Monday, July 7, 2008

Adaptations

Dark Horse Entertainment, animation studio Blur Studios, and David Fincher will turn Eric Powell’s The Goon into a CGI movie. Powell will write the screenplay for the comic book about a brawler who claims to be a mob enforcer with a paranormal slant. There is no studio attached yet.

Seth Rogen says that the final touches are being put on the Green Hornet script, and that he will be playing the lead. "To us, it was just this funny notion that, when you say Green Hornet to someone, the first thing they say is, 'Hey, Bruce Lee played Kato in that show.' We really wanted to make this hero-sidekick movie. ... For years we'd really been trying to write a movie that was kind of about a hero and his sidekick. When we heard the Green Hornet movie was up for grabs, we thought that could be the perfect way to do this story, because he is the only hero whose sidekick is more known than he is. We thought it would be a good way to tell this relationship story and just do a big crazy action movie." ... "Luckily, the MPAA decided that violence is fine. When you're doing an action movie, you can really have as much violence as you want. I'd say, action-wise, we've been able to do everything that we could have ever wanted."

Director David Bowers on the Astro Boy movie: “The characters are all there. It is the original characters, but we have new characters, and Astro's basic journey is the same. He starts off in a slightly different environment. Astro's living in this floating city. But that's where the differences end, really. I must say, I just wanted to get to the emotional core of the movie and have people have a few laughs along the way and hopefully make them cry a couple of times. Then I'll be happy."

Gary Oldman says he’ll play Tiny Tim, Marley, and Bob Cratchit in Robert Zemeckis' motion capture animation A Christmas Carol.

Columbia Pictures has an untitled comedy that will have Sacha Baron Cohen as Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as Watson. Judd Apatow and Jimmy Miller will produce, and Etan Cohen write the script inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective. Columbia co-proxy Matt Tolmach: "Just the idea of Sacha and Will as Sherlock Holmes and Watson makes us laugh. Sacha and Will are two of the funniest and most talented guys on the planet, and having them take on these two iconic characters is frankly hilarious." [....]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lets look at some facts that have been overlooked or pushed under the rug by SOOO many in Hollywood.
1. The character predated Batman and the ONLY tie in was in 1966 when the same producer for the TV show did the TV Green Hornet.
2. The Character is not a superhero, he has no super powers, no super villains, and he is at best a masked crime fighter. Really he is no different than any TV/Film crime fighter except he happens to have a secret identity.
3. The Character did not come from the comic world; comics only explored their version of the story after the radio show was already established. The later 90's Comic series further explored an alternate universe of the Green Hornet world. Not too uncommon for the comic world but not congruent with the characters true origins and world.
4. The character is a hard driving young (33 years old) successful businessman who is dedicated to fight crime in his community and wherever it occurs. NOT a lazy billionaire playboy! That is pure recent media hype.
5. He is seen as a criminal in the criminal world so law enforcement is always after him. The criminals hate him because they fear him, Kato, and the Black Beauty.
6. The Green Hornet is a brilliant strategist and foils his foes in a well played out mental chess game (SEE Jason Borne or James Bond) Kato assists in strategy, weapons development and construction, and muscle when needed. Kato is essential in the mix.
5. The Green Hornet is fully capable in hand-to-hand combat in most every situation. He has a totally different style than Kato. He is in top physical condition.
6. Kato is fully competent in any situation of combat. He is so confident that his attitude comes across as smug. But make no mistake he takes crime fighting and combat very seriously. It would be a very rare occurrence if he were bested in hand-to-hand combat.
7. The TV series was canceled because the producer was not allotted enough TV time to further develop the character. ABC only allowed 30m and Dozier insisted on 60m for the second season. He attempted to prove his point with several 2-parters in the first season. ABC refused the extra time so Dozier canceled the series.
8. Production costs were out of control on Batman (A Huge hit) and budgets were getting tight so this was also a factor in sidelining the Green Hornet.
9. It is often brought up that Michael Keaton is/was a comedic actor and he did well at Batman in 1989. One must realize that Keaton worked as Batman because he has shown he an actor that has depth and intensity. It makes no difference that he was in a comedic role prior. He was/is capable of VERY serious roles and can portray a very dark character, which is needed for the Dark Knight. Same goes for Robin Williams as The Joker or Riddler. He has proven himself in serious roles and can also be a believable villain that can also be very dark. Can Seth?
10. The Green Hornet does not exist in the DC or Marvel comic’s universe.
11. Seth has in the past said this will be a comedy then said it will be an action film just like Pineapple Express (due out this fall), so who knows what he/they will decide on.
(Pineapple Express film trailers have actually shown little impressive action scenes.)
12.The French have done an excellent interpretation in their short film located here. http://www.lefrelonvert-court.com/


The were able to hold the elements together for Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Elektra, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Punisher, Blade so why not do the same for the Green Hornet? The Hornet is more like a Jason Borne, or a James Bond without the MI5-CIA connection. Hard fighting, mental strategy game, interesting gadget technology.

Anything less than what the character is or was created to be is just a slap in the face to all of fandom and aficionados of the genre. People do not want something different they want something familiar but updated to take advantage of the wonderful film technology we have today.

Look for inspiring films to model off of like:
1. Ronin
2. Blade (especially the first 10 minutes)
3. The Professional (especially the first 10 minutes)
4. Casino Royal (especially the first 10 minutes)
5. The Usual Suspects
6. Smokin Aces (the plot twist)
7. The Bourne films

Filmgoers want to leave the film after paying their $10 saying “…damn that was awesome!” Not “Damn I could have blown that $10 bucks elsewhere and been