Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter/producer who has brought us such gems as
Batman & Robin,
Lost in Space,
The Da Vinci Code, Hancock and
I am Legend, recently spoke to the
L.A. Times and dropped a few tidbits of info on the many comic book films he currently has in the pipeline as a producer.So, if you want some updates on DC Comic films Lobo, Swamp Thing, Jonah Hex and more, keep on reading as I cut down the lengthy interview into some easy-to-absorb snippets for you to feast on.
Check it out:
“There’s something hyperbolic and authentic
about a Guy Ritchie movie. His best movie are deeply, deeply stylized
yet they are all grounded; there’s a grit of stylization, which sounds
like an oxymoron but it makes perfect sense when you’ve seen his
films…We’ve never seen Guy’s sensibility married to a project with such
a large special effects budget.
We’ve got the character design pretty much done…and the test will get us moving forward to the next step.”
According to Goldsman, a test scene for Lobo will be shot in November and after that we can expect to hear some casting news. Check out our own Lobo casting post for some choice nominees to play the character.
Next let’s get word on the upcoming adaptation of Jonah Hex, a comic book western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, Will Arnett and John Malkovich. Said Goldsman:
“He’s a character that has been described as having one
foot on Earth and one foot beyond the grave, that he speaks to the dead
. . . at the same time he is very much [like Sergio Leone's] ‘The Man
With No Name.’ “
My only concern is that Jonah Hex is being directed by
Jimmy Hayward, whose biggest achievements up until now have been in the
Pixar animation department, or helming Horton Hears a Who! - Will he do well with a live-action western? We shall see…
Finally, on the subject of a new
Swamp Thing film (one more closely based on Alan “
Watchmen” Moore’s run of the character):
“We want a film with real Southern, dark horror overtones, a little bit like a classic Universal horror film,”
None of that, though, changes the fact that Goldsman might be booed
off the stage if he were introduced at a comic-book convention. "Batman
& Robin," the bloated 1997 movie directed by Joel Schumacher and starring George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, certainly possesses an odious place in Hollywood history. Times critic Kenneth Turan
said the Goldsman script had the "eerie feeling of having no beginning,
no middle and no end." That was on the gentle end of the reaction;
Goldsman and Schumacher actually received death threats, which suggests
that there are a lot of people in the world who take their funny books
seriously.
A few months ago, Kevin Feige, the president of
production at Marvel Studios, said that "Batman & Robin" was more
than a mere failure. "That may be the most important comic-book movie
ever made," said Feige, whose studio is now at work on "Iron Man 2" and
"Thor." "It was so bad that it demanded a new way of doing things. It created the opportunity to do 'X-Men' and 'Spider-Man,' adaptations that respected the source material and adaptations that were not campy."
Goldsman
won't exactly apologize for the film, but he comes pretty close. He
said he is proud of the effort put into it and weary of the
conversations about its merit. He did learn a lesson from the film.
"What got lost in 'Batman & Robin' is the emotions aren't real,"
Goldsman said, picking his words carefully. "The worst thing to do with
a serious comic book is to make it a cartoon. I'm
still answering for that movie with some people."
'SUPERMAN/BATMAN : PUBLIC ENEMIES 2' in the Works
Comics2Film can exclusively report that Warner Premiere is so happy with the performance of the 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'
home video release that they're looking into the first sequel to come
out of their highly-successful direct-to-home animated feature slate.
Details are sketchy for 'Superman/Batman 2' but most likely it'll draw from one of the subsequent story lines from the Jeph Loeb comics series.
If
we were running the circus we'd go with the timeline twisting "Absolute
Power" or the ultimate Maximus alternate-reality bending "With a
Vengeance" (altough that story may be too similar to the 'Crisis on Two Earths'
movie that's on the way). Of course, we'd also dig seeing the
lighthearted, post-Loeb "L'il League" story brought to animated life.
And
if DC Universe is looking for Superman/Batman team-ups, the well
certainly goes deeper than the 2003-present series, with team up books
going all the way back to the early 1940s.
What do you think, Maniacs? What storyline would you like to see in 'Superman/Batman 2'?