Wednesday, November 11

• Sgt. Rock Adaptation Set on Fast Forward

  Producer Akiva Goldsman is already involved in the production of four comic book movie adaptations, including Jonah Hex, The Losers, Lobo, and Swamp Thing, and now he's attached to a fifth. Goldsman is joining Joel Silver in his decades-long quest to bring DC Comics' WWII hero, Sgt. Rock, to the big screen.

  Only, Rock and his "Easy Company" are not going to be slogging through the trenches fighting Nazis in war-torn Europe. According to THR, the Sgt. Rock movie will be set in the future. Previously envisioned as a Dirty Dozen-esque "authentic" war film, the change of time period and locale is said to be reflective of the lack of interest by moviegoers in period war films.

  Silver had previously enlisted Guy Ritchie to script and direct Sgt. Rock, but Ritchie has moved on to direct Lobo with Silver so Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) has been brought in to front the film. Chad St. John (The Days Before) will write the script.

  
  

  Posted 11/11/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Akiva Goldsman | Joel Silver | Guy Ritchie | Francis Lawrence | Lobo | Jonah Hex | The Losers

Tuesday, October 20

• Akiva Goldsman Says Lobo Movie Design Is "Pretty Much Done"

  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 | Lobo | Batman & Robin | Sherlock Holmes

Sunday, October 18

• Akiva Goldsman Talks Comic Book Movies

  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
  

  Batman & Robin - Trailer

  Be prepared for utter disappointment

  Posted 10/18/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Akiva Goldsman | Joel Schumacher | Batman & Robin | Jonah Hex

Tuesday, September 1

• Fantastic Four Reboot Moving Forward

  Disney may have purchased Marvel Comics, but Fox still owns the rights to the Fantastic Four movies and is moving ahead with a reboot. Variety reports that Fox has hired Michael Green (Green Lantern) to write the script, while screenwriter-producer Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, Jonah Hex) will produce.

  Whether the cast from the two previous Fantastic Four movies will return is unknown. However, earlier this year Chris Evans, who played The Human Torch, declared the franchise "done": "I think if there was talk [about a sequel] I think that I would've heard about it by now." Evans may feel "done" with the Fantastic Four, but Fox may not be done with him.

  What Evans may not realize is that if Fox doesn't continue to develop properties like Fantastic Four or Daredevil, the rights to those characters will revert to Marvel Entertainment and, now, Disney as well. And once Disney owns the rights, there's no way Fox would be able to get them back.

  
  

  Posted 09/01/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Akiva Goldsman | Michael Green | Chris Evans | Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer