‘The Blue Angels’ Producer Glen Powell Hopes His ‘Top Gun’ Pilot Hangman “Has Enough Humility” to Hack It with the Real Blues

Prime Video‘s new documentary The Blue Angels roared exclusively into IMAX this weekend, pulling viewers into the cockpit with the U.S. Navy’s most accomplished pilots. The film is the passion project of producer Glen Powell, who got the idea of using modern tech to tell the Blue Angels’s story after flying with them during an aerial show. “I was trying to describe it to people afterwards, because I got to do some incredible things on Top Gun: Maverick, and it was really hard to describe the proximity of these planes and the speed,” Powell told Decider over Zoom this weekend. “And then it sort of hit me that, okay, with where we are with IMAX technology…we are able to put audiences in a cockpit, not only on a technological level, but also an emotional level.”

The Blue Angels are a flight demonstration squadron founded in 1946 to keep combat flying in the hearts and minds of American civilians during peace time. The “Blues” tour the United States, providing thrilling displays of carefully choreographed flying.

The film, directed by Paul Crowder and also produced by J.J. Abrams, follows the Blue Angels over the course of their monumental 2022 season. We watch as Captain Brian “Boss” Kesselring shepherds his team for one last year, new pilots like Lieutenant Commander Chris “Cheese” Kapuschansky and Lieutenant Scott “Jamammy” Goossens navigate their nerves as first year Blue Angels, and witness the historic recruitment of Amanda Lee, the first woman to be chosen to fly with the iconic unit. The film touches upon the sacrifices made by these officers, be it long periods of time away from their Pensacola-based families or the tragic deaths of 28 souls who died over the years, but the the main draw of The Blue Angels has got to be the aerial sequences.

The Blue Angels uses the same technology as Top Gun: Maverick to take audiences along for the ride. There are six pilots who fly with the Blues, each of whom occupy a particular spot in the formation. The “Boss” is #1, the “solo” fliers are #5 and #6, and it’s widely considered that #4 is, as Major Frank “Chomps” Zustoupil brags in The Blue Angels, the “best seat in the house.”

When Decider caught up with The Blue Angels producer Glen Powell, we discussed his inspiration for the film, the physical demands on the Blues, and which # slot he would (or wouldn’t?) put his cocky Top Gun character Hangman in.

DECIDER: So I come from a Navy family, so I’m aware of the sacrifice, I’m aware of discipline, the courage that these officers display in everyday life. I will say that one thing that surprised me watching this is how good looking all the Blue Angels were. How lucky were you that you had like these “movie star” good-looking people to follow? And do you have to be really good looking to be a Navy pilot?

GLEN POWELL: Wow, that’s a very hard hitting question. That’s one I’ve never gotten before. You know, the wild thing about flying with these guys is that you realize to be a Blue Angel — and Amanda Lee, obviously our first female Blue Angel that we capture in the documentary — you have to be an athlete. The physical strain on the body is extreme and you don’t have the ability to have a G-suit to keep blood up in your head and your heart so you’re not passing out. So you have to have insane control over the muscles in your body.

So, you know, I’m so glad you’re attracted to them. I will also say they’re extremely strong and ripped. So you should go down to Pensacola. If you’re single, it feels like a place for you.

Thanks for the tip. But you’ve mentioned you’ve flown with the Blue Angels. I understand that you got to partake with them in one of their air shows. What was that like? And how exactly did that inspire you to pull this film together?

When I was talking to [former Blue Angels #1] “Boss” Wooldridge and flirting around with trying to help this thing come to life, I got the opportunity ahead of time to fly with the Blue Angels. I got to fly in the #4 plane, which is like the center of the hive, the super dynamic one where you’re pulling the crazy inverted moves and these dramatic passes. And I was trying to describe it to people afterwards, because I got to do some incredible things on Top Gun: Maverick, and it was really hard to describe the proximity of these planes and the speed. And then it sort of hit me that, okay, with where we are with IMAX technology and finding the right filmmaker in Paul Crowder, we are able to put audiences in a cockpit, not only on a technological level, but also an emotional level. Audiences have never had this level of access. So, it really, it’s incredible, but that’s where it started. When you can’t describe something, you have this weird pull, this weird desire to try to bring audiences into that same sort of feeling and that was sort of where all this started.

You mentioned it’s going to be in IMAX. It’s also going to Prime Video and I figure a lot of people are going to see this on Prime Video. Are you worried that they’re going to miss out on something from the experience by not going to IMAX or are you just hoping they see it any way possible?

Look, I think when it comes to this business, there’s no one way to see a movie. I think it’s really important. I mean, like with this, obviously you will get a sense of the heroes, you will get a sense of the maneuvers, you can experience a lot of this at home. I do think that the theatrical experience of this film is absolutely jaw-dropping and extraordinary and all the details that have gone into it from sound design, you know, in terms of how we’ve captured all the sound, in terms of the score, in terms of the degree of the frame rate and the way we’ve captured all this stuff in IMAX format. As you’ve probably experienced it is a ride. So I obviously always prefer people to experience the ride, you know? Especially when you have a limited time for them to experience it. But watching it on Prime Video, I mean, you will get the same sort of thrill and I hope audiences catch it on both.

I found myself very nerve-racked watching the aerial formations. And I also thought the way that you guys did “the Sneak” was kind of like a jump scare. Did you talk about how to take the impact of watching it in the sky and making it potentially even more intense on screen?

Well, we went to a lot of air shows and that’s where you have — again, the brilliance of Paul Crowder is he’s an incredible filmmaker that really understands how to take a feeling and really translate it to the screen. When you’re experiencing a Blue Angels show for the first time, that low level pass, the Sneak, is one that always gets everybody. You know, it’s really great. For people that don’t know, it’s a really great magic trick where all this other exciting stuff is happening. And meanwhile, you have no idea that an F-18 is flying just below the speed of sound, fifty feet right above your face. And so, it’s a really great move because, at the end of the day, like it is a really wonderful show, but that one is just a wonderful magic trick. I love that bit.

Before I go, you mentioned that you flew in the #4 position. While watching the film, I couldn’t help but wonder where Hangman and the other Top Gun pilots would be assigned because I couldn’t figure out where Hangman would do the best. Where would you think that character and some of his cohorts would best serve in a Blue Angels formation?

Where they would serve in a Blue Angels formation? I mean, you know, the interesting part about the Blue Angels is — look, obviously Hangman got to the end of that movie and learned to fly as a team — but that’s what defines the Blue Angels. You know, there can be no individuals up there with individual motives. The thing that I realized when flying with the Blues is that the one aspect of this documentary, I’m sure you saw it, it’s like the chair flying. You know, you go into the briefing room and all these guys, left hand on the throttle, right hand on a stick, and they are closing their eyes and they can fly that entire flight with their eyes closed. And so it’s a real team. There’s such trust between these planes.

You know, I hope, I hope, that Hangman has enough humility to be a Blue Angel, but you never know.

The Blue Angels will be streaming on Prime Video on May 23.

This interview has been formatted and edited for clarity.