The new movie Surrogates opens on September 25 staring Bruce Willis as agent Greer and co-starring Ving Rhames as the Prophet. Digital Journal had the pleasure of interviewing its director while he puts the finishing touches on the film a month before its release.

Jonathan Mostow, director of the new film Surrogates, is no stranger to dramatic thrillers and takes on the task of bringing the film adaptation of the graphic novel by author Robert Vendittie (illustrated by Brett Weldele) to cinema graphic life. The screenplay was co-written and adapted from the novel by Michael Ferris and John Brancato.

 The premise of the film Surrogates is that in an alternate reality that mirrors modern society, humans use robotic surrogates to live their life, doing all things they wish they can do from the safety of their home while experiencing what their surrogates are going through by being plugged into technology that allows a vicarious realistic experience.

 In Surrogates, humans choose to experience life through idealized version robots of themselves, sending them out to live their life, that’s until something goes very wrong and a murder takes place while plugged in.

With this established, Bruce Willis plays an FBI agent who enlists the aid of his own surrogate to investigate the murder of the genius college student who invented the Surrogates.

 After a near fatal encounter during the investigation, Bruce Willis’ character’s surrogate is destroyed and forces him out of isolation to unravel a conspiracy behind the murders.

Promotional photo from T3 Jonathan Mostow director of the Surrogates debuts September 25th. Vote up this image

Jonathan Mostow has directed the successful third story in the Terminator series, Rise of the Machines staring now Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also directed the critically acclaimed U571 which has become a must see film and is now considered a classic film that students of cinema and film fans should make a part of the curriculum and collection.

I had an opportunity to speak with Jonathan Mostow about his new film Surrogates which will debut on September 25.

Mostow comes to Surrogates with an incredible education pedigree graduating from Harvard, training with the American Repertory Company, and attending the Lee Strasberg Institute giving him a strong back ground in acting.

Directing U571 was Mostow’s breakthrough film that showed his talent working with actors. I asked how he came to create the story. “I got really interested in the subject, did the research, and wrote the screenplay,” Mostow replied. His directing on the Terminator: Rise of the Machine gave him science fiction and the robot experience to bring this novel adaptation to the big screen.

I asked Mostow what had attracted him to the project and what he brought to the film. “Well it had been 12 years since the last film, I didn’t resurrect the franchise, I just continued with one of the great science fiction classics,” said Mostow.

I asked him about the resurgence of the franchise after T3. Mostow continued with, “Of course there was the fourth film and the series; I think it allowed the interest in the story to continue.”

 He was very genuine when he spoke with us about T3 that he did not save or rebuild it, he was very humble in saying he added another chapter to an already great story and was glad to be part it.

I asked what attracted Mostow to the Surrogate project. “The core of it is what is happening to us now in society, we are so tied in with our technology, more connected than ever, yet we have isolated ourselves from direct contact,” he replied.

The theme we discussed was that we have become so plugged in to the Internet and television that we have lost contact with those around us. So in order to reconnect with our humanity we need to unplug ourselves from the technology we have become reliant on to get plugged back into who we really are.

It was an interesting perspective, we are so plugged in, as he explained, that we have lost a sense of our human experience, so in order to reconnect we need to unplug.

On the topic of the cinematography and the special effects, Mostow had this to say, “We are now in the final tweaking, crossing our T’s and dotting the I’s getting it ready for its release.”

I asked him aside from the obvious question of making money at the box office what do you hope comes from this film? “That’s a great question; I have never been asked that. I hope it leads to conversation. The film doesn’t have the answers but it does ask all the questions.”

Our time ended all too quickly on the phone interview Wednesday evening. The odd thing is that we were both en route, myself riding the bus and madly writing down what he had to say and he was driving to a meeting. We were conversing on our cell phones. We were talking about being unplugged to reconnect. That’s when we were disconnected!

He quickly called back, but it took a second try to reconnect. The irony was palatable. For a moment our technology failed us, but through Jonathan’s determination we were able to reconnect for a final question.

I asked what was important to Mastow: “Family, friends, and saying something in some small way that has a positive effect on our lives, on society.”

The impression that was left by Jonathan Mostow on this journalist was that he is a very humble and thoughtful person with a quiet passion for the projects he gets involved in. It is rare that a person of his stature will take the time to speak openly about themselves and their projects.

His films continue to be a breath of fresh air, whether it’s an original film, a continuation film, or an adaptation, as with his latest film, Surrogates, coming to a theater near you. Get out and go see this one on the big screen and get the conversation started.