Read This: Chris McQuarrie's Story About Visiting Devil's Tower

Evergreen Movie Chris McQuarrie Close Encounters of the Third Kind about 8 years agoby Ben Pearson

Inspired by a conversation with Trick 'r Treat and Krampus director Michael Dougherty, writer/director Chris McQuarrie just shared a cool story on Twitter about a time he visited Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and I wanted to pass it along to you in case you don't follow him on social media. You probably know McQuarrie as the writer of The Usual Suspects, The Way of the Gun, Valkyrie, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher, and Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (and the director of the latter two). I won't bother with any more preamble — here's the story:

At the request of @Mike_Dougherty: My trip to Devils Tower (eavesdrop @ #DevilsTower)
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (1)

This is a true story, told without embellishment. I will spare you the read by stating up front:
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (2)

It is neither amazing nor funny. It's just a thing that happened exactly as I'll tell it.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (3)

In 1996, I was a working screenwriter living in LA. The details of my life then are not important.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (4)

Imagine instead your own life when you were in your late twenties.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (5)

If you were ever outwardly happy, but inside you were a bit empty...
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (6)

If you were ever alone in a crowded room...
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (7)

If you were looking for an answer, but didn't know what the question was. This was that time.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (8)

The surest source of escape from my troubles was always movies, specifically my very favorite films.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (9)

For me, a favorite film is one that always makes you feel the same way you did the first time you saw it.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (10)

A tradition at my place in those days was Sunday Movie Night.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (11)

I would have a large group over and show them a film they had never seen.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (12)

This particular Sunday was one of my favorites: Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (13)

But on this particular Sunday, I felt no sense of wonder, no joy. I could think only of my problems.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (14)

The more I watched, the unhappier I became. Finally, I decided to take a road trip and clear my head.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (15)

A few days in the car to focus totally on my problems and maybe find some solutions.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (16)

Having just seen Close Encounters, I chose to drive to Wyoming and see Devils Tower.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (17)

I made a few stops along the way - Yellowstone, a random amusement park in I'm-Not-Sure-Where.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (18)

Everywhere I went, I was alone in a crowd.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (19)

Somewhere along the way, I received a call from my dear friend @StephenChbosky
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (19a)

(On my mid-nineties car-mounted mobile phone).
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (20)

He asked me what I was doing. I said I was driving across Wyoming.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (21)

And without hesitating, Steve said: "Oh, are you going to Devils Tower?"
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (22)
A bit surprised, I said yes. "Good," Steve said. "It'll change your life."
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (23)

I didn't tell him how I'd been feeling. We just talked until I lost the signal. I was alone again.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (24)

I noted then that the sun was going down. I had miscalculated my drive time.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (25)

I was going to arrive at the Tower after dark.

And ominous clouds were forming in the distance.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (26)

If I didn't reach my destination before the clouds did, I wouldn't see the tower that night.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (27)

I didn't want to sleep in some crappy motel. I wanted to see the tower and keep moving. So I gunned it.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (28)

I put on the Close Encounters soundtrack as I turned off the highway, speeding toward the Tower.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (29)

The music I had always loved had no impact on me, doing nothing to lift my spirits.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (30)

To underscore this, the sky was now a dense canopy of low-hanging clouds.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (31)

There was no telling how far Devils Tower was or if I would be able to see it when I arrived.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (32)

I reached the reception area sometime after 10 o'clock at night.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (33)

The place was quiet - an empty gift shop next to an RV park.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (34)

I couldn't see the Tower. I had only a vague sense of where it might be. I guessed a few miles away.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (35)

I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to sleep somewhere until morning.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (36)

And just then, I heard music - faint and far away. The wind shifted and it was gone.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (37)

A moment later, I heard it again: John William's score to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (38)

At first I thought it was in my car. But the music was coming from somewhere else.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (39)

So I followed it... around to the back of the gift shop...
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (40)

Where I was confronted by a group of twelve people from the RV park - sitting in a semi-circle.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (41)

There was one empty chair.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (42)

They were facing the back of the gift shop behind me. I turned around to see what they were looking at.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (43)

Close Encounters of the Third kind was projected on the wall.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (44)

At that exact moment, Francois Truffaut leaned forward and asked: "What did you expect to find?"
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (45)

To which Richard Dreyfuss replied: "An answer? That's not crazy, is it?"
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (46)

I figured I'd better sit down.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (47)

I took the last remaining seat and watched, wondering what might happen next.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (48)

Within minutes, I was absorbed in the film's climax.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (49)

I forgot about my anxieties, my stress. I forgot where I was or why I'd come. I just watched the movie.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (50)

Just as the mother ship appeared on screen, I sensed something over my right shoulder.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (51)

I turned and looked, reacting audibly at what I saw.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (52)

The clouds had lifted to reveal Devils Tower. It wasn't miles away. It was right above me, big as life.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (53)

Just then, I had a revelation that has guided me ever since, as demonstrated by what had just occurred.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (54)

I finished watching the movie and jumped in my car.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (55)

"Okay," I said to no one. "I get it." Then I drove home.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (56)

It is important to state here that I don't believe the universe sent me a message. That's nonsense.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (57)

I believe a series of odd coincidences led me to a revelation, simply because I stepped outside of myself
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (58)

My problems were still my problems. My questions were still my questions. But now I understood:
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (59)

Seeing the tower like that, I realized: You'll never find the answer by looking for it.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (60)

I went home confident that the answers would come, so long as I focused on the right thing:
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (61)

I had to let go of the notion that happiness and success are goals.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (62)

Rather, they are things that find me when I least expect them and, more importantly...
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (63)

They find me more often when I simply live my life as best I can.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016

@Mike_Dougherty #DevilsTower (64)

Eventually the answers came. And, so long as I don't look too hard for them...

They still do.
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 6, 2016