Tuesday, October 20
Award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) has thrown off the shackles of his comic book movie mistake, Batman & Robin, and is forging ahead with multiple comic adaptations. One he's especially excited about is a live-action version of DC Comics' Lobo, a nearly-immortal alien bounty hunter with a penchant for heavy metal, loose women, and extreme violence.
Guy Ritchie (RocknRolla) is attached to direct, and Goldsman told the LA Times that he is excited to see what Ritchie can do with the character.
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.
While no plot details have been released and no casting decisions have been made yet, Goldsman said that at least one phase of pre-production is nearly done.
We've got the character design pretty much done and the test will get us moving forward to the next step.
Next up for Ritchie is Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson.
Posted 10/20/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Akiva Goldsman | Guy Ritchie | Batman & Robin | Sherlock Holmes | Lobo
Sunday, October 18
It may be unfair to place the blame for the demise of the original Batman franchise at the feet of Akiva Goldsman, but he did write the screenplay for the Joel Schumacher-directed disaster that was Batman & Robin, a fact that does not escape Goldsman.
What got lost in Batman & Robin is the emotions aren't real. 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.
Following Batman & Robin, Goldsman's screenwriting career took a hit. However, writing the screenplay for the multiple Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind helped put Goldsman back on the map and he followed it up with a string of high-profile scripts, including The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, I Am Legend, and I, Robot. Despite Batman & Robin, Goldsman has not sworn off superheroes or comic book properties. Goldsman is currently producing four DC Comics properties: Jonah Hex, The Losers, Lobo, and Swamp Thing.
In a recent interview with the LA Times, Goldsman compared his Jonah Hex to a classic "Spaghetti Western."
[Hex is] 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 Italian director Sergio Leone's] The Man With No Name.
For Swamp Thing, Goldsman is hoping to avoid comparisons to the 1982 Wes Craven movie, instead aiming for a tone more closely in line with the classic Alan Moore comic book stories.
We want a film with real Southern, dark horror overtones, a little bit like a classic Universal horror film.
Next Showing: The Losers debuts April 9, 2010; Jonah Hex opens June 18, 2010
Posted 10/18/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Akiva Goldsman | Joel Schumacher | Batman & Robin | Jonah Hex
Thursday, August 6
An interview io9 had with Marlon Wayans revealed that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra wasn't the first comic book movie Wayans has been involved in, just the first one he was able to complete. Back in 1992, Wayans was cast as Robin for the sequel to Batman, only he was never used:
I was actually supposed to play Robin, in Batman Returns, about 15 years ago. But there was too many characters. I was cast, I was paid and everything. I still get residual checks. Tim Burton didn't wind up doing three, Joel Schumacher did it and he had a different vision for who Robin was. So he hired Chris O' Donnell.
Not that Wayans is at all bitter about it:
No, look — I get why they picked Chris O' Donnell, because it would be messed up to have Batman and you've got Robin, and his bulge is somewhat bigger than Batman's. Batman would have a serious problem with that.
Take that, O'Donnell! Little Man just owned you! In all seriousness, avoiding playing Robin, and eventually taking part in the embarrassing Batman And Robin, is a positive move, even for the guy from White Chicks.
Next Showing: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opens Friday
Posted 8/6/2009 by Ryan
Related: Marlon Wayans | Chris O'Donnell | Batman Returns | Batman Forever | Batman & Robin | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra