Guy Ritchie & John Krasinski Take SHARP Behind the Scenes of ‘Fountain of Youth’
“We’ve actually got money on this film,” joked Guy Ritchie as he greeted a group of journalists on the set of his new movie, Fountain of Youth.
The impressive set assembled at Warner Bros Studios — located 20 miles out of London, England — is a far cry from Guy Ritchie’s humble beginnings when starting out as a director in the late 90s. The British director made his feature film debut with the 1998 cult classic Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and filmed across the London streets of Shoreditch and Clerkenwell with a budget of just $1.4 million.
“Guy Ritchie is one of the most dynamic directors I have ever seen […] Those early movies that he did pushed a lot of directors to start looking at energy, action, and fun in a whole different light.”
John Krasinski
Over the years, Ritchie has built a reputation as one of the most creative and innovative directors in the crime drama and action genres with movies such as Snatch, Sherlock Holmes, and Netflix series The Gentlemen. Therefore, it makes perfect sense why he has been trusted with an eye-watering budget of almost $180m for Fountain of Youth as he travels across the globe to Vienna, Egypt and England to produce the ultimate adventure movie.
The upcoming movie follows two estranged siblings — played by John Krasinski and Natalie Portman — who embark on an epic heist to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. Ritchie was instantly drawn to John Krasinski as the male lead, Luke Purdue; the Jack Ryan and The Office star brought a unique charisma to the adventure genre.
“You feel as though the man he is onstage is like the man he is offstage, there’s a direct correlation. He’s very talented and very experienced and he’s a rather good director, too, so he’s incredibly easy to work with because he understands how difficult it is on this side of the camera,” said Ritchie.
This admiration was mutually felt by Krasinski. As soon as he received a script for a movie directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Natalie Portman, he didn’t have to think twice. “For me, Guy Ritchie is one of the most dynamic directors I have ever seen. There is something so specifically unique about the way he shoots movies and I think he changed the way we all make movies. Those early movies that he did pushed a lot of directors to start looking at energy, action, and fun in a whole different light and to actually be on set with the guy that I’ve seen do this for so long was so thrilling,” said Krasinski.
“It’s fun for everyone to collaborate and try to see if you can improve the map that you’ve got. 9 times out of 10, you can.”
Guy Ritchie on spontaneous script changes.
The unique energy that Guy Ritchie creates in his movie that Krasinksi alludes to is reflected by his approach to filmmaking. When walking around the set and interacting with the cast and crew, you quickly get the sense that this is no ordinary film production. People would regularly comment on the unique experience of working on a Guy Ritchie set, as the director is famously spontaneous and very much lives in the moment.
Ritchie compared his role as director to a conductor in an orchestra. It’s his job to maintain the rhythm of the movie. Therefore, plans can change in an instant: he could decide to scrap a scene, change lines or adapt to different circumstances. You’re never quite sure what to expect from day to day, but the people working on Fountain of Youth thrive under these circumstances and welcome the challenge.
“You take what you have got on the page and then you end up in the environment [where] everything [can] change, it’s sunny when it’s supposed to be raining. Everything changes,” Ritchie said. “Subsequently, here’s my map and can I improve it? What we will do is try to improve the map on the day and it keeps it alive. After a while, everyone gets used to that. Initially, it might be a bit shocking. If you can’t beat what’s on the page, then we will just go with what’s on the page but it’s fun for everyone to collaborate and try to see if you can improve the map that you’ve got. 9 times out of 10, you can.”
It’s the job of the talented and dedicated below-the-line crews on his productions to provide Ritchie with a “playground in which he can explore.” Only then, can he see the vision of the movie fully take shape.
“Natalie [Portman] and I and everyone else said it nearly 100 times, ‘That’s the pyramids right there, that’s the pyramids right there.'”
John Krasinski on filming Fountain of Youth.
For Fountain of Youth, the director used the world as his sandbox. Before taking their production to Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, Ritchie and company filmed across Bangkok, England, and Vienna. The cast was granted the rare privilege of filming at the pyramids of Giza — the first film production in over 50 years to do so.
“The pyramids are wonderful. What was quite funny is you forget you’re in the pyramids and you’re not sure whether you have built them because in films you get used to building things and we were there for quite a long time. You start to take the pyramids for granted and you forget which country you’re in and then it dawns on you that you’re actually in the pyramids and you get quite casual about that,” said Ritchie.
Krasinski added: “I’ve been lucky enough to travel so much for Jack Ryan, we’ve shot in so many amazing places, yet this movie felt on a different level in terms of where we went and how we went about it.
“Guy Ritchie does things really well when you travel with him and shoot different things, you’re inside the Viennese National Library, you’re four feet from the Pyramids. I think that’s what I’ll remember most from the shoot, Natalie and I and everyone else said it nearly 100 times, ‘That’s the pyramids right there, that’s the pyramids right there.’”
Walking around the set was an eye-opening experience about the possibilities of what a movie set can be when everyone pulls together to create something magical. This was most evident when we approached a seemingly nondescript hangar and walked up some scaffolding. All of a sudden, we weren’t walking on metal steps anymore and instead, sand. The crew went to painstaking lengths to recreate the insides of the pyramids of Giza and the results were flawless.
This took months of location scouting, research and trial and error to give Guy Ritchie the best opportunity to tell the story in the way that he wanted. In the world of green screen and CGI, it’s refreshing to see there are still huge film productions that strive to create the most authentic adventure possible for their audience.
“Fountain of Youth” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on May 23, 2025.
Photos courtesy of Apple.
