Don’t Breathe 2 is out now exclusively in theaters. The horror film once again stars Stephen Lang as the “Blind Man” Norman Nordstrom. He’s joined by Madelyn Grace and Brendan Sexton III. The film is written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues with Sayagues directing.
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“In Don’t Breathe, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) was underestimated by everyone because of his blindness: he revealed an unflinching will to survive and get what he wants… but also a monstrous, evil side of his personality, as nothing – no person or conscience – will stand in his way,” says the official synopsis. “Now, in Don’t Breathe 2, eight years later, Nordstrom lives with 11-year-old Phoenix; he has recreated the family that was stolen from him by a drunk driver and has found the twisted justice he’s always felt was his due. When intruders once again come to his home, this time focused on Phoenix, Norman will reveal for a second time what’s hidden inside him… and again, it will be in new and unexpected ways.”
ComingSoon’s Sabina Graves spoke with Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues about the switch in directors and how the Don’t Breathe world was expanded in the sequel. Check out the video below or read the full transcription.
Sabina Graves: The sequel was so thrilling and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I want to talk about the transitioning from Fede directing to Rodo directing. Fede, can you talk a bit about how it came about that? Why you wanted to hand this film over to Rodo?
Fede Alvarez: We had the script at some point and I think Sam Raimi and myself both kind of at the same time that we told Rodo, why don’t you directed? The first movie, a lot of the things you see on the screen that you might give me credit for because I’m the director, you should actually give Rodo credit. A lot of the ideas and moments and scenes in the first movie that come out of his imagination as a co-writer on that film. So that’s why I think the transition felt so seamless that he could go into this one and do a great job. It’s not easy to make film and he was going to make his first film with something like this, but we made sure that he was surrounded with great talented people and the same director of photography, Pedro Luque, our friend and fellow Uruguayan that was going to be with him. I think both of them did a fantastic job. So I’m really happy about that choice.
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What was it like to sort of expand the universe of the film and take it to different, very real places and strike a balance with the tone?
Rodo Sayagues: One of the first ideas that we had when we started thinking about the sequel is that we wanted to see this character, Norman, we wanted to put him out of his familiar setting. Coming out of his house, which is kind of his superpower. How would he behave if he had to leave, right> It poses a huge new challenge for him. That on its own would expand and maybe shift the tone of the movie a little bit, right? Cause you know, this kind of mood, like the first one is a very contained movie. Everything happens in the same place, same house. Visually, if you leave and you depart, that and you make the story bigger in terms of scope. It changes a little bit, but we embrace that change and maybe we expand on the aspect of the thriller and the horror-action, we added that on top of what we already built with the first movie. We thought that that combination worked really well. It’s a great match. I think it just amplifies the feelings and emotions that the first movie evoke, like the tension, suspense, and thrills. So I think it worked really well.