In a new interview found on their official website, NIGHTWISH mainman Tuomas Holopainen reveals what the concept of their forthcoming album Imaginarium is all about. Holed up in the studio for the better part of this spring, Nightwish are not only putting finishing touches to their new album Imaginarium, but also planning a movie of the same name. If all goes well, the album is scheduled to be released early in 2012, followed by the movie after an indefinite time. The first single off the album as well as the trailer for the movie should appear well before the end of the 2011. For the movie, Nightwish have teamed up with director Stober Harju's production team and Solar Films.

How did you come up with the concept for Imaginarium?

Holopainen: "After completing the last album, I realized that we can't necessarily top Dark Passion Play in terms of bombast and dynamics. I could simply see the end of a certain path looming in the horizon and started thinking about new challenges. At some point I had a revelation: is there a reason why Nighwish should be just an aural experience? Why shouldn't we broaden our horizons? I got the idea of a concept album and thought that we could shoot a video for each song that would all tie together and comprise a story. I wanted to create a complex whole that would be something new compared to the movie projects of, say, PINK FLOYD, KISS, LORDI et cetera."

The project was started two and a half years ago, in early autumn 2008.

Holopainen: "I had met director Stobe Harju during the production of 'The Islander' video and knew that we were on the same wavelength what comes to crazy fantasy stuff. I told Stobe about my idea, and he said instantly: "Tuomas, you're crazy as a loon, but the idea's amazing -- let's start pre-production! So basically I came up with the concept: I had a vision that we'd shoot thirteen music videos that would all tie together. Then Stobe suggested we'd have dialogue, too, although I had thought that music and videos would carry the story. Stobe assured, however, that the combination of music, imagery and dialogue would give us the best results, and now that I look at the script, I realize that he was right. The pre-production has gone amazingly well, because all my main ideas, like the roller coaster ride in one song, fit Stobe's story seamlessly. Basically I gave Stobe thirteen pearls, and he crafted a whole pearl necklace out of them."

The final script is still being written, but what can you reveal about the plot at the moment?

Holopainen: "An old composer on his deathbed returns to his childhood. Old memories slowly return, mingled with the small boy's world of fantasy and music. This is the main concept that we can reveal at the moment. I wanted to convey a positive message and a sense of carpe diem. The movie is about the joy of being alive and the beauty of the world."

The first advertisement poster gives hints about the visuals of Imaginarium. What else do you want to share with us at this point?

Holopainen: "We're visualizing something that's a cross between the surreal worlds of Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, and Salvador Dali, but we try to not make it too artsy. Of course I've seen a thick pile of reference art, and it looks absolutely great."

Have you already done the casting? Can we expect to see any band members in the movie?

Holopainen: "We're just about to start casting, but it's mostly going to be done by Stobe and Solar Films. Personally, I'd like to see unknown actors, who haven't been type-casted yet. Obviously it would be good if they were native English speakers, too, because "rally English" really doesn't fit the tone of the movie. Nightwish basically appear as themselves, as we're probably going to be seen playing two or three songs in the movie. There are also some support parts and dialogue written for us, but obviously you won't see us in the main roles. The running time will be about 80 minutes, maybe even a bit more."

Has it been challenging to get the funding for the movie?

Holopainen: "Challenging is an understatement. You have to remember that a movie like this costs seven figures. Nevertheless, I was not ready to give up at any point, because the idea of releasing just an audio album would have felt like a let-down. The band is strongly involved in the production, and therefore we're also taking a big financial risk ourselves. It's obviously great that we got an excellent company like Solar Films as a partner. Despite all the talk about the movie, it's of utmost importance to remember that Imaginarium is also the new Nightwish album, a stand-alone musical work. What's probably interesting for the listeners is that the music on the album and in the movie will differ a bit — in the movie, some intros are edited out, some choruses don't have vocals, and so forth. In the movie, the music obviously has to accommodate the story and the drama."

What kind of role do the lyrics of the songs play in the story?

Holopainen: "It was interesting to write the lyrics, because they also have to work on their own without the movie. That's why you won't hear the names of the characters in the lyrics, for example. The individual themes are pretty universal, yet they tie into each other without actually telling a linear story. But don't worry, everything will be made clear in time."

How do you plan to release these things?

Holopainen: "If everything goes smoothly, we plan to release the album in early 2012, followed by the movie when it's ready. It's going to be on DVD at least, but hopefully we'll also get a theatrical release. And of course Imaginarium will later be available as a double pack with both the album and the movie."

If Dark Passion Play saw the end of one path, what on earth can you do after Imaginarium?

Holopainen: " guess we have to incorporate smells and other sensations."

Renowned for his work in the Alan Wake video game and as a director of several music videos, Stobe Harju met the Nightwish guys and management during 'The Islander' video shoot. The successful project eventually gave birth to a feature-length movie called Imaginarium.

How did the Imaginarium project start?

