On paper, Eden has everything a studio would seemingly want for a potential hit film. To begin with, it’s directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard, has a stellar cast including Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney, and it is all rooted in a compelling true-life historical tale.
And yet, nearly a year after the murder mystery thriller set on a remote island in the Galápagos staged its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Eden is finally arriving in theaters. While the backing of a studio is absent, an indie distributor — Vertical — had the smarts to realize that Howard had a refreshing story on his hands to share with moviegoers.
Eden, after all, is not based on existing IP or is a prequel, sequel or whatever overused “quel” is in fashion these days, but is a fascinating true-crime tale from the early 1930s that until the past few years has remained a footnote in history.
In a recent Zoom conversation, Howard said that he knew going in that Eden — which was produced under his and longtime collaborator Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment banner — had to be made with an independent movie mindset.
“We made it very efficiently and at a price point that I think was very responsible because I knew it wasn’t a studio kind of movie. I never thought it would be,” Howard said. “In fact, it took me years to commit to making the movie because I always knew it was going to push me outside my comfort zone.
“I also knew that from a commercial standpoint it was going to be risky and would need to be done in a very particular way,” Howard added. “I found that when we had the script and I had this great cast, I felt like, ‘Let’s just do it as an indie.’”
Luckily for Howard, he wasn’t blindsided by the difficulty in landing distribution for Eden because he well realizes that no matter your stature in show business, the model of making movies and television in Hollywood is in a constant state of flux — especially in the era of streaming.
“The thing about the distribution is, audiences are determining this and the patterns are just changing, but the medium [of filmmaking] has as much potency and power as ever,” Howard observed. “I’m thrilled that companies like Vertical are picking up the mantle and are fighting to get movies [like Eden] into theaters and be seen. They’re making a business out of it and it’s a business that’s working.
“That’s what we as artists need and we as film lovers need, but we also have to recognize that’s the way people see films and TV shows,” Howard noted. “How and when audiences choose to see them is just something that technology has changed. We’ve all benefitted from it.”
Of course, Howard has rich history in both the film and television mediums, whether it be as an actor from his time on The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days on TV and American Graffiti and The Shootist on film; or behind the camera as the director of such classics as Night Shift, Splash, Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and his Best Picture and Best Director Oscar-winning drama A Beautiful Mind — and that’s just naming a few.
As for Eden, while the story has enough of an expansive history to merit a TV series, Howard wanted something for moviegoers to dissect.
“I really wanted Eden to be a movie, not just a big-screen movie. I love that we’re getting it into theaters, but I also wanted it to be a compact story,” Howard explained. “It’s got all these twists and turns, like a little season of a great show like The White Lotus or something like that. I wanted this to be something that you’d see in a compressed amount of time and yet get a feel for all the twists and the impact of what these characters went through [to give audiences] something to chew on and to think about and talk about.”
A Trip To The Galápagos Islands Inspired Ron Howard To Make ‘Eden’
Playing in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, Ron Howard’s Eden tells the true story of how Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his wife, Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), flee a crumbling society in Germany in 1929 to begin a new life on the remote isle of Floreana in the Galápagos island chain near Ecuador.
Before too long, though, Friderich and Dore’s peace is interrupted by new Floreana pioneers Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Brühl), his wife, Margaret (Sydney Sweeney) and Heinz’s son, Harry (Jonathan Tittel); as well as a socialite, Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas), and her entourage.
Eloise, who fancies herself as “The Baroness,” has grand plans for a resort on the island. However, The Baroness’ overprivileged high societal tendencies — as well as deceitful measures — soon cause friction among the small group on an island, leading to mysterious disappearances of some of them and murders of others.
While the plight of the group of Floreana islanders has been chronicled before in the 2013 documentary The Galápagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, Howard said his fascination with the story goes back far before the release of that film.
“I had been thinking about this story about six or seven years before the Galápagos documentary appeared. I had encountered this story on a family vacation in the Galápagos,” Howard recalled. “I had always wanted to go, so we took our kids, who were by then grown kids, young adults. We went and saw the wildlife and it was exceptional, and we did some scuba diving and it was mind-blowing.”
However, it was in more of a controlled environment where Howard said he discovered the harrowing tale surrounding the mysterious murders and survival by the group of Floreana settlers in the 1930s.
“We went to the museum and one entire room was dedicated to this Galapagos mystery and these people who had pioneered and disappeared, and the violence that had ensued,” Howard recalled. “We could not stop talking about it.”
Among the things that piqued Howard’s interest in the museum exhibit were a pair of books written by survivors Margaret Wittmer and Dore Strauch, both of whom recounted the events in the 1930s in decidedly different fashions.
“I got Margaret Wittmer’s book and Dore Strauch’s book, which were in the gift shop,” Howard said. “ I read them both, saw that they were kind of pointing their fingers at one another and there were conflicting accounts. Our whole family just couldn’t stop talking about it because it’s a true crime thriller that really happened.
“On that trip, I started thumbing on my Blackberry — which tells you what era it was — an outline for what a movie version could be,” Howard said. “I remember [my daughter, actor-director] Bryce [Howard] saying, ‘This is a movie, Dad. You should do this.’ So, I started collecting information and then some years later, there was the great documentary The Galapagos Affair, which reinforced my excitement about it. The story has been out there. It’s been in the public’s awareness and I was glad I finally got to make the movie with such a great cast.”
And, perhaps best of all for Ron Howard, leaving that comfort zone to tell the story of Eden was a risk worth taking. Howard has certainly been up to similar challenges in the past. After all, he’s the young actor who daringly ventured into directing under the auspices of the late prolific indie producer Roger Corman for Grand Theft Auto in 1977, so he’s familiar with the territory of realizing a vision guided by passion.
The great thing is, Howard is in a position where he can afford to take risks, but ultimately, making a movie that may or may not connect with audiences is a risk that every director on the planet can identify with. Howard’s just glad that Vertical had the wherewithal to take the leap with him.
“It’s challenging since the studios are a little less adventuresome about what they will support and what they want, but this indie market has emerged as a viable market,” Howard said. “Actors and directors are also moving back and forth in indies — and also in television, which has its own cinematic feel that is really potent and really powerful.
“So, my feeling about it is that, if you’re passionate about something — even in this climate where the industry is challenged — you can find your way to make the story you care about, especially if you have some credibility,” Howard added. “If you can find and rally some strong collaborators, you can find a way — but you have to love it.”
Rated R, Eden plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
Note: Some of the quotes in this interview feature about Eden were condensed or edited for clarity.
