Between their successes with LEGO, 21 Jump Street and Spider-Verse movies, it’s safe to say Phil Lord and Chris Miller know how to drive a filmmaking cast and crew. As Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse swung into theaters to a five-star review from CinemaBlend and one of the best opening weekends of 2023, they spoke to some of their movie making secrets. One thing that proved to make their Spider-Verse sequel better, was their philosophy to “listen” rather than simply tell during the creative process.
When CinemaBlend’s podcast ReelBlend spoke to Phil Lord and Chris Miller about making Across the Spider-Verse, they got blunt that if one’s aspirations are to get into filmmaking “because you like to be in charge, definitely get another job.” They shared a valuable example where listening made the web-slinging animated movie and one specific character in the movie better. In Miller’s words:
