Carl Ellsworth, screenwriter of the film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn's 'Y: The Last Man' sat down to talk with Wizard Universe about the movie.

Ellsworth he admits he wasn't a fan of the comic, or comics in general, before taking on the project. "I grew up on 'Star Wars' and watching movies, but the comic book thing kind of passed me by. That being said, I was pitched the premise and it sounded great. Once I started reading the comic books I couldn’t put them down."

Now that he's been introduced to the world of comics, the level of fervor among fans has him a bit nervous.

"This is a comic book that people care about. So [director D.J. Caruso] and I had some nervous laughter over it where it’s like, 'Oh, man, what have we gotten ourselves into?' It has been a challenge trying not to be too intimidated," Ellsworth told Wizard. "That just gets me all in an uproar and I don’t end up writing anything. I had read stories about when David Goyer, one of the producers on 'Y: The Last Man,' started writing 'Batman Begins' and the reaction that it got. So, it’s like, 'What have we done here?'”

As is often the case, the movie is likely to deviate from the comics.

"We haven’t gone out of the way to reinvent a lot of the comic because it works so well. What we’re actually trying to do is give more of a foundation to the characters and what makes them tick. For example, the Daughters of the Amazon—we’re interested in exploring how that group doesn’t just spring up overnight," Ellsworth said.

"In the comic book, we’re presented with an end-of-the-world scenario pretty darn quickly. It then becomes the adventures of Yorick and 355, but I would say that a movie version must have more of a sense of urgency and jeopardy. It’s not going to be a 'Mad Max' film. Where we want to start is what simply would the world be like if this “absurd” thing were to happen," Ellsworth continued. "It’s actually going to have more of a haunting feel to it as Yorick our main character is attempting to get his bearings and what the immediate aftermath of the plague means."

For more from Ellsworth about 'Y: The Last Man' click through to the complete interview.

 

Aside from the occasional rumor (Megan Fox as Catwoman?!), updates on the "Batman 3" front have been quiet as of late. That makes sense, as writer/director Christopher Nolan is still shooting his post-"Dark Knight" thriller "Inception," which isn't due in theaters until summer 2010.

Yet, as Nolan keeps himself more than a bit busy on that mammoth production, one of his "Dark Knight" stars is certain the "Batman" series is not far from his creative thoughts.

"I know—I just know—that Chris is working on number three," Morgan Freeman told MTV News. "He couldn't possibly not be."

Freeman's spent two films working alongside Nolan in the role of Bruce Wayne's confidante, Lucius Fox, so clearly the Oscar-winning actor knows a thing or two about the filmmaker's creative process. But Freeman made clear that's he not operating with any sort of inside knowledge—just a gut feeling from one artist to another.

"I'm not waiting by the phone," he said. "I don't know anything at all about it. 'Batman' is completely out of my mind."

Not completely, so it seems. In addition to his certainty that Nolan is "working" on 'Batman 3,' Freeman spoke confidently that both his character and Alfred, played by Michael Caine, would return for the film—even if he didn't know any specific plot details.

"What I don't know is how that story is going to play out—where it's going to be and who's going to be in it," he said. "There's a good chance he would incorporate Lucius Fox and Alfred."

And who might Nolan and his team choose as the villain? Freeman put in a vote for a certain feline-fixated baddie.

"I want to see Catwoman," he said. "I have [a casting] idea, but it's just an idea and I'm going to keep it to myself."

But Tarantino's presence at the intersection of comics and movies extends beyond his latest epic. During our interview, the filmmaker also divulged that he was once offered the chance to direct a big screen adaptation of an iconic DC Comics superhero.

"I was offered the 'Green Lantern,' " Tarantino told MTV News. "Not since it's been a script, but just like, 'Hey we own the 'Green Lantern.' Would you like it?'"

Tarantino declined the opportunity and "Lantern" joined the list of other franchises, like "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," that he was offered but never ended up taking on. "Green Lantern," of course, is now being helmed by Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale") and will star Ryan Reynolds.

Calling himself "a big comic book fan," Tarantino said there was a time in his 20s, while working at a video store, when all he wanted to see were comic book movies.

"So there's a little part of me that's like, 'Wow, if I was in my 20s, this would be the genre I'd want to specialize in," he said. "But they weren't making them then, or at least not the right ones. But there also is an aspect where I've kind of outgrown that a little bit."

