“Brothers” director Max Barbakow describes two of the most iconic scenes

Brethren tells the story of a reformed criminal (Josh Brolin) whose attempt to go straight is thwarted when he reunites with his chaotic twin brother (Peter Dinklage). The two agree to one last robbery together and set off on the journey of a lifetime, dodging bullets, the law and an overbearing mother along the way. In addition to Dinklage and Brolin, the cast is filled with familiar names such as Brendan Fraser's Glenn Close and Marisa Tomei.

Director Max Barbakow is also known for writing and directing Palm Springsstarring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. He pushes his comedy chops deeper Brethrenonce again made excellent use of a top-notch cast. There are currently two projects in development, Disaster wedding AND Collision turn. Brethren will hit select theaters on October 10 and will begin streaming Video premiere on October 17.

On-screen tirade interviewed Max Barbakow to discuss his new road trip comedy. He talked about the surprising and fun inspirations behind the film, as well as what it was like to hire so many incredibly talented actors. Barbakow also talked about two of the most memorable scenes in the film – one of them shows an orangutan. He admits that he has already thought about the sequel and suggests what it could look like.

Brothers was inspired by Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, who both had big heads

Josh Brolin called Peter Dinklage and told him that they should work together because they both had big heads.

Screen Rant: What an amazing cast. Can you talk about bringing them all back?

Max Barbakow: The whole thing was a dream, but the casting was an amazing experience. Peter and Josh, you may have heard them or talked to them, but the idea came, I think, from Josh calling Peter and telling him that they should work together because they both have big heads. That was the genesis. Big skulls are not about ego. I also have a huge head, so that was enough to get me on board.

They are both legends in their own way, turning characters you've played before upside down and doing unexpected things. So we wanted to create a similar band in that spirit, and Glenn Close needed to be there. She is more than that. She is obviously a legend and took the opportunity to do something different for her. Brendan is someone I've always wanted to work with and he said yes. People just kept saying yes, everyone up to Emmett Walsh, who is also a hero of mine.

We were just really, really lucky. It's a film about a journey. It is episodic in nature. You need a team to fill all these locations, and we were really lucky.

The orangutan scene is loosely based on Josh Brolin's past

“It's based on a version of something that happened to Josh when he was a kid with a monkey.”

Screen Rant: There was an intimacy coordinator on the set of the orangutan scene, right? Can you talk about filming this?

Max Barbakow: It was really funny. We had an amazing actress named Devin Dalton who played Samuel, and she had been in the Planet of the Apes movies, so she was overqualified for what we were asking her to do. But Josh and she and I and the intimacy coordinator came up with this sequence, and it's based on a version of something that happened to Josh when he was a baby with a monkey, and I think it was really personal to him.

It was fun, and also when we got into the visual effects of it all, we were using Devin's face to animate the orangutan, but we also put a lot of time and effort into figuring out what it would sound like, and then he used the sounds and went back. We used sounds to create the creature. So that was great. It was really funny. And it was Jam FX, I think it was the first movie they ever made. They did a great job with it.

The golf cart chase scene was more challenging than you might think

“We're just destroying the fairway, but for safety reasons it was hard to figure it out.”

Screen Rant: Another iconic scene is the golf cart chase.

Max Barbakow: It was interesting because there's a version of this straight out of Austin Powers and it's very extensive. It's wide on the page. It's quite broad in the movie, but there's a version that ranges from absurd to absurd. We figured we just had to get into the groove and the sound, albeit a slower one, like French Connection or something like that, you know? We spent a few days on a golf course in Georgia, when you zoom out and think about what you're actually doing, it's so fun. So what do we do?

We're tearing up this fairway right now, but it was actually hard to figure it out for safety reasons. We needed a stuntman to drive the excavator. David Fletcher was responsible for the special effects and did a great job. He's never done anything like this before. We actually placed the pod controller in the front bucket of the excavator. It's driven by a stuntman, but we removed that in the post. It was something he had never done before. There's a lot of problem solving, a lot of prep fun with toy cars and golf carts and so on, and it was great.

Screen Rant: How much improvisation is there in this movie?

Max Barbakow: There was a lot on paper, and then, of course, as you know, there is amazing chemistry between them and different things happened between sets. We thought: Can we just channel this and put it in the movie, please? We would get what we needed for the story and then we would just let them go and throw things away. I also really like all the moments between conversations in the film. Body language, reactions and behaviors. They were great at it.

There may be an additional music video featuring Peter Dinklage

“We had about three cameras on it, including a Steadicam. It was like a music video.”

Screen Rant: Do you have a favorite karaoke song?

​​​​​​​Max Barbakow: It's Hey, what's going on, this song. I've done the Dawson's Creek theme a few times. That's pretty good. Peter created psychedelic furs, Love My Way. It didn't qualify for a movie, but he was amazing when he did it. We had about three cameras on it, including a Steadicam. It was like a music video. It was great.

Screen Rant: This may be an add-on feature.

Max Barbakow: Yes, or an extended trailer.

There are already ideas for a continuation of Brothers

“It's going to be a bigger Ocean's 11-style heist.”

Screen Rant: Is there a chance we'll get a sequel? Brethren?

​​​​​​​Max Barbakow: Oh, I would love that. This is what we were talking about. There is so much going on in this world and so many characters appear, whose reality and history we only allude to. So yes, I'm down. We will continue to build the team. This will be a bigger Ocean's 11 style heist.

More About Brothers (2024)

Brothers tells the story of a reformed criminal (Josh Brolin) whose attempt to go straight is thwarted when he reunites with his sanity-testing twin brother (Peter Dinklage) on a cross-country road trip in pursuit of a personal record. Dodging bullets, the law, and an overbearing mother along the way, they must heal broken family bonds before they start killing each other.

Check out our second interview for Brethren: :

A reformed criminal trying to stick to simple rules, his plans are turned upside down when he reunites with his unpredictable twin brother and pulls off one last heist. During a chaotic cross-country adventure full of gunfights and familial tensions, the two must come to terms with their differences before it's too late.

Director

Max Barbakow

Release date

October 17, 2024

Writers

Macon Blair and Etan Cohen

Writing)

Moke, Jady, Farful, Cath

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