Director Antoine Fuqua says collaborating with Hollywood star and close friend Chris Pratt on "The Terminal List" was his "favourite part" part abo💖꧋ut working on the Prime Video series.
Based on Jack Carr's book, "The Terminal List" marks the secon♕d pro꧂ject Fuqua and Pratt teamed up for following "The Magnificent Seven", a 2016 Western action film.
Both Fuqua and Pratt were chasing Carr's book, but their busy shooting schedules kept them from talking to each other.
The filmmaker, known for "Training Day", "Southpaw" and "The Equalizer" films, said it was &quo♍t;divine order" that brought him and the actor together for the upcoming show.
"I believe in divine order. Iꦆt's just that sometimes the stars line up that way. He was just chasing the book, I was chasing the book. We're f๊riends, we talk. We didn't mention the book because we were at the period I was filming, maybe 'The Equalizer' and he was doing maybe 'Jurassic World: Dominion'. So, we were in different places," the 57-year-old director told PTI in a Zoom interview from Los Angeles.
When Pratt found out that Fuqua was also interested in bringing the book to screen, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star suggested they join hands forಞ the potential projec🐟t.
"My buddy told me about the book, Chris' guy told him about the book. And, Chris called me and said 'I hear you are chasing this book as well. So, maybe we can do it together'. We worked on 'The Magnificent Seven' and had a great time together, we became friends... My favourite part 🦩about 'The Terminal List' was working with Chris again," he added. 🍃
"The Terminal List" follows James Reece (Pratt) after꧂ his🐼 entire platoon of US Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
"Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his liꩵfe but the lives of those he loves," reads the official plotline of the series.
Calling t💯he show a "thrilling" ride that explores the theme of humanity, the director said the audiences are in for some great performance꧑s.
"It's not just an action🧔 show, it deals with some real human struggles, some real emotions, and has some great acting," he said.
With "The Terminal List", he wanted to honour his friends, many﷽ of whom are Navy SEALs,✨ he said.
"I wanted to honour them and a lot of 🥀them worked on the project with us. It's important to always give those guys purpose, and work, and show how much we appreciate them as well."
Fuqua, who began his career directing music videos featuring the likes of Toni Braxton, Stevie Wo🎃nder and Prince, said cinema was his 🌠"first love".
"My first love꧂ would be movies," he said, adding streamers ha🌳d changed the small-screen experience forever.
"TV has changed because everyone has a big screen, their own home theatre. Streamers obviously allow you to have a big show like this, eight episodes. It's like one big, long movie as far as I'm concerned,&q🅰uot; the director, also known for the critically acclaimed documentary "What's My Name: Muhammad Ali"🅷;, said.
It was "tough" for him to adjust tꦿo the long-for♑m storytelling, he admitted.
"There is a difference just because it's broken into these smaller episodes. That's tough, because you have to get your brain wrapped around that. Sometimes I find myself filming these long cinematic shots and then𝔉 I'm like 'Uh, I'm going to have to cut that' because that is never going to make it into the series."
Fuqua also p🐬raised writer▨-showrunner David DiGilio for retaining the "essence" of Carr's novel while adapting it.
"David DiGilio did a great job. Also, Jack Carr was involved all through, he was a partner. We didn't change anything, we made sure we stayed true to the book and the ch🅺aracters,"; he said.
"The Terminal List" explores mental health issues such as survivor's guilt and postꦍ-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through its charac💮ters, and the director said many times the viewers don't want to hear what entertainers have to say about these sensitive topics.
"T💛hey just want us to entertain them. At times, part of our job is to smuggle in those important subjects through entertainment. And it allows these conversations to happen. The idea that with cinema or any art form through a proper platform, you can see PTSD or mental illness in different forms. We have to learn how to identify it, it's not always like a guy running around like crazy and talking to himself," he added.
Citing the example of his films "Training Day" and "The Guilty", Fuqua said sometimes it is easy to call someone with "a sickness&q⛎uot; a criminal.
"But sometimes, somethin𒆙g is wrong. We have to explore what it looks like. Sometimes, someone who is just sitting in a corner who seems to be the nicest person in the world does something unsp🅘eakable. So, in movies, TV or any other format, you can address or highlight an issue through entertainment and hope someone talks about it."
"The Terminal List" is executive produced by Pratt and Jon Schuma♕cher through Indivisible Productions, Antoine Fuqua through Fuqua Films, DiGilio, Carr, along with 🤪writer Daniel Shattuck.
It also stars Constance Wu, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Riley Keough, Arlo Mertz, Jai Cour💦tney, JD Pardo,and Patrick Schwarzenegger, among others.
The series premiered Friday on Prime Video.
[With Inputs From PTI]
