The release of Skyscraper’s first poster back in February was exactly what the internet was made for.
That’s because the poster shows Dwayne Johnson jumping from a crane into around the 200th floor of a burning building. It is both glorious and ridiculous.
We’re all willing to sacrifice it all when it comes to protecting our families.
Here’s the first look at our original concept film, #SKYSCRAPER.
THIS SUNDAY during the #SuperBowl you’ll see how far one man will go to protect his wife and children. #SKYSCRAPER SUMMER 2018 pic.twitter.com/IvFGptLb67— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 2, 2018
As you’d expect, “Skyscraper’s” poster immediately piqued the interest of the internet, and dozens upon dozens memes soon appeared lampooning it.
So I did some science.
Assuming that there is no “jump-off” (which seems to be optimal here)
We can determine that the Rock would need to leave the platform at 12.7 meters per second (appr. 28.4 mph)
For comparison, Usain Bolt’s fastest recorded speed is 27.4 mph. pic.twitter.com/GruWcbtEAN
— ✨New Year New Christian✨ (@ChristianBedwel) February 3, 2018
I recently had the chance to sit down and talk to “Skyscraper’s” writer and director Rawson Marshall Thurber, during which time I asked for his response to the merciless, viral mocking of its poster.
“I don’t know if you know this but the internet can be spiky,” joked Thurber, before insisting, “I thought it was really fun. I thought it was hilarious.”
However, Thurber was keen to point out that the poster was an exaggerated version of the scene that actually unfolds in “Skyscraper.”
“The hard part for me was, the poster, which I really like and has won many awards, our friends in marketing, bless their hearts, kind of exaggerated the distance of that jump.”
“The only hard part for me was, ‘No, no, that’s not actually the distance in the movie. It is evocative of the moment. It is not literal.’ But you don’t want to shout back into the internet. It will never work for you.”
“So I just kind of tipped my cap, and said, ‘Thank you very much, interweb. Point taken.’ But if you see the picture the distance is probably half as wide.”
Thurber insists that those involved in production even consulted a professor, who did the math and made sure that the jump Johnson takes in “Skyscraper” would be possible, which made all the difference for Thurber.
“But what’s fun is that a professor from Central Florida literally did the math on it, and said, ‘Yeah, yeah, this could possibly happen.’ So I am vindicated by science. Not that anyone will care.”
“The point I am making is, you are buying a ticket for a thrill-ride, a rollercoaster, and the challenge is to make something exciting + 10%, plausible + 10%. You always want it to be insane, improbable, but not stupid. And hopefully we haven’t crossed that line.”
You can watch Johnson making the leap now and judge for yourself whether it is plausible as “Skyscraper” has just been released into cinemas.
