The filming of There Will Be Blood took place at the same time and in the same part of Texas as that of No Country For Old Men, causing some hassle. Explanations.
The year 2008 gave birth to two grands crus in terms of cinema with There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson and No Country For Old Men by the Coen brothers. Released a month apart, the two films marked their time and shared the most prestigious awards at the Oscars. Daniel Day-Lewis notably won the statuette for best actor and the brother filmmakers those for best film and best director.
A CHARMING BOURGADE TEXANE
Let us go back two years, before the triumph of these two monuments. We meet in Marfa, Texas, in the summer of 2006. This city is located in an arid region, hundreds of miles from the first major metropolis and three hours from the nearest airport. Known for the beauty of its deserts, it notably hosted the filming of Géant with James Dean.
That summer, the charming Texan town offered hospitality to the teams of Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen brothers to film There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men. Daniel Day-Lewis, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones … the stars of the two feature films are gathered to begin the shootings.
NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE
Shortly after filming begins, technicians from Paul Thomas Anderson’s film perform a test for an explosion scene while drilling. Filmed on a desert plain, the test seems safe. The explosion causes a gigantic cloud of black smoke that seems to bother no one in this deserted place. Unfortunately, the wind will come to mingle with the party, moving the huge cloud a few kilometers further … straight towards the set of No Country For Old Men.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France
The smoke has darkened the sky so much that the Coen brothers are forced to stop work; impossible to film in these conditions. For the team, it’s a cold shower, the thick cloud will take a while to dissipate. Decision is therefore taken to postpone the shooting until the next day. Finally, the two shoots will end well and the two works will be part of the great classics of the 7th art.
WHAT ABOUT THE BOX-OFFICE?
No Country For Old Men brings in $ 171 million in worldwide revenue on a budget of 25M, the same as There Will Be Blood. Unfortunately for the PTA film, it did not achieve the same success as the Coen’s, earning only 76 million greenbacks. In France, the brothers directors also won the stakes, attracting nearly a million spectators against 657,000 for its competitor.
LUCIEN JEAN-BAPTISTE’S FAVORITE SCENE IN THERE WILL BE BLOOD