00:00Ladies and gentlemen, the man who spent way too much time at the 7-Eleven on Orchard Lake Road.
00:05It's just. Oh, man. Yes, that is true. You did, didn't you?
00:09I was, you know, I definitely the is the village restaurant still there.
00:15I mean, that was where that was my haunt for sure.
00:19OK, how are you? I'm great. How are you? Are you in downtown Detroit right now?
00:24We're actually our studios are eight and a half in Coolidge. We're in Oak Park.
00:27So great for government work right near where I used to where I used to grow up.
00:32There you go. And Nuked, by the way, I love the premise because I remember in 2018 when this thing happened in Hawaii.
00:39And I don't think people around the rest of the world understood how crazy that was.
00:44But to shape a movie around that and how people react and get down to it, that had to be a fun concept for you when they pitched it.
00:50Oh, it was super fun. And, you know, and even you talk about the, you know, kind of true story it's based on.
00:55And I my wife is from Hawaii. And so a lot of our family literally went through that.
01:02We were getting texts saying goodbye. They were going to the bunkers.
01:05It was very you know, I was in New York. It was like, you know, I was like North Korea is not going to bomb us.
01:11What is this? But they heard the sirens and they were it was very real for a lot of my family.
01:16So to have that perspective that, you know, actually you're hearing people talk about this could be the end of the world.
01:26Yeah. How do you like it? Because the word that came up a lot and I was watching the trailer.
01:31My wife and I sit down and watch it. We can't wait for this in theaters as well.
01:35Absurd came up a lot.
01:37People would talk about and I was reading references to it in a good way.
01:40Yeah. The absurdity of it.
01:41But isn't that life when things get weird, we all things become absurd.
01:45That's the beauty of comedy.
01:47Yeah, absolutely.
01:48And, you know, and I think the you know, this movie absurd stuff now with this movie,
01:54because obviously in the news you're reading about nuclear war every day.
01:58And, you know, we this was kind of this movie was born out of the pandemic in a sense where everyone's thinking about,
02:04you know, this could be the end of our lives.
02:08So, you know, it I think maybe at one time it would have been absurd.
02:13And now it's gone to strangely identifiable and relatable to most people.
02:19And I, you know, it's at its heart, it's a relationship, adult relationship comedy.
02:26You know, you could say a stoner comedy, too.
02:28But, you know, it really is about people trying to make their relationships work during a time where you don't even know if you're going to survive.
02:38You know, and I don't know about you, but during the pandemic, every single couple that I know went through something.
02:44Something. Yeah. Separating, divorcing, opening their relationship, getting closer, doing all sorts of stuff.
02:50So I think that, you know, this movie is kind of the culmination of those conversations that the director and I have.
02:57And, Justin, the other thing you cannot downplay is this.
03:01Taking the phone away when you take it. It's not a phone anymore.
03:04It's whatever you want to call it, your mobile device, your iPhone, whatever.
03:07When you take that away in a relationship and you guys delve into that, the dynamic changes it well.
03:14I know people that are so uncomfortable if they don't have their phone on them, they're incapable of having a conversation with you.
03:21Yeah. I mean, it's a pacifier and it's a distraction.
03:24I mean, we all know, you know, we all know and talk about our love-hate relationships with our phones.
03:30But, you know, I think, you know, what happens in this film is that they're forced to take away that, you know, pacifier and actually connect with each other.
03:41When they think that, hey, if the world ends in 24 hours, what do I want to say to my loved one?
03:49You know, how do I want to wrap this up with nowhere to look but in their eyes?
03:55So I think it's what sounds like a crazy tragedy turns out to be a pretty funny time.
04:00Give me the one scene in the movie that you guys had the hardest time filming because you were laughing too hard.
04:07You know, I think there's a scene where right after we find out that, you know, there's a nuke headed towards us and we go into this basement and we're all kind of trying to understand what's going on.
04:18And then my wife, played by the brilliant Anna Camp, kind of has this panic attack or kind of an anxiety attack.
04:26She thinks she's having a heart attack.
04:27That was so much, you're just like, everyone is going nuts and it's, you know, it's taking the energy to a new level.
04:35And I think everybody really was cracking up during that time.
04:39This is such a cool concept.
04:40It is.
04:41It just, it looks like a wonderful film.
04:42We can't wait to watch Nuked.
04:44Justin Bartha with us here.
04:45And I do have an elevator pitch for you.
04:47You ready?
04:48Yeah, please.
04:49It's Detroit centric, but I was thinking about this.
04:51I love it.
04:52I want to do, that's okay.
04:53I want to do National Treasure, but I want to do it here in Detroit.
04:56And it's the Detroit Salt Mines.
04:57And there's stories that, and this is all just made up.
05:00Henry Ford had built a city in the salt mines, this futuristic city.
