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Wednesday, August 26
Russian director Timur Bekmambetov scored a huge hit with the bullet-bending visuals of Wanted, the adaptation of Mark Millar's comic book. With James McAvoy and Terence Stamp returning for the sequel, Bekmambetov would like Angelina Jolie back as well. There's only one small problem — her final scene in Wanted.
"She was kind of ... dead," Bekmambetov told MTV.
Not that death should prohibit a character's return. Not in a comic book movie, anyway. Bekmambetov has a plan for Jolie's return:
If you remember from the first film, we have a recovery room with the baths of wax. We know how to do this, but it's still tough to do, because the bullet is inside her head. But there has to be a reason for her to come back ... and we know the reason. I think we found the reason for her to come back.
Bekmambetov believes they will make Wanted 2 "this winter," though Jolie's return is still far from certain, especially after Jolie insisted her character be killed in Wanted.
In the original, she doesn't kill herself. I actually changed the ending. I said, "If she was to find out she had killed people unjustly and was a part of something that wasn't fair, then she should take her own life.
Bekmambetov better have a good "plan."
Posted 8/26/2009 by Ryan
Related: Timur Bekmambetov | Angelina Jolie | Wanted | Wanted 2
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Monday, August 10
Comic book scribe Mark Millar took the stage at Wizard World Chicago to discuss the process of adapting his Kick-Ass comic book into a major motion picture directed by Matthew Vaughn, and ended up pleading with the audience for help.
According to Millar, securing funding for the film wasn't easy, due to the violent subject matter and course language. Fortunately, Millar's friend, director Matthew Vaughn, believed in the project and decided to champion it.
(Vaughn's) a good pal of mine, and he loved the book before it came out. He saw the scripts ahead of time because he likes to see what other pals are up to. And, he said, 'I really want to make this movie.' And, what I normally do with like Wanted is that we'll make the comic, and then an agent takes it out to all the whores in Hollywood, and they start bidding, and it's all out of your hands. Hopefully it all works out. Luckily Wanted did. It worked out good. But what happened with this is that it's very difficult material.
Unfortunately, Millar and Vaughn found that they couldn't retain the integrity of the source material and secure studio funding, so Vaughn took matters into his own hands, raising $50 million in investments so that they could make the movie the way they wanted to make it. Now, Millar is asking fans to help decide whether Kick-Ass receives a theatrical release or goes straight to DVD. After showing footage of Kick-Ass at Wizard World Chicago this weekend, Millar said:
If you can go on the internet immediately after this happens and just give your honest opinion — I'm pretty sure you'll like it because it's really well made and really well done — but that's the one favor I'd ask everyone. You may think it's shite. I hope you love it because we do.
Before leaving the stage, Millar was also asked about the rumors that he and Vaughn were conspiring to produce a sequel to Superman Returns. He said:
There was no interest in me, but they went to Matthew because he's a very well-liked Hollywood director. I love Superman, but Kick-Ass has been such an amazing experience that I realized I'd rather be George Lucas. We just go off and make our own movies and we own them ... that's the model I'd like to follow with future stuff.
Kick-Ass stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage and Chloë Moretz.
Posted 8/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Aaron Johnson | Nicolas Cage | Wanted | Chloe Moretz | Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass | Mark Millar
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Sunday, June 14
Kick-Ass, the movie based on the popular comic of the same name, won't see theaters until later this year. Even so, a sequel for the Matthew Vaughn-directed production is already on its way.
Mark Millar, the movie's co-creator, gave some sequel details to SciFiWire.
Kick-Ass 2 is already being plotted out. We're planning it, because all the actors are quite young and we have to make it relatively quickly. So we'll definitely do that inside the next 18 to 24 months.
Millar credited the enormous success of Wanted for the Kick-Ass sequel.
Wanted made $350 million. So that was the thing that opened the doors. I didn't expect that. It made a ton of money, and it was a property nobody had ever heard of. And I think Kick-Ass is going to be even bigger. Everybody who's seen bits of it were rubbing their hands together with excitement because they think they've stumbled onto something very big.
Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a high school kid who decides to become a costumed hero. Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Role Models) co-star as fellow vigilantes. If the movie is anything like the comic, expect bad language and blood-soaked violence.
Posted 6/14/2009 by Ryan
Related: Aaron Johnson | Nicolas Cage | Wanted | Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass | Christopher Mintz-Plasse | Mark Millar
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Wednesday, January 14
Three new pics of Mark Millar's comic book movie Kick Ass have appeared.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kick Ass is about Dave Lizewski, an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, abilities, training or meaningful reason to do so.
While confronting local thugs, he manages to get his ass kicked enough times that he develops a bit of fighting skill, and even inspires other vigilantes to the cause when his exploits are shown on YouTube. But the odds change drastically when he incurs the wrath of professional bad-guys.