Now that he's in his 40s and has been making features since 1992's "Reservoir Dogs," the director says he's no longer open to adapting any previously established franchise. What does get his creative juices flowing is the idea of exploring completely new superheroes and storylines.

"It wouldn't be an existing comic book character," he said. "I'm a writer. I'd want to use my imagination and not have to fight with geeks' memories of how this character should be and, 'Oh, I cast an actor as opposed to a bodybuilder' or it's not as good as the way [DC Comics artist] Neal Adams drew him.' If I were to do something like that, I would want the fun of coming up with the superhero myself."

Fans at next year’s San Diego Comic-Con International may get the first opportunity to see what Guy Ritchie’s big screen adaptation of “Lobo” will look like. Producer Joel Silver has revealed that a “Lobo” test was recently filmed with the annual pop culture event in mind.

“We’re working on ‘Lobo’ now,” said Silver during an interview with Collider. “I was looking at a test we made and I was seeing it through the eyes of [the San Diego] Comic-Con — through the eyes of that audience. It’s important to know that that audience is the biggest in the world. That’s the audience that you want to get.”

Back in September, Jeffery Dean Morgan — perhaps best known to comic fans as The Comedian in Zack Snyder’s adaptation of “Watchmen” — stated that he wants to portray Lobo while on the set of his most recent film, “The Losers.” However, Morgan later told MTV News “I don't know if I'm the guy or not, but I think it's going to be one hell of a movie. I'll certainly be going to see it."

When asked about Morgan’s comments, Silver replied “I like Jeffery Dean, but you know we’re working our way through it. We’ll see what happens.”

Last month, actor James Preston Rogers (“Outlander”) was named by Splash Page readers as their preferred choice for Lobo while current “Lobo” scribe — and Anthrax guitarist — Scott Ian suggested Matt Willig (“Dexter”).

Sources

I’ve had a bunch of questions on the forthcoming movie version of mine and Cully Hamner’s graphic novel RED, which starts shooting next month (I think). Let me try to field a couple of them.

First off: RED, the book, is 66 pages long. If you were to film 66 pages of comics, you might, might just about get 40 minutes of film out of it. If you added a musical number. The comics-page to film-minute ratio is pretty bad. A straight adaptation of a 150-page graphic novel might, if you squint at it, get you a 100-minute film. But it’s unlikely, because comics and films use time so differently. One page with four lines of dialogue on it can be slowed to a crawl to the point where you have to spend several minutes digesting the information on it. In film, however, four lines of dialogue is four lines of dialogue, and you can’t just pronounce it very slowly for the same time consumption. Beyond filmic/dramatic effects like the pause or montage or whatever, film is timelocked.

So, yes, RED the film is very different. Not least because it needed to generate more material than the book itself actually constituted.

It is in fact best to consider RED as a short story being adapted into film.

Next, and related: RED-the-book is also something of a chamber piece. There are essentially only four characters. (And a lot of people who get killed.) Now, while you can perfectly well make a film with only four characters in — or even just one character — those films tend not to be massive commercial propositions. And Summit is in the business of making commercial films. Also, they needed to expand RED from a half-hour to an hour-and-a-half. So, yes, there are a lot of new characters.

The new characters are all in theme, all in the same line of work as (Paul in the book, Frank in the film) Moses. The theme being, in part (and also poked at in my other books GLOBAL FREQUENCY and RELOAD) the unexploded bombs of the 20th Century.

(This actually gave the Hoebers the excuse to have fun with old spy tropes like CIA Nutter Guy — there’s a lovely piece of business with him in the first half-hour that amused me no end.)

I don’t think any of them are bad. Also, did you see the goddamn cast list that’s signed on for those characters? Bruce Willis as Moses, yes. But also: Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, John C Reilly, Helen Mirren, Julian McMahon, Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfus. It reminds me a bit of those 70s films like THE TOWERING INFERNO, that had in them everyone you wanted to see in a film, all at once. RED is a bit like that, only with more automatic weapons.

Bruce Willis: when you look back over his filmography, that man’s actually had an incredibly weird career. DIE HARD and all that, sure… but also FIFTH ELEMENT, TWELVE MONKEYS, PULP FICTION, an adaptation of a Harlan Ellison short story for TV and getting a film adaptation of a Kurt Vonnegut book made by sheer force of will. Not bad.

