TV and movies love stories of alien invasion or contact, V To Independence Day Passing by Mars Attacks! Where Cabbage soup. Additional and recent proof: the two series adaptations of the classic War of the Worlds by HG Wells, after the radio version of Orson Wells and the Steven Spielberg film. However, a third series almost saw the light of day. It was the will of the young American screenwriter David Weil (Hunters, Solos), before he crossed paths with writer, director and producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men) and that they join forces to create their own series, soberly titled Invasion and available Friday on Apple TV + with the first three episodes, then one episode per week.
A global story, all over the world
“Usually, this kind of SF story embraces a single point of view, often Western,” explains co-creator David Weil. However, we wanted to tell a global story, to the four corners of the world. The series thus passes from a Japanese astronaut, to a Syrian family in New York, via a soldier on a mission in Afghanistan or a sheriff in early retirement in Oklahoma. “It was a real challenge to have five main characters, to give them time to be the heroes and heroines of their own stories,” comments David Weil. I felt like I was writing five different production pilots. But, as in Game Of Thrones, they are brought to meet. The series even allows itself to introduce new and important characters in the second episode, or to get rid of others. “We wanted to thwart the codes of the genre and the expectations of the public. “
How to create original “aliens”?
An approach that also applies to spaceships and the aliens themselves, which for several years and films show an increasingly generic aesthetic. “It is indeed difficult to create something new, it took us, with the creative and special effects teams, over a year. We started from our nightmares of children but also of adults, details the screenwriter. Then we asked ourselves: Who are they? What do they do ? How do they communicate? Do they have families? Do they like? These questions nourished their identity, as well as their aesthetics. Although I must admit that we favored the effect Sea teeth. Namely that the less we see them, the more they scare. “
A metaphor for the human condition
On the screen, Invasion does not revolutionize the wars of the worlds either, but she has the time (10 episodes) and the money (200 million dollars of budget) to pose her universe, to explore side roads, to work the mysteries, even the frustrations, and make this “invasion” a metaphor for the human condition. “We can all feel like aliens, aliens, in some way. In relation to our family, our country, society ”, reflects David Weil. You will launch Invasion for giant ships and belligerent aliens, but will remain for the characters, just the characters.