Casting a film is difficult because casting directors have to make sure they have the best person for the job. Sometimes there is also external pressure, such as Ex Machina Producer Andrew Macdonald recalled that the film included the suggestion of bringing A-list actor Jake Gyllenhaal on board.

According to Deadline during a speech at the Edinburgh Film Festival: Ex Machina Director Alex Garland and producer Andrew Macdonald looked back on their work on the Oscar-winning film and remembered that it almost had a different lead actor: Gyllenhaal. Ex Machina The film starred Alicia Vikander as Ava, the highly advanced humanoid artificial intelligence, and Oscar Isaac as Nathan Bateman, the CEO of a search engine company. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, the film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

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“The distribution companies wanted us to cast Jake Gyllenhaal because he was profitable and they could sell overseas territories,“, explained Macdonald. Shortly before Ex Machina Premiere in 2014, Jake Gyllenhaal has appeared in many successful films in the past, including 2011 in Source code2013 PrisonersAnd Enemy. “That would have changed the whole movie“, he continued, noting that negotiations with Gyllenhaal’s representatives had gone nowhere. “I remember talking to Jake Gyllenhaal’s lawyer about his needs. It would never have worked”, revealed Macdonald.

The producer also explained that Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac did not have enough star power at the time to “raise the money through international sales.” He continued that in 2013 About Llewyn Davis helped them. “We decided to make the film with Universal International and they had a film with Oscar Isaac, the Coen brothers’ film, and they believed it would win Oscars, so they thought it would be a winner,” Macdonald said. “They also had a film with Alicia Vikander that they thought would be a winner too, so they supported us.” In the end, they managed to make the film with their ideal cast.

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“Ex Machina” was a worldwide success

Ex Machina was a huge critical and box office success. In the US, the film was released via A24 and grossed $25.4 million domestically and $38.2 million worldwide (via The Numbers). This resulted in a profit for Universal International, as the film only had a modest budget of $13 million.

As far as critical reception is concerned, Ex Machina drew very strong numbers. The film is Certified Fresh with a 92% rating from critics and equally exciting from audiences with an approval rating of 86%. Along with its Oscar win, Ex Machina was a fresh approach to the AI ​​discussion, and the involvement of Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac proved to be a huge success. Of course, no one knows how Jake Gyllenhaal as a genius IT CEO would have changed the project, but the budget might have increased exponentially to bring him on board.

Ex Machina can be rented on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Source: Deadline

Ex Machina

director

Alex Garland

Release date

24 April 2015

Pour

Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac