The truth is, writing and directing are two very different jobs. They're not even remotely the same job. It took me a while, as a director, to understand that.

The greatest villain of all time is The Joker - he always has been, and I don't know anyone who's not going to have Heath Ledger's performance burnt into their brains for the rest of their lives.

That's kind of how I've based my career. I find talented people and beg me to let me work with them.

I love superheroes and I love weird horror films... I could definitely feel that there was a lack of movies like The Martian being made: smart genre movies that can appeal to adults.

I don't like nihilistic characters. As bad guys they're great, but as heroes they don't work.

Some people like when it rains a lot. Some people like sunshine. The idea that there's one, all encompassing afterlife is strange. It doesn't seem to make sense because we're all such different people.

All movies are alchemy and time is one of the ingredients that goes into the alchemy. You want the time to be right; you don't want to rush it. You need the right script, the right cast and the right feeling in the culture.