Antoine Fuqua Quotes

It’s a hard line to walk, man. Cause you know you want to make this movie, you want to make it dark and real, you want to show all this stuff but unfortunately you can’t always do that.

I’ve become friends with Michael Mann and Oliver Stone; I’ve seen those guys work and that was great to see.

Sometimes violence in a very real way is much faster and more impactful because it feels real and you’re watching it happen and you’re watching your star do these things, so it’s not like he’s doing superhero moves.

So it’s hard to be an artist and be true to the reality of the world you want to create and also make it entertaining and successful financially.

Well, I mean, the original is certainly the jump-off, it certainly is what it is, you know, I grew up around that era so I watched all those shows. The basic concept is there, it’s just a different movie. Totally different actors, different filmmakers, different script, but same concept.

If you see someone lying out knives and forks consistently, but then one day those knives and forks become weapons you’re not sure if he does that as a warrior, that’s just his thing.

Tupac Shakur is something that, of course I want to make the Tupac movie, I love Tupac, but when that movie was announced, we didn’t even have a script yet. It was just being written. People announce things too soon. If you go to any filmmaker – Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Ben Affleck, Michael Mann – you go in their offices and there are scripts everywhere and there’s about four or five of them you really want to make.

I don’t think I’ve seen that sort of character in a long time in this genre because again, there was a time when you could have quirky, strange characters that you grew to love, you didn’t quite understand, you know, and then all of a sudden they became almost cardboard cutouts for awhile. You kind of know the guy, what his deal is – this guy’s hard to figure out. He has some strange habits, but, you learn to love him and you discover more about him, where it comes from.

I don’t think the audience goes and thinks of the movie as a piece of art – there are some independent people who may go and have a higher appreciation for filmmaking. It is a great art form, but I don’t think you look at a painting and a movie with the same eye.

What I learned is, don’t forget who you are, because that’s what’s going to make you a filmmaker.

Cinema Paradiso, because it reminds me of why I make movies, the magic of movies, the romance of movies.

Being a kid growing up with Kurosawa films and watching Sergio Leone movies just made me love what it could do to you, and how it could influence you – make you dream.