Comic Book Movies: Hollywood's New Westerns (1 Viewer)

[John Doran]

i'm not sure that "stultifying" means what you think it means...

be that as it may, i would say that "serious" is a better word. maybe "sober". the opposite of "blithe", or "breezy", at any rate.

but i think you got the "burden" part right; being a slave to a heroic impulse needn't be any less difficult than being a slave to anything else.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Uh, no, it's right here in the Webster's dictionary next to me: a. To impair, invalidate, or make ineffective. b. to have a dulling or inhibiting effect on. Dull, inhibited, impaired, etc. - those are words I was thinking of

 

[John Doran]

ahh - it's my university latin getting in the way: stultus means foolish or stupid, which makes the literal meaning of "stultifying" something like "stupid-making" (in fact, the primary definiens in the dictionary i found is "to make, or cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous").

but that is as may be. i also see that your definitions are there.

cool. live and learn.

 

[TerryRL]

Fox has offered the directing gig of "Wolverine" to D.J. Caruso, fresh from his success with "Disturbia" (which has so far tallied $76.8 million domestically, much more than the studio anticipated). Caruso is also currently being courted to do another feature at DreamWorks (who produced "Disturbia") and if he opts to do that film instead of "Wolverine", Fox will likely hire Len Wiseman.

Wiseman recently put the finishing touches on "Live Free or Die Hard" for the studio and also helmed the two "Underworld" features. Expect a final decision to be made before the end of next week. Fox plans on "Wolverine" going before cameras sometime this fall for a summer '08 launch.

David Goyer has already inked a deal to helm "Magneto", which currently is set to begin filming sometime next year for a summer '09 release.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Wow. No excitement for either from my end. Goyer's direction was terrible on Blade III, and Caruso's resume seems...light...at best.

And DC handed The Flash to the guy who directed Night at the Museum :frowning:

 

[Cory S.]

I kind of wish they were actually going the "Origin" graphic novel for the Wolverine prequel. I just prefer that story more than what I think they're going to do....

...but, if Hugh is still playing Wolverine, I'll still be there.

 

[TerryRL]

The script is still being labeled as a "work in progress". I do know that we will be seeing elements from the "Weapon X" graphic novel during the Alkali Lake sequence.

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is if the movies are good or not. I could care less who is making them as long as they do justice to the source material.

After all, there was nothing on Richard Donner's resume that indicated he would make what is still considered to be among the best comic book movies ever made ("Superman: The Movie"). Who foresaw what Bryan Singer would do with the 'X-Men' films? Did anyone think Christopher Nolan would make the Batman movie we'd all been waiting years to see? Look at what Zack Snyder did with "300". What Sam Raimi did with the first two Spidey flicks.

For every Burton, Nolan, Singer, and Raimi, unfortunately there are the Mark Steven Johnsons and Joel Schumachers out there. Still, I'm all for giving these guys a shot. If they make a great movie, then more power to them. Sometimes it does pay off giving little known directors big properties like this.

 

[Cory S.]

In fairness to Mark Steven Johnson, Fox screwed him on Daredevil. The director's cut is just a stronger picture that probably would've been received much better had we seen that version first.

Now, Ghost Rider.....

 

[TerryRL]

I agree with you in regards to what happened with "Daredevil", but "Ghost Rider" was really poorly done. Joel Schumacher's original cut of "Batman Forever" was a much better movie than the theatrical version, but he completely went off the rails with "Batman & Robin". Let's not even discuss what Paul W.S. Anderson did with AVP.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

But, in at least some of those cases, they may not have made films in the genre, but they had proven themselves as good filmmakers. Singer had The Usual Suspects, Nolan had Memento and Insomnia, even Raimi had A Simple Plan, very good well-made films. So they may not have made comic book films or action films before, but they had made good solid character-based films that are the basis of a good movie. Once you have that, the superhero stuff is just decoration.

 

[JonZ]

"Wow. No excitement for either from my end."

Me neither.

"But, in at least some of those cases, they may not have made films in the genre, but they had proven themselves as good filmmakers. Singer had The Usual Suspects, Nolan had Memento and Insomnia, even Raimi had A Simple Plan, very good well-made films. So they may not have made comic book films or action films before, but they had made good solid character-based films that are the basis of a good movie. "

 

[TheLongshot]

Raimi actually did make a comic book movie before Spider-Man: Darkman. Yes, it wasn't based on a comic book, but it was a comic book movie nonetheless. In fact, he was probably the one who had the best pedigree to direct a comic book movie, if he ever got a studio to give him money to do it.

Course, directors with a track record don't guarantee success. No one can dispute Ang Lee's resume, but his Hulk was considered a failure. Meanwhile, all Zach Snyder was known for was a decent remake of Dawn Of The Dead. Yet, 300 did gangbuster business.

Jason

 

[Andy Sheets]

Raimi's the kind of director for whom you'd have to invent comic books to adapt if they didn't exist. I really love Darkman - I think in many ways it's more of a pure comics movie (although it also includes just as much hero pulp and Universal horror influence) than even the Spider-Man films, which are under so much studio and audience pressure to keep things from getting too wild.

Regarding the Wolverine and Magneto films, I got sick of pointless X-Men spin-offs in the comics long ago so I can't get very enthused about seeing Hollywood try the same thing, especially with such directors behind them.

 

[TerryRL]

Tim Story (director of the two 'Fantastic Four' flicks) will next helm "The Losers" for WB. The movie is based on the comic from DC/Vertigo. For those that aren't familiar with the title, it centers on a group of commandos who are left for dead by their government. Of course they return and seek their own brand of vengeance. Sounds a little bit like "The A-Team".

 

[Jason Seaver]

Oof. This is off the recent Andy Diggle/Jock version, right? I gather that it's one of those Vertigo versions of formerly-DC titles that basically just share a name with the original property.

Great four-volume series, though. I don't know if Story's the guy for it, since it's a cynical, R-rated, hard-action tale.

 

[TerryRL]

I'm sure Story wants to tackle this particular project because its such a departure from the FF series. While Story takes a lot of heat for the tone of the two (FF) movies, it should be known that Fox wants these to be more family oriented movies (i.e. lighter movies as opposed to most of the edgier comic book fare that's been hitting theaters lately).

 

[TerryRL]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=21007

Looks like Fox has already started the ball rolling on the Silver Surfer spinoff. There also seems to be movement on the upcoming Thor movie as well.

 

[TerryRL]

Gavin Hood (2005 Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar winner "Tsotsi" and the upcoming "Rendition") has been chosen to helm 'X-Men' spinoff "Wolverine". The Fox flick will begin filming in November and hit theaters sometime next year. Star Hugh Jackman is also serving as one of the film's producers.

In other comic book movie news...

Seth Rogan, fresh from the massive success of "Knocked Up", has inked a deal to write and possibly star in Sony's "The Green Hornet". Rogan is also serving as one of the film's executive producers (along with Evan Goldberg). The movie is expected to go before cameras early next year.

 

[Sam Favate]

So much for a straight take on the character. Nothing against Rogan, who is a talented actor and writer, but this sounds like a move to a campy spoof, not a noirish thriller.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I agree. This sucks.