On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly's VOD Spotlight highlights stories from the On Demand industry. Chris Claro interviews director Joel Schumacher about TRESPASS (Millennium Entertainment).). Read our review of the film here.

Joel Schumacher Brings His Talents To On Demand
The director talks with On Demand Weekly’s Chris Claro about his home-invasion thriller, TRESPASS starring Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman

A Hollywood mainstay for almost forty years, Joel Schumacher’s career has been memorable as much for zeitgeist icons like ST. ELMO’S FIRE and FALLING DOWN as for his notorious entry in the Caped Crusader saga, BATMAN AND ROBIN. Throughout his time as a designer, writer, and director, he’s worked with everybody from Corey Feldman to Colin Farrell to Jim Carrey (twice).

Schumacher is back on both VOD and in theaters with his new thriller, TRESPASS. Starring Nicolas Cage, who Schumacher directed in 8MM, and Nicole Kidman, who worked with the director on BATMAN FOREVER, TRESPASS is a tightly-wound home invasion thriller set almost completely in the sleek waterfront domicile of the Millers.

Though the film is limited to almost a single location, Schumacher was determined to make TRESPASS more than just a filmed play. “It has to be very cinematic,” the director says. “You have to make sure that you’re not shooting it like an action movie, rather than a play. But you never know if it’s going to work.”

This isn’t the first time that Schumacher has backed himself – and his characters – into a tight spot. In 2002, the director made PHONE BOOTH, starring Farrell as a man whose survival depends on his staying on the phone. The similarities between that film and TRESPASS were not lost on Schumacher, who considers each a “concept” movie.

“A guy in a phone booth and voice on the other end says ‘if you hang up, I’ll kill you,’” says Schumacher. “What if four people invade your house and you, your wife, and your daughter are in jeopardy? Both good ideas, but then you wonder ‘what’s going to happen for the next 90 minutes?’”

PHONE BOOTH / Courtesy 20th Century Fox