05:05And your character, you come back from National Treasure and you start going around Detroit, finding these clues.
05:10And you start to realize it's real.
05:13The city's real underneath Detroit.
05:15And you go to Lafayette County and you wind up going to the spirit of Detroit.
05:18And you do all these Detroit, you go to the Faygo bottling plant.
05:23But it's to unearth this city that Henry Ford's greatest invention was something that he didn't think the world was ready for.
05:30The city underneath Detroit.
05:32I love it.
05:33Right?
05:33It's not bad.
05:34It's not bad.
05:35It's like a Bruckheimer on the phone.
05:36Anything Detroit-centric for me is the way.
05:41So what's the best number you have in your phone?
05:44What's the coolest number you have in your phone?
05:48Of like a celebrity?
05:50Yeah.
05:50The one that you look at and go, I can't believe I got their number.
05:53Wow.
05:54I don't know.
05:56I haven't thought about that.
05:58Really?
05:58I could look through my phone if you want.
06:01Yeah.
06:02I've got Seeger's number, but I'm afraid to call it because I feel like I'm pulling a fire alarm.
06:06And if I call it once, I'll never be able to talk to him again.
06:09So that's my, it makes me anxious that I've got Seeger's phone number in my cell phone.
06:14I know that's, yeah.
06:16Wow.
06:17I have some, I have some dingers in my phone, but who knows if they're, you know, the cat,
06:22I mean, not to be too cheesy, but the cast of this movie is pretty impressive to me.
06:28Yeah, it is.
06:28All their numbers.
06:29And you guys still stay in touch with everybody?
06:31We do.
06:32Yeah, absolutely.
06:34Okay.
06:34You know, I, you know, all my friends that I've, you know, all the people that I've done
06:39movies with, I, I, I'm still starstruck by them and they're all in my phone.
06:43So.
06:43Well, you, you, you sound like you're, you're, you're, you're having fun.
06:46You're grounded.
06:46You keep doing great projects.
06:48So much stuff here with the hangout and everything.
06:49Trying to keep it Detroit, man.
06:51You got to keep it Midwest.
06:52Do you, you keep tabs on Detroit?
06:55Sure.
06:56Of course.
06:56I mean, I haven't been there in a, in a couple of years.
06:58I took my family, uh, on a kind of a tour upstate a couple of, a couple summers ago.
07:05Um, you know, we went to Traverse City and Mackinac for actually two years.
07:09Exactly.
07:10July 4th, we went to Mackinac Island and went Traverse City and Glen Arbor.
07:15I mean, yeah, it's the best.
07:16It's the best dunes, you know, my old haunting ground in West Bloomfield.
07:21Um, are you a Coney guy?
07:25I'm a Coney guy.
07:26Sure.
07:27Okay.
07:27I just, you don't know.
07:28I mean, sometimes I don't know.
07:29I mean, I always, I always ask, I'm like, is that something that you have to, you don't
07:33have to explain it to people like we used to.
07:35And it's gotta be funny for you, you know, living around the country.
07:39Now that Detroit style pizza is freaking everywhere.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Detroit.
07:43I mean, I'm in New York and we have a couple of Detroit style pizza places.
07:46I, you know, listen, I love everything about Michigan and Detroit, the pizza, you know,
07:51I don't know.
07:52Buddy's pizza.
07:53I do like, I do like a buddy's pizza, but you know, it's tough to beat a New York slice.
07:58There you go.
07:59Hey, I appreciate that.
08:00Justin, um, congratulations.
08:02Come back for a Tigers game.
08:03We're doing pretty well this year, man.
08:04Oh, I, all Detroit teams are doing well.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Pistons and for the lions, I'm always rooting for all my Detroit teams.
08:11Nuke looks great.
08:12It's fun.
08:13You can rent it.
08:15It's not going to, we're only on rent.
08:16Okay.
08:16I want to say, I apologize.
08:18So you can rent it starting July 11th though, right?
08:20Anywhere, anywhere on your screen.
08:22Uh, look, it's an actual adult comedy.
08:25You don't get a lot of those anymore.
08:27I call these, um, it's, it's a movie dinner.
08:29So that's the kind of, you were going to, I'm going to sit down and watch this.
08:32Then we're going to talk about it afterwards because it feels like there's in the midst of
08:35all this, there's some really interesting talk points.
08:38Absolutely.
08:39Have a drink, maybe, you know, smoke a, smoke a little cigar or a blunt.
08:44I don't know how you like it.
08:45Hey, it's legal here in Michigan.
08:46We can do that all day, man.
08:47So do you think this is the kind of, you know, it's the kind of movie that you sit down with
08:51your partner and you have a few laughs and, uh, it's a silly time.
08:56Justin, appreciate the time as always.
08:57And we love you here in the Motor City, the Pride West Bloomfield High School, Justin Bartha.
