror movies
02:42 that are just kind of dark and bleak,
02:44 and this is an incredibly scary movie
02:46 that's really a lot of fun.