Even though Buried managed to make it to theaters, it’s still hard to believe anyone would consider making a feature film that takes place entirely in an underground coffin possible. However, not only was writer Chris Sparling up for the challenge, but he was so successful in his effort that he attracted the attention of director Rodrigo Cortes as well Ryan Reynolds.
Buried is Reynolds’ one-man show. He stars as Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq. He’s responsible for delivering supplies to helpless citizens, but his convoy is still subject to attack and sure enough they’re ambushed and during the firefight, Paul is knocked unconscious. When he finally wakes up, he’s in an even worse situation than he was before; Paul is buried in a coffin with just a Zippo lighter and a cell phone. Rightfully distraught, Paul’s only choice is to pull himself together and put his resources to use or to submit to his condition and remain in this underground nightmare.
I was fortunate enough to have some time to talk with Sparling, during which he told me all about the development of the idea, how he went about making the concept feel real and then handing his work over to Cortes and Reynolds. As an added bonus, Sparling threw in some information on his next feature film, another trapped story called ATM. Check it all out in the two videos below and be sure to catch Buried when it hits theaters locally on the 24th and then expands on October 8th.
By Perri Nemiroff