The Movies That Inspired Gareth Edwards To Make The Creator

We're a month away from the release of "The Creator," the latest sci-fi film from writer and director Gareth Edwards ("Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"). It's the story of a future in which A.I. and humans are at war after the robots set off a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Ex-special forces agent Joshua (John David Washington), who is dealing with the disappearance of his wife, is sent off to find the architect of advanced A.I. He's created a new weapon that could destroy humans completely. However, when Joshua goes to take out the weapon, he finds that it's in the body of a little child. How do you destroy a weapon that you find yourself beginning to care for? 

Recently /Film's own Vanessa Armstrong attended a press screening of 30 minutes of footage from "The Creator," as well as a Q&A with Edwards, where the filmmaker was asked about the films that influenced him during the production. Since Edwards' first film, posters of the movies that inspired whatever he's working on have been hung in the edit suite. So which posters surrounded him while piecing "The Creator" together? Some you might expect, but others you might not even know about. 

It should come as no surprise that "Blade Runner" was name-dropped, but there are some other obscure and surprising entries like "Rain Man." He said: 

" ... there's a film called 'Baraka.' 'Koyaanisqastsi,' the cinematographer from that went on and directed another film called 'Baraka,' which I think is one of the greatest movies ever made. 'Lone Wolf and Cub,' which is a Japanese manga series, there's a whole bunch of films. In the U.S., it was called 'Sword of Vengeance.' There are really obvious ones, like 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Blade Runner,' and I guess, in terms of the dynamic, maybe a little bit of 'Rain Man.' It's kind of a journey with someone normal and someone who's a little bit special, different, however you want to say it. And 'Paper Moon,' those sort of dynamics."

Let's start with the obvious ones. It would be really difficult not to cite "Blade Runner" as an influence on a dystopian future. It's just in our subconscious, whether it's from watching the film, or seeing the influence it's had on so many other things with its worries about A.I., the landscape of cities that have a particularly gritty underbelly all lit up with lots of neon and teeming with fear and false nonchalance. "Apocalypse Now" also makes sense, as they're fighting a war here, and it gets ugly. We'll be able to compare them more once the film comes out, but it's hardly a reference you wouldn't expect. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman's relationship in "Rain Man," a movie about a scam artist using and then embracing his autistic older brothe,r as Edwards explains, may have inspired the dynamic between Washington and the artificial intelligence within the robot child.

"Lone Wolf and Cub" you've probably heard of, even if you haven't read the Japanese manga. It seems to be everywhere these days, featuring a hardened warrior accompanying a small child. Sound familiar? "The Mandalorian," "The Last of Us," and a moment with Grogu and Luke Skywalker in "The Book of Boba Fett" (aka "The Mandalorian" season 2.5) all mirror a major "Lone Wolf and Cub" plot point. Even "Obi-Wan Kenobi" had a similar vibe, with Kenobi and a young Princess Leia. "Paper Moon," which Edwards also mentions, has an adult con man traveling with a recently-orphaned little girl. Honestly, "Rain Man" again fits in that formula too. 

Now, the ones you might not know. "Koyaanisqatsi" is a 1982 experimental non-narrative film from Godfrey Reggio, and "Baraka" is a 1992 non-narrative documentary from Ron Fricke, who was a cinematographer on "Koyaanisqatsi." These are largely without dialogue and thought of as sort of tone poems about the dichotomy of the natural world, technology, and our relationship to it. The theme does seem similar to what we're looking at with "The Creator," though the influence could also be visual. We'll know more when the film comes out.

"The Creator" will hit theaters on September 29, 2023.