The tone: no, the film isn’t as grim as the book. The book is pretty grim. But it’s also pretty small. When I sell the rights to a book, they buy the right to adapt it in whatever way they see fit. I can accept that they wanted a lighter film, and, as I’ve said before, the script is very enjoyable and tight as a drum. They haven’t adapted it badly, by any means. People who’ve enjoyed the graphic novel will have to accept that it’s an adaptation and that by definition means that it’s going to be a different beast from the book. The film has the same DNA. It retains bits that are very clearly from the book, as well as, of course, the overall plotline. But it is, yes, lighter, and funnier. And if anyone has a real problem with that, I say to you once again:

Helen Mirren with a sniper rifle.

I mean, if you don’t want to see a film with Helen Mirren with a sniper rifle, I’m not sure I want to know you.

Sometimes, the planets align and things just go right.

For Cully Hamner, not only does he have a steady comic gig that he enjoys and deadlines with which he's comfortable, but one of his completed comic book series, Red, is on the fast track to becoming a film with an impressive slate of actors.

The lineup for Red, Robert Schwentke's adaptation of the comic by Hamner and Warren Ellis, already featured Bruce Willis as the lead character, Paul Moses, and Julian McMahon as the vice president. Rounding out the cast are such stars as Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly and Mary Louise Parker.

Earlier this month, Summit Entertainment, which scooped up the rights to Red last year, announced that McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox would join the cast.

The story focuses on Moses, a retired CIA operative who spent his career carrying out deadly orders for his superiors in the hotspots of the world. When a new administration takes over the government, they decide Moses knows too much, forcing him to fight against the agency that trained him.

While the movie starts filming in January, Hamner is busy with his latest project with writer Greg Rucka -- The Question co-features in the back of Detective Comics. Since the new creative team took over the book this summer, Hamner and Rucka have been exploring world of Renee Montoya and her supporting cast while the main title has been focusing on her former flame, Batwoman.

Newsarama talked to Hamner about how it feels to have Red moving toward production and how he approached Renee Montoya in his Question co-features.

Newsarama: Cully, how did Red get all these top name stars? My gosh!

Hamner: You know? It's news to me! I find out about these things probably about the same time everybody else does. Someone will send me an article, or I'll see something on the 'net. Very seldom do I find something out before anyone else does.

What do we have so far? Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary Louise Parker, John C. Reilly, Julian McMahon, Richard Dreyfuss, Bryan Cox and Ernest Borgnine.

Is there anybody in this entire cast that's not a major award winner? I think all of them have either won or been nominated for an Oscar or a Golden Globe, if I'm not mistaken.

Nrama: Do these actors line up with what you were thinking for the story? I mean, I know some of these characters are unique to the movie.

Hamner: Well, Bruce Willis is a good choice to play, well, the character in our book is Paul Moses. I'm not sure he'll have exactly the same name in the movie, but I could be wrong about that. But he's a good choice.

But yeah, the book that we did has really only got four major characters in it. It's a tight little book. Paul Moses, in the book, is a pretty lonely guy. But this has a bigger cast than the book ever did.

Nrama: Is that OK with you?

Hamner: I am totally cool with it. I understand the fact that, when you translate a comic to a movie, there are going to be some things that are either not going to make the translation or are going to add to it and become more than what you did. And with a comic like this that was three issues long -- I mean, we're talking 66 pages -- it has to be fleshed out a little bit. So I'm totally cool with that. I am looking forward to seeing it.

To get this caliber of actor on board, I imagine the script is pretty good. So it's going to be real interesting to see. I'm pretty excited about it. It's going to be cool.

Nrama: This has been a pretty quick moving project for Hollywood, hasn't it?

Hamner: Oh, it's gone so fast. It's been the exact opposite of everything I've ever heard about selling a movie option. You hear about selling a movie option and it never gets made. You make a little bit of money; it's nothing crazy. And then you wait until the option expires, and they either renew or you sell it to somebody else. But this was a situation where we finalized it only last year. And boom! They're going to start shooting pretty soon. It's really crazy.

Nrama: Once you guys hand over the film option, are artists usually involved in the filmmaking process at all?

Hamner: You know, I think that's a case-by-case basis. And in this case, I'm not. I think they've got a particular take on this thing. I haven't been asked to be involved. Even if I were, I'm not sure I would have time to. That sounds pretty blase' I know, but I've got a monthly gig that I'm trying to stay on top of. It sounds to me like they're going to make this thing pretty fast. They start filming in January, and it comes out in November. They haven't asked me to do anything. I don't think Warren really is involved much either. But I'm going to be there in the audience, probably at the premier, when everyone else sees it. And I'll just enjoy it.

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