Is the octopus in ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ real? Here's what you should know about Netflix film
Marcellus the Octopus is the latest buzzword on the block. The eight-legged mollusc is one of the star attractions in Netflix's 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' movie, starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman in major roles. The drama is based on Shelby Van Pelt's novel of the same name, and premiered on Netflix earlier, making for the perfect weekend watch. From the plot to the locations, there have been quite a few talking points, and one of them focused on Marcellus – whether he was real, and if he was based on a real living being.
For a major part, Marcellus was created using CGI. But the inspiration came from a real-life Octopus called Agnetha, who lives at the Vancouver Aquarium. "There was no way we were going to be able to train an octopus to do all the very specific blocking that we needed in the movie,” director Olivia Newman explained with a laugh, in an interview with Decider. "We settled on creating a CGI version of Marcellus." Newman further added, "[We used] footage of Agnetha interchangeably in the movie, with our CGI. We wanted [Marcellus] to be as photo-real as possible,” Newmann told Decider, “so that we could also shoot a real giant Pacific octopus named Agnetha, who lives at the Vancouver Aquarium. What we did was we took hours of footage of Agnetha in her tank, so that we could study octopus behavior, and create a replica of Agnetha." As for the real Octopus's status, Agnetha, according to the outlet, is doing well and lives in the Pacific Canada Pavilion area of the Vancouver aquarium.
Starring Sally Field as Tova Sullivan, the rest of the marquee names include Lewis Pullman as Cameron Cassmore, Joan Chen as Janice Kim, Kathy Baker as Mary Ann Minetti, Beth Grant as Barb Vanderhoof, Sofia Black-D'Elia as Avery, Laura Harris as Andie, Colm Meaney as Ethan Mack, and Alfred Molina as the voice of Marcellus the Octopus. The official logline reads, "A widow who works at a local aquarium finds joy again when she forms an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus and a wayward young man who comes to town in search of family. Together, they uncover a mystery that will lead them to a life-changing discovery and restore their sense of wonder." The film is currently streaming on Netflix.
