Will the critic's favorite space film "Gravity" earn the same acclaim if Robert Downey Jr and Angelina Jolie took over the lead roles?
We will never find out, but that was supposed to be plan A, according to "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron.
The BAFTA best director spoke to Hollywood Reporter that the "Tombraider" star has to give up the role because of scheduling conflict with her new starrer "Maleficient". Jolie was also line up to take over the director'seat for upcoming film, "Unbroken".
Downey Jr's exit was a different story.
"I think Robert is fantastic if you give him the freedom to completely breathe and improvise and change stuff, Cuaron explained to Hollywood Reporter. "[But] we tried one of these technologies and it was not compatible. And, after that, we [had a] week that we pretended as if nothing was happening and then we talked and said, 'This is not going to work. This is tough'."
"It became very clear that, as we started to nail the technology, or narrow the technology, that was going to be a big obstacle for his performance," the "Children of Men" director concluded.
Cuaron, 52 narrated the back story of the film in a 90-minute interview in front of Loyola Marymount University film and television students.
Explaining the concept of the movie, the 52 year-old grey-haired director shared:
"I thought I had written a small movie ... just one character floating in space. We started developing stuff (trying) to figure out the technology. And the luxury (was) that we could try many things."
Cuaron openly recite his admiration for Sandra Bullock, acknowledging that her acting prowess as the main component that made the film work.
"What is amazing is that with all this amazing wizardry to make this movie happen, the real miracle was Sandra Bullock's performance," Alfonso Cuaron told Metro. "The audience has connected with this film because of that truthfulness of her performance."
There are obviously no regrets with the casting roles that went to George Clooney and Sandra Bullock for "Gravity" is garnering raves from critics plus 10 Academy Awards nominations. The movie recently earned six gongs at the BAFTA awards just this week.