Harju: "Tuomas called me late in the summer of 2008 and was like, 'Hi, Stobe, do you have time to talk about a couple of music videos? Actually, we're going to shoot a video for each song on the next album.' I immediately thought that the poor guy has lost it. We then had a meeting where I got to hear the song titles and Tuomas' initial vision for each song. Like, "this song could have a roller coaster in it", and so forth. Fortunately our visions were very similar, so it was surprisingly easy to start forging a longer and more detailed story based on Tuomas' original ideas. During the following months, I wrote about 70 pages with pictures and everything, and it was the first version of the larger story that contained each one of Tuomas' original ideas. Tuomas read the story, congratulated me that it was exactly how he had envisioned it, so we continued to develop the script. After about six months I had refined the story in my mind to the point that I needed to ask Tuomas what he would think about my new idea: why should we split the story into separate music videos? Why not make a movie, because the stories fit together so good? And that's what we decided to do. I've got to admit that it has felt weird and even crazy at times, because nobody has done something like this before. But basically the vibe has been great, because this project is as interesting as it gets."

Imaginarium is really the first of its kind, but could you give some comparisons?

Harju: "At gunpoint I could describe it as a cross between Moulin Rouge and Pink Floyd's The Wall, but basically the movie is something unique. Imaginarium is pure fantasy and also pretty much encompasses everything that Nightwish stand for. Personally, I think that Imaginarium is the visual representation of the things they want to portray in their music, so in other words, the idea is to make the movie look as much like Nightwish as possible. This is viable because the album and the movie have been developed together — the movie has not inspired the music or vice versa. It was not like somebody thought that the music is so visual that it would be nice to a movie out of it or anything. We started with the song titles and Tuomas' broad concept and developed it from there. The lyrics and music were inspired by the longer stories that we came up with, and the detailed script was eventually inspired by the songs. The project has progressed one step at a time."

How much can you reveal about Imaginarium and its plot at this point?

Harju: "I can obviously tell you some broad outlines. It's not going to be a linear Peter Pan -type of story, there's enough of those already. We wanted to find a fresh angle and a main character and eventually thought about an old man and the story of his life. In the movie, his current life blends with his childhood fantasies, and along the way, we might wonder what our adult life has become after our imagination was stifled. As adults, we no longer remember the time when the snow hill on our backyard was the tallest mountain in the world. The symbolism gets pretty difficult at times, but the music of Nighwish is not easy either! You can interpret Nightwish in a number of ways, and the movie is no different."

How would you describe the visuals in the movie?

Harju: "My former work has been compared to e.g. Tim Burton, but this time there's more influences like Salvador Dali in evidence, not to forget a strong Disney vibe. The end result will definitely owe more to the surrealism of Dali than to the crazy, candy-colored world of Tim Burton. There's also going to be a lot of CGI — I originally used to be an animator and love SFX in general, so that kind of stuff comes naturally to me. I really have to brag a bit and say that I'd like to see another Finnish movie with such ambitious costume design, set design, post-production and visuals. So in a nutshell: if we manage to realize our visions, it's going to be one helluva ride!"

It's also interesting to know that the music in the film differs a bit from the album versions.

Harju: "Tuomas has really given me the right to change things, of course within certain limits and with his permission, and the score of the movie will differ a bit from the music on the album. There's also moments during dialogue where instead of Nightwish music you can hear interludes that are probably going to be composed by Petri Alanko. So to sum it up: Tuomas is obviously the executive producer of the music, and he will approve the variations in the songs heard in the movie (compared to the album versions), but there's also going to be some things written by Petri Alanko, of course heavily inspired by the spirit of Nightwish. There's also going to be two Nightwish songs heard on the background of the dialogue, so they're used more like a movie score. Obviously the music still carries the story during those moments, although it gives a bit more room to the dialogue."

How tight is your schedule for finishing the movie?

Harju: "The album comes out first, sometime in early 2012, but the release of the movie has not been set yet. We really don't have too much time to waste, but we won't want to rush things either, as we want to do everything just right. During the production of Alan Wake, we created 90 minutes of animation in 30 weeks. People first thought that the schedule was impossible, and I've got to admit it was taxing at times. Basically the question is whether you can still produce quality work during 18-hour workdays. Fortunately we have a good team spirit, an excellent production company, an ingenious producer - Markus Selin - and an awesome band, so currently things look great to say the least!"

Solar Films producer Markus Selin on Imaginarium.

How did Solar Films start the collaboration with Nightwish to produce Imaginarium?

Selin: "King Foo Entertainment and Solar Films have worked together on different projects for years. When Tuomas and Stobe presented the idea for Imaginarium, we instantly decided to go for it."

What were your first thoughts on this project consisting both the new studio album and a movie by a world-class band?

Selin: "The whole idea was so "out there", that of course we were interested in the collaboration. And now that we really know what we got and what we're doing, everybody is full of enthusiasm. I don't think there have been any innovations in Rock cinema since Pink Floyd's "The Wall" — and that was 30 years ago!"

How far exactly is the project right now (casting, funding, pre-production...)?

Selin: "Everything has moved forward at a dizzying pace. We can start shooting this year, and the movie will premiere in 2012. So the schedule is pretty crazy, but in a way, it's good for a project like this. The funding looks real good at the moment, and everything should be settled by the end of April."

What are the biggest challenges with the project?

Selin: "The schedule by far. The SFX will probably be quite challenging, too, and obviously there's still a million other things to take care of, but that's always the case before the actual shooting begins."

What kind of a movie do you envision to see sometime next year?

Selin: "I expect the movie to become a modern classic. I also believe that the movie and the music will live long into the future."

Nightwish recently posted video footage and photos from their recent orchestral sessions with Pip Williams held at Angel Studios in London, UK from February 14th-20th. Check it out the video on YouTube below:

Photos courtesy of Anette Olzon's official blog can be viewed below. Check out many more here.