’s is now the latest in a long line of filmmakers who has recruited from the world of advertising. Having written or directed at least four commercials for Apple, the humble Australian filmmaker won’t allow himself to say that he followed in the same footsteps as fellow Bruckheimer discoveries Tony Scott and Michael Bay, but in his ongoing effort to change up the status quo, the celebrated producer has frequently found new talent through commercials and music videos. In the ‘80s, Scott was one of a handful of British directors who took their unconventional styles to the States, and Bruckheimer and Don Simpson’s (1986) served as his American debut.
The massive success of that film prompted the two producing partners to quickly rehire Scott for (1987), a film that Molloy channeled in Netflix’s now well-received legacy sequel . However, while Molloy initially said yes to the idea of doing a Bruckheimer project without hesitation, he surprisingly followed it up with a series of nos. “My agent called me one day and was like, ‘Jerry Bruckheimer wants to get on the phone with you.
’ And I was like, ‘I want to get on the phone with Jerry Bruckheimer.’ And then Jerry said that he’d love to make a movie together,” Molloy tells . “He then sent me quite a few scripts, and I actually said no to them all.
They just didn’t feel like the right fit for me, but then he sent me . And 20 pages in, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m in. I love this.
’” Molloy isn’t shy about.