'We Fell In Love With The Challenge': David Hoberman & Todd Lieberman On 'The Aeronauts' & Felicity Jones

(CBS Local)-- David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman have been producing movies together for two decades and their latest is one of their most ambitious.

"The Aeronauts" starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne goes back to the 1800s to tell the story of balloonists embarking on an ambitious trip and the anxiety that comes with traveling up in the sky. Hoberman and Lieberman wanted to work on this film because it was not an easy one to pull off."

"Tom Harper the director had done War & Peace, the BBC mini-series and it was just spectacular, gorgeous, and tonally amazing," said Lieberman in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "We sat down with him and he was conceiving this idea about this true flight that happened in 1862. We fell in love with the challenge about how in the world are we going to film this thing. The north star was always the experience... how do we make this movie feel like you're inside the basket with those two actors."

"It's shooting in the balloon, it's shooting on stage, and we sent crews out to shoot cloud formations around the world," said Hoberman. "Trying to put it all together seamlessly is the magic of the movie."

Hoberman and Lieberman are co-owners of Mandeville Films and they have produced movies like "Beauty and the Beast," "Stronger" with Jake Gyllenhaal and "The Fighter" with Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. The crew for "The Aeronauts" ended up building an 80 foot tall, 50 foot wide balloon that weighs 350 lbs.  The producers are always looking for great stories to tell and work with actors like Jones and Redmayne that have depth and range. The film will be in theaters and on Amazon Prime down the road.

"They were our first choice and as we all know in Hollywood, you never get your first choice," said Hoberman. "We sent the script to each of them individually without them knowing that we had sent it to the other person. We hoped that they would read and call the other to do the movie. Felicity loved the idea of it being so physical and that they'd be working so closely together."

"We'll have a little bit of the best of both worlds where we get to put the movie in theaters and streaming," said Lieberman. "If one has the option to see the movie in a large venue, that's the best option possible. At the same time, we understand that there are a ton of choices out there and not everyone has the ability to go to the theater constantly. The idea of partnering with Amazon and their massive global reach means that more people have the opportunity to see the film globally."

"The Aeronauts" hits theaters on December 6.