Uber-nerd Christopher Mintz-Plasse of Superbad fame plays arch-villain The Red Mist, the son of a mobster who faces off against the would-be superhero. With a little McLovin, odds are this will be a fun movie. Although, if it's anything like the R-rated comic it won't be for kiddies under 17.
Aaron Johnson plays the lead role along with Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz, aka Big Daddy and Hit Girl (in the second picture) -- and friends played by Clark Duke and Evan Peters.
This will be Millar's second comic novel adapted into a movie. Last year's hit Wanted was the first. Kick-Ass is due out later this year.
Posted 1/14/2009 by Jim
Related: Aaron Johnson | Nicolas Cage | Wanted | Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass | Christopher Mintz-Plasse | Mark Millar
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Thursday, January 1
2008 was a big year for comic book movies. The biggest so far, in fact. With the help of Jim Littler, editor of ComicBookMovie.com, we've got the definitive Top 10 9 Comic Book Movies of 2008.
Posted 1/1/2009 by reelz
Related: Hellboy II: The Golden Army | Iron Man | Wanted | The Dark Knight | Punisher: War Zone | Hancock | The Incredible Hulk | The Spirit | Speed Racer
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Monday, December 8
Angelina Jolie, who has talked about retiring from acting, should probably bite the bullet and try to endure for a few more years. According to Hollywood Reporter, she was the world's highest-paid actress in 2008, earning $23.2 million for Wanted. In addition, she's in line for a raise on Wanted 2 -- that will net her over $30 million. Our prediction: a couple more movies, and a lot more nannies are in store for our favorite actress. Last year's leader, Nicole Kidman, has fallen off the list this year, which may be she's planning to play a man (who eventually becomes a woman) in her upcoming movie The Danish Girl -- male stars still earn more than their female counterpart, with Will Smith, Brad Pitt, and Johnny Depp all making upwards of $30 million per flick.
Posted 12/8/2008 by reelz
Related: Nicole Kidman | Angelina Jolie | Wanted | The Danish Girl | Wanted 2
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Tuesday, December 2
This summer's surprise blockbuster Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, headlines this week's robust crop of new DVD releases. Also debuting on DVD today: Disney's fantasy epic The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, based on the second chapter of C.S. Lewis' acclaimed book series; the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly buddy comedy Step Brothers; Ice Cube's inspirational sports movie The Longshots; and the summer sci-fi flop The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
Posted 12/2/2008 by reelz
Related: Wanted | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | Step Brothers | The Longshots
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Tuesday, September 2
When the folks at Warner Bros. begin searching fora writer for the studio's planned Superman franchise reboot, they need look nofurther than Mark Millar. In a recent interview with G4, the Scottish-bred authorof Wanted and Kick-Ass resumed his lobbying for the Man of Steel gig, layingout his ambitious plans for an epic, seven-hour trilogy in the style of Lord of theRings. (Turns out you can do a proper trilogy in less than nine hours if youdon't have a dozen endings. Who knew?)
What makes him the right guy for the job? Amongother impressive Supes fanboy credentials, Millar bragged to G4 that he'dpurchased the corpse of the cat saved by Christopher Reeve in the firstSuperman flick, had it stuffed and mounted it atop his piano. Impressive.Creepy, but impressive.
Posted 9/2/2008 by reelz
Related: Superman | Wanted | Kick-Ass
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Wednesday, July 2
Flush with confidence after the boffo opening of his Wanted, comic book scribe Mark Millar wants to take on none other than perhaps the greatest superhero of them all. Last week he revealed to London's Daily Record that he plans to "reinvent Superman for the 21st century," which I can only assume to mean that he wishes to make the Man of Steel dark, brooding and ultra-violent. That might be just what the doctor ordered after 2006's shrug-inducing Superman Returns, but is it realistic?
Indeed, it appears that Millar's musings may not simply be the delusions of some crazy comic book nerd. "I've been planning this my entire life," he told the Record. "I've got my director and producer set up, and it'll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to think."
If that's indeed the case, someone might want to give Bryan Singer (director of Superman Returns and the franchise's go-to guy) a heads-up.
Posted 7/2/2008 by reelz
Related: Bryan Singer | Superman Returns | Wanted
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If you wished for more Wanted right after seeing it, like many probably did, you’ll end up getting exactly what you wanted. After the huge box-office success it turned out to be, the next two installments of the story are already in the works. Cinema Blend is reporting that Wanted will be made into a trilogy and that James McAvoy and Terence Stamp are both in on the projects. McAvoy’s character will likely end up fighting more corrupt fraternity weavers all over the world and Angelina Jolie may possibly be back for a second go, we'll have to wait and see how they'll work that out. Either way there is a lot more blood soaked, high-octane action on the horizon for fans of Wanted.
Related: James McAvoy | Terence Stamp | Angelina Jolie | Wanted