Interview (Written): Scott Lobdell

Screenwriter of the new comedy horror movie ‘Happy Death Day’.

IMDb plot summary: A college student relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer’s identity.

With echoes of Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow, Happy Death Day has opened strong this and is headed toward a $26M B.O. opening weekend. Not bad at all for a movie with a production budget of $4.8M, but also typical of a Blumhouse Productions film.

The movie’s screenwriter is Scott Lobdell mostly known as a comic book writer, so it’s interesting to read his comments in this Morbidly Beautiful interview about the transition from one narrative medium to the other.

How did you get started writing screenplays?

While I was writing the X-MEN [comics] the movies were being planned — both the features and even GENERATION X the TV Movie. I was approached by lots of Hollywood types asking if I had any of my own ideas or properties and I was able to sell a few pilots. But any time I pitched a movie or a TV idea the first question was always “Great! But who is going to write it?!” And I would be like “Um, I could write it.” They would just laugh at me and explain that movies and television shows use magical words that are not available to lowly comic book writers. That my lowly comic book writer could never hope to comprehend the skills necessary to write a script. After I heard that enough times I decided to write a script. Bam!

What are the differences in writing for comic books and writing for the screen? Do you find it difficult to switch between the two?

I don’t really find it to be any different. In both cases it is imagining a story and putting it down on paper in a way that someone else (an artist, a director, an actor…) is going to have to interpret it into their own medium.

The movie’s trailer:

For the rest of the interview, go here.

Movie Website