Paul W.S. Anderson Reveals How He Adapted Martin’s ‘In the Lost Lands’ Story

After exploring so many different genres over the course of his prolific career, filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson finally decided to tackle the fantasy genre and it seems that his approach was as action-packed as you’d expect from the guy who brought you Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and other similar movies.

Reuniting with Milla Jovovich and joined by MCU alumn Dave Bautista, Anderson managed to craft a visually intriguing movie with two strong performances and he recently talked about the whole filmmaking process in a very intriguing interview.

At the same time, George R.R. Martin is known as one of the best fantasy franchises of all time, although the main series is not his only work. “In the Lost Lands” is a very interesting story written by Martin, who is also a brilliant storyeller.

So, how did Anderson come to adapt this story? An interview might reveal the answer:

George R.R. Martin’s original story isn’t very long. What inspired you to add elements like Christian iconography and Western gunfights?

In George’s work, he’s very fascinated with church and state — the animosity between those two. And in bad times, people definitely embrace religion. And graphically, it’s very striking. I liked Deirdre [Mullins] playing the Enforcer because she brings that Spanish Inquisition vibe to it.

She had a nice head of hair before she reported to set. George’s story also has a lot of tropes of spaghetti Westerns. It’s about two characters that don’t necessarily trust one another, that betray one another. But they learn to appreciate one another. That’s the model for “A Few Dollars More” and “Two Mules for Sister Sara.”

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