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Thursday, October 29
Film adaptations of comic book visionary Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City graphic novels have generated more than $280 million at the box office, so it's not surprising that more of Miller's ideas will be coming to the big screen soon.
Back in June, director Zack Snyder announced his interest in making a sequel or prequel to 300, and in September actor Clive Owen, who played Dwight in Sin City, announced that a sequel to Sin City might be in the works. Also in September, it was announced that Sylvain White might be directing a 3-D adaptation of Miller's Roningraphic novel.
Now, there's confirmation from producer Stephen L'Heureux of Solipsist Films that production on Sin City 2 will begin in late 2010 from an original script by Miller, who will co-direct with Robert Rodriguez. In a recent interview with Mania, L'Heureux also announced that another of Miller's graphic novels, Hard Boiled, is being developed for the screen.
We got the project in turnaround from Warner Bros and Frank. It's such a pleasure to work with someone like Frank Miller. He's so smart and passionate about story at all levels from 1940s noir pulp to modern film.
Miller is expected to direct Hard Boiled, but L'Heureax said that it would have to wait until after Sin City 2.
With Sin City [2] just on the horizon, I don't think we'd be able to do it with Frank right away. As simple as Sin City [2] seems, it's a very complex scheduling with all these actors and it's a very demanding shoot to be on a sound stage all day long. We have to space it for Frank. There's also talk, of course, of Sin City 3.
Posted 10/29/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Clive Owen | Sin City | Frank Miller | 300 | Sin City 2 | Zack Snyder | Sin City 3 | Stephen L'Heureux
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Monday, October 19
Despite receiving less-than-stellar reviews, the new thriller starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx took the #2 spot at the box office this past weekend, bringing in more than $20 million. According to Butler, who also produced Law Abiding Citizen, a last-minute change ended up making for a very different movie.
Law Abiding Citizen tells the story of a father (Butler) who seeks violent revenge against the criminals who murdered his family and the district attorney (Foxx) who lets them off easy. Butler, who was initially going to play the D.A., became fascinated with exploring the character arc of the father and switched roles with Foxx.
Initially, I was playing the prosecutor and just before the movie started, I swapped over because I had such a fascination with him. But it was always my argument and my purpose that at a certain point in the movie, Clyde turns, that he goes too far, that we have to say, as an audience, that this is too much, that we can't support you anymore. The audience has to want him to be defeated. Otherwise, I think this film really surprises you in where it goes, and the fact that you question who's the good guy and who's the bad guy really works here.
According to Foxx, the switch in roles was good for him personally and professionally, but also helped serve the needs of the movie.
Since we live in such an Internet-friendly, camera phone, video phone world, I felt that my persona had taken a little bit of a hit.... I look at the movie 300 and I want to see [Butler] whoop ass. And in this movie, the opening scene lets him do that. When he says, "I'm going to kill everybody," that's that 300 sh*t. That's awesome. That's that motherf**ker that you wanna see go get that ass.... So I thought it worked out perfect.
And, speaking of 300, will Butler return to the franchise that made him famous in Zack Snyder's planned prequel, or will he continue to make light-hearted romantic comedies like P.S. I Love You? Butler said that he's not sure on either account.
Whenever I get asked that, I honestly think of romantic comedies and want to say, "Oh, definitely. Romantic comedies. Getting the chance to make people laugh and show that side of me." Then I think about action movies and I love those, but also I'm busting my bones or grinding my joints.
Next Showing: Law Abiding Citizen is in theaters now
Posted 10/19/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Jamie Foxx | 300 | Gerard Butler | Zack Snyder | Law Abiding Citizen
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Saturday, October 10
Comic book visionary and sometimes film director Frank Miller is the creative force behind both 300 and Sin City, two of the most innovative movies of the past decade. Both films were based on Miller's Dark Horse Comics graphic novels, and both are currently the subject of speculation regarding possible sequels.
Zack Snyder, director of the first 300, has said that he's ready to get started on a sequel — or prequel — as soon as Miller has completed work on the graphic novel that will serve as the basis for the film. And, actor Clive Owen, recently dropped the news that a "good source" has told him the Sin City sequel could begin filming as early as next year.
Actor Gerard Butler gave a commanding performance as King Leonidas in 300, so it would be hard to imagine another round of Spartan mayhem that didn't include him. In a recent interview with MTV, Butler said that he would consider reprising the role, but that he didn't feel a sequel was necessary.
I had an incredible time doing the first one and I think if the first one was just a stand-alone as a one-off, there's no bad thing in that.
Butler went on to say that he could see himself working with Miller again, possibly on a sequel to Sin City.
You know, graphic novels are things that I wouldn't do a lot of so I would have to really choose carefully before I did. I mean, at one point, [Miller] talked to me about one of the [Sin City Sequels] and we discussed that. There's a kind of cool character, I think in the third one.
Butler is currently starring in F. Gary Gray's Law Abiding Citizen opposite Jamie Foxx.
Next Showing: Law Abiding Citizen opens October 16
Posted 10/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Sin City | Frank Miller | 300 | Sin City 2 | Gerard Butler | Sin City 3 | Law Abiding Citizen
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Monday, September 14
Frank Miller has been a legend in comic book circles for decades, but he didn't become a household name until the successful film adaptations of his works Sin City and 300.
Despite his failed attempt to pay homage to Will Eisner's The Spirit, Miller's ideas are still considered fertile ground for feature films. Both Sin City 2 and a prequel to 300 are planned, as is an adaptation of his 1983 cyberpunk graphic novel, Ronin — not to be confused with the Robert Deniro movie of the same name.
Director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) is attached to direct Ronin. Currently, White is filming The Losers, another comic book adaptation. He recently told SuperHeroHype.com that a script for Ronin is "still being developed" but could be coming to theaters in 3-D.
I just got a new draft a week ago. It's looking really good and promising. I hope it gets to go.... [Mine is] a big-budget, big blockbuster take on it. I'd love to do it in 3D. I think it'd be ridiculous and amazing.
Miller's story is a time-spanning tale of a "ronin" — a masterless samurai — who mystically finds himself transported from the 13th Century to the 21st Century, where he has to contend with the reincarnation of Agat, the demon who slew his master. White said that, although Ronin is a "great concept," it would take some work to translate it into movie form.
Frank Miller is a genius when it comes to that. It took so long because the source material is so complex. It's very difficult, and it's not linear, and it doesn't really fit into a film format off the bat.
You need a little bit of streamlining, but the story and the characters, if I get to do that movie, will all be there. I'm the guy who wants to respect the authors and the source material as a fan of graphic novels who grew up reading them whether it be in Europe or here. It's something that needs to be done right, and it hasn't really been done right.
Posted 9/14/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Sin City | Frank Miller | 300
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Thursday, July 9
Zack Snyder already broke the news of a 300 sequel and is patiently waiting for Frank Miller to finish the next graphic novel. The question remains, though: With the end of 300 making most of the cast, umm ... well, let's say unavailable, what would the sequel be about and who would be in it?
Snyder previously mentioned that the sequel would follow a battle the Spartans undertook for 12 months that occurred before the events that comprise the end of 300. So the next 300 won't exactly be a sequel or a prequel, it'll be more like a near-the-end-quel. While that sounds a bit confusing, it may mean that Gerard Butler and other cast members return for the next installment.
Producer Mark Canton isn't ruling out that possibility. "Never assume anything; never assume anything," said Canton to MTV about bringing back the original cast. "It'll be what it'll be."
In other words, not even a movie's producer can predict what will happen in a near-the-end-quel.
Posted 7/9/2009 by Ryan
Related: Mark Canton | Frank Miller | 300 | Gerard Butler | Zack Snyder
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Friday, June 26
During a recent Warner Bros. press meeting to debut the upcoming Blu-ray releases of Watchmen and 300, the director of both of those movies, Zack Snyder, let slip that he is eagerly anticipating the completion of comic-book visionary Frank Miller's graphic-novel sequel to 300 so that he can start thinking about a movie sequel.
[Frank is] drawing away and seems to be knee-deep in it. I think he's going to head back to Greece again and do another reconnaissance.
It's more than likely that Snyder will have a much larger budget to play with, since his adaptation of Miller's comic masterpiece was a critical and financial success with only a modest budget, but Snyder said that he wants to go with the same aesthetic.
I think we would use the same technology.... Just from what [Frank] told me, it would be bigger as far as landscape and terrain.
Posted 6/26/2009 by BrentJS
Related: 300 | Watchmen | Zack Snyder
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Tuesday, March 31
Tory Shulman is the host of ReelzChannel TV's Movie Mob and occasionally shares her comic insights.
You men. You love watching those thinly clad Super Heroines kick, twirl, and punch the bad guys, don't you? The less pleather, the better. Am I right? So I'm here to tell you to enjoy your slinky Catwoman and your rugged Lara Crofts. We ladies (and some men) are perfectly content to watch these five hero hotties for as long as it takes for you to realize that Halle Berry is never going to call you.
Posted 3/31/2009 by reelz
Related: Christian Bale | Hugh Jackman | Superman | Christopher Reeve | Robert Downey Jr. | 300 | Iron Man | Gerard Butler | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | The Dark Knight | Tory Shulman
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Monday, January 5
Zack Snyder, the director of 300 and the soon-to-be-released Watchmen movie, wants to adapt yet another Frank Miller graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns" into a feature film.
Snyder told iFMagazine that he has asked studio Warner Bros. about creating a big-screen adaptation of the classic comic, which focuses on an aged Batman/Bruce Wayne who comes out of retirement to defend Gotham from a gang of hooligans terrorizing the city. Of course, his reemergence sparks similar rebirths of his gallery of rogues, and all hell breaks loose -- including an armored battle with Superman.
"I said I'm interested in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns," he commented. "That's really my favourite comic book."
The director admitted that his chances of making the movie are slim saying, "The studio has this massive franchise and I don't think they'll let me make a Batman movie where he's 50 years old and Ronald Reagan is President."
Posted 1/5/2009 by Jim
Related: Frank Miller | 300 | Watchmen | Zack Snyder
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Saturday, March 1
Babysitting? Agoraphobic? Under house arrest? Whatever the reason, if tonight finds you stuck at home, there are plenty of movie options to choose from:
On HBO, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull star Shia LaBeouf battles his serial killer neighbor in the Rear Window update Disturbia.
On Starz, a Chicago family moves into a haunted farm in the horror flick The Messengers.
And on Cinemax, Gerard Butler and his abtastic Spartan pals take on the entire Persian army in 300.
Posted 3/1/2008 by reelz
Related: 300 | The Messengers | Disturbia
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Wednesday, February 20
Watchmen director Zack Snyder left a note on the film's official site yesterday, declaring "It's a wrap!" and thanking his cast and crew for all their hard work. As a special thank-you to fans, he also posted a cool new image from the production (click on the pic to the left for the full-sized version) featuring Watchmen anti-hero Rorschach (played by Jackie Earle Haley) lighting some poor schlub on fire.
With principal photography finished, Snyder heads into the editing room for Watchmen's lengthy post-production phase, where he'll begin the complex process of adding artificial abs to each and every actor. Good luck, Zack!
Source: Warner Bros. via JoBlo.com
Posted 2/20/2008 by reelz
Related: 300 | Watchmen | Zack Snyder