#37 – “You’re Never Going to Meet Up with Expectations”: Director/Writer Tony Giglio on His Video Game Adaptation DOOM: ANNIHILATION

Talking Pictures

Today’s guest is filmmaker Tony Giglio, and our conversation revolves around his 2019 film DOOM: ANNIHILATION which he wrote and directed. Unlike the 2005 DOOM movie starring The Rock, this newer adaptation of the infamous and influential ego shooter video game by id Software was made on a very small budget, and it’s not a sequel or remake, but basically a new take on the story of a marines team fighting a horde of demons which infiltrated a space station on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. DOOM: ANNIHILATION is a well-made, fun action film which finds a good balance between thrills, carnage, horror and excitement – and it has a lot of details capturing the spirit of the game. In our interview, Tony talks about the development of the film, the adaptation process, the budgetary restraints of the production and the appeal of the game. He also discusses why id Software weren’t involved and how a miscommunication caused premature negative reactions, and for the first time, he talks about the sequel he wanted to do, which was essentially greenlit, then postponed during the pandemic and eventually and unfortunately cancelled.

Tony Giglio started out in Hollywood as an assistant on several cult classics, including Michael Mann’s HEAT, Sam Raimi’s THE QUICK AND THE DEAD, and John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM L.A. As a writer and director, Tony’s made several other cool low-budget movies, some of which he also discusses during our conversation – most notably his 2005 action thriller CHAOS starring Jason Statham, Ryan Philippe and Wesley Snipes. He also directed movies like the tense submarine thriller IN ENEMY HANDS starring William H. Macy and Til Schweiger or the dark backwoods horror film TIMBER FALLS, and as a screenwriter, he worked on the DEATH RACE sequels for Paul Anderson.

My interview with Tony Giglio was conducted in connection with our German-language podcast Lichtspielplatz, so if you speak German, please visit lichtspielplatz.at and check out episode #71, which features an in-depth discussion of the two DOOM movies. Also, make sure to listen to our interviews with the original director of the 2005 DOOM movie, Enda McCallion, and my conversation with DOOM screenwriter Dave Callaham here on Talking Pictures.

If you enjoy my interviews, please consider heading over to Patreon and supporting the production of new episodes.

So without any further ado, here’s director Tony Giglio!

The mp3 file can be downloaded HERE.

Photos courtesy of Tony Giglio
Editing: Christoph Schwarz
Music: Clark Kent

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