Gravity: 10 Ideas to Keep in Mind for The Sequel and Beyond

"Gravity," the science fiction epic from Alfonso Cuaron is nothing short of awe-inspiring. I'll let others tell you how incredible the film is, but for now I want to focus on the follow up. Follow ups are an essential point of life/movies. "Godfather" gives us "Godfather II." "Iron Man" gives us the entire Marvel Cinematic Franchise. And "Avatar" gives us shitty "Clash of The Titans," just kidding, but from a technical perspective "Avatar" gives us the modern 3D film.

I've been hyping "Gravity" for a long time so the fact that it delivers is just epic, so now something needs to deliver again. So here we go: 10 ideas to consider once you've witnessed the wonder.

1. Before this film I thought of Special Effects as a way to create the fantastic. When I say fantastic I mean virtual worlds like "Avatar" or Hulk punching a alien beast in the face in "Avengers." "Gravity" uses special effects to create something entirely real and I really hope that the film pushes the visual effects medium towards more reality based visual effects work. I see the film as technical leap forward in the vein as "Jurassic Park" and "Avatar" and I can't wait to see what comes next.

2. If N.A.S.A was smart they'd built on the good will this movie generates for astronauts and space in general and use it to get people dreaming and wondering about space again. Maybe every dollar generated from the sequel goes to finance a major space mission.

3. "Gravity: Mission To Mars" - Imagine that, the same photo-realism, zero gravity, and minimal characters yet this time it's a hyper realistic space mission to some far off planet. H-O-L-Y SHIT that would be wild.

4. Grantland points out in their review, but Clooney's astronaut is as close to a real life Buzz Lightyear as we're ever going to get.

5. Supposedly the budget for the film was $100 million. Apparently the budget for "Avatar" was somewhere between 250 million and 500 million. Think about what you could do in the "Gravity" world with that kind cheese.

6.The film was phenomenal in it's use of sound, particularly the absence of it to create tension and mood. I'd love to see this technique used in everything from the Super Bowl (final drive in silence....whoah guy) to ordinary TV shows.

7. Between this and "The Blind Side" Sandra Bullock is rapidly America's favorite actress and just general favorite woman.

8. I particularly enjoyed the pretty direct spiritual metaphors in the film and I hope that more big budget films try to make statements about them. Not every blockbuster needs to be about how many suits Iron Man has or many ninjas Wolverine can slice to pieces. Of course there is nothing wrong with those blockbusters, but just give them a little meaning.

9. Back to point number 2, I'm not kidding, would you pay $40 dollars to the see the sequel if it meant that half of that went to N.A.S.A or a private company sending a manned mission to mars.

10. James Cameron sees this movie: Starts shaking in his boots, takes a deep breath, relaxes, then starts figuring out how he can make "Avatar 2" even more technically mind bending. Bring it Cameron, bring ittttt.

First Gravity Trailer Is Out Of This World

I've been covering this flick since 2010 and I'm still impressed by this! Dayuuuummmm

What's The Deal With "Gravity"

Pi via (The Playlist)

"Gravity" is one of the most interesting projects in development in Hollywood right now. Most people have not heard of it, it's doesn't have the mega pre-release press as some other films. This is surprising considering the talent and star power involved. I recently got a draft of the "script" and what I read really lifted my brain to space, aka blew my mind.

The film is written by Jonas Cuaron, Rodrigo Garcia, and Alfonso Cuaron. Most readers will know Alfonso Cuaron as the director behind the excellent "Children of Men" and the in my opinion slightly overrated "Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban." The film takes place entirely in space, and feels very very realistic. How realistic you ask? It feels like it's a film designed to be shown at science museums. 

That's not to say it isn't cool, hey, science museums are cool! The plot is basically about some astronauts above the earth, who encounter some serious problems. Now, these problems are not aliens, mental insanity, or evil corporations, but rather just genuine space problems. Their spaceship is damaged! How will they fix it? They're running out of oxygen! Will they get more? Things like that.

Currently Robert Downey Jr is attached to play the male lead and Blake Lively and Scarlett Johanson are fighting for the part that Angelina Jolie once was rumored to be set for. With start power like that, many people are excited about the project. However, one group who might not expected is really rooting for it: NASA. I mean, RDJ as a cocky space-man. A hot babe mega actress as a space-woman. Sounds like the ultimate PR.