During the Los Angeles 3D film Festival, Starburst caught up legendary producer, writer, director, editor and actor Roger Corman and his wife Julie to discuss their latest endeavour…
Starburst: So tell us how did Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader come about?
Roger Corman: The original idea came from the 1958 movie, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. We approached Epix with the idea of a 3D science fiction film with humor. With a title like Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader you couldn’t be overly serious.
Were you hands-on during the production?
Roger Corman: No, I was more involved in the pre-production of the film. Julie ran the production end, though I do have a cameo in the film.
Julie Corman: It turned out to be a lot more expensive that what we originally budgeted at, mostly for the effects.
Was that because of the involvement of the 3D process?
It was a combination of green screen and 3D that we used.
When you were in post production, were there any serious changes made?
RC: I looked at the first rough cut of the film and wasn’t quite satisfied with the outcome. Kevin O’ Neil, the director, had shot a lot of coverage so I re-edited the movie which is now the final cut you saw. It also had the highest rating ever for an Epix release.
JC: Roger received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the editor’s guild for all his work over the years.
RC: They give it to you when you’ve exceeded your lifetime.
You came up with the original poster design for Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman when you were at Allied Artists.
RC: Yes. Bernie Wolner (producer of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, directed by Nathan Juran) was having difficulty coming up with a one-sheet for the film. He wanted sexual content in it, yet none of his designs would pass the censors at that time, so he asked me to design the ad. I came up with Los Angeles area freeways during rush hour with cars running between Alison Hayes’ legs and the rest is history. That poster now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader is available on Epix in the States, and will be released in the UK next year. Read our review HERE.
We interview Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader star Jena Sims HERE.
