Development According to
Hammer Films executive producer
Nigel Sinclair, interest in the project initially began in the middle of 2007, before the original
Let the Right One In had screened for audiences. The rights for the English-language film were later acquired by Hammer Films at the 2008
Tribeca Film Festival, where
Let the Right One In won the "Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature," and
Matt Reeves was quickly introduced as the director. John Nordling and Carl Molinder, the Swedish producers of the original film, were both involved as producers for the adaptation.
Tomas Alfredson, the director of the Swedish film, was initially asked to direct the remake, but he turned it down stating that "I am too old to make the same film twice and I have other stories that I want to tell." Hammer Films producer
Simon Oakes initially referred to the film with "If you call it a faithful remake, I think that's true to say that's what it is. It's not a reimagining; the same beats [are there], maybe the scares are a little bit more scary." The decision to make a new film adaptation has been criticized by Tomas Alfredson. He has stated on numerous occasions that he is not in favor of remaking his film. "If one should remake a film, it's because the original is bad. And I don't think mine is," he said. Producer
Donna Gigliotti said, "We're incredibly admiring of the original, but to be honest with you, that picture grossed $2million. It's not like we're remaking
Lawrence of Arabia." Producer Simon Oakes made it clear that the plot of
Let Me In would closely resemble that of the original film, except that it will be made "very accessible to a wider audience." Writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, on the other hand, says that Reeves told him that he "will make a new film based on the book, and not remake the Swedish film" and so "it'll be something completely different, but it's going to be really interesting to see." Reeves expressed his intent to retain the book's early 1980s setting and his admiration for the book and Alfredson's adaptation. "It's a terrific movie and a fantastic book. I think it could be a really touching, haunting and terrifying film. I'm really excited about what it could be", he said. In response to the criticism he said, "I can understand because of people's love of the [original] film that there's this cynicism that I'll come in and trash it, when in fact I have nothing but respect for the film. I'm so drawn to it for personal and not mercenary reasons ... I hope people give us a chance." When Reeves was initially approached, he at first was against the idea but after reading the novel gained a better appreciation for the story, stating,
Adapting and writing In
adapting the film, a few adjustments were made, such as changing the names of the
protagonists to Owen and Abby, and moving the setting from the
Stockholm suburb of
Blackeberg to "a small
New Mexico town."
Casting discussing
Let Me In. In July 2009, audition tapes were leaked to the Internet, showing
Chloë Grace Moretz,
Mary Mouser, and
Ariel Winter auditioning for the role of the vampire, Abby.
Smit-McPhee, in an interview with
The Herald Sun, hinted that he may have landed the role as Owen. The casting of Moretz and Smit-McPhee in the leading roles was confirmed on October 1, 2009, along with the addition of
Richard Jenkins as Abby's adult companion. In a press release, director Matt Reeves described Smit-McPhee, Moretz and Jenkins as his "absolute dream cast", and added that he "couldn't be more excited to be working with them." Both Smit-McPhee and Moretz were cast before the release of
The Road or
Kick-Ass, and the films' directors
John Hillcoat and
Matthew Vaughn, respectively, each praised the young actors and recommended them to Reeves. Chloe's older brother, Colin Moretz was also cast in a minor role as the cashier at the convenience store.
Filming Principal photography began in
Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 2, 2009. Filming took place in several different New Mexico locations, before concluding in Albuquerque in January 2010. A large section of the film was filmed at
Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Los Alamos County granted a special request from the film's director and producer to name the town in the movie "Los Alamos, New Mexico." Over 100 local teenagers were cast as extras. Reeves felt that Lindqvist's story was very naturalistic and wanted the film to be shot the same way. After viewing
Bright Star, he hired Greig Fraser as his cinematographer because he admired Fraser's work with natural light on the film. Shortly before filming, Reeves sought advice from
Steven Spielberg for directing
child actors. Spielberg instructed Reeves to have the two leads each keep a diary in character with the intention of sharing with Reeves what they wrote in it. Reeves stated, "It was all a process of trying to, not only guide them, but in places, trying to let them guide me toward their perspective. That was important."
Visual effects Method Studios was contracted to handle the film's visual effects work. The studio's supervisor
Sean Faden, worked alongside the film's visual effects supervisor, Brad Parker throughout the production. Several of the film's scenes proved to be a challenge for the team. Director Reeves wanted the "car-crash" sequence to appear as if it were filmed uncut in first-person. Several plates were shot, with the first plate involving actor Jenkins backing the car out of the gas station and swerving, and the second plate shot had a model of the car capable of being spun mechanically on a "rotisserie" in front of a
blue screen which could simulate the car's roll down the hill. Jenkins' stunt double and a dummy were placed in the car as the rotisserie spun with additional effects work used to animate the dummy as the car rolled. The two shots were then combined to deceive the viewer into believing that it was one complete shot. Giacchino stated that scoring the film was a difficult "balancing act" for some scenes. He mentioned, "I was always trying to say, 'let's take music out!' and Matt [Reeves] was like, 'no, put it in!'" In composing the score, he stated that he also applied certain musical themes to each character for which the audience could respond to as the story progressed. Composing the score to convey the correct emotion was also a challenge for Giacchino who said, "... it was tricky finding the right balance of, well, should this be scary? Or should this be sentimental? Or should it be emotional? Or should it be this? It was a weird balance because you're dealing with a dynamic that is quite questionable as far as what everyone's intentions are in the film. ==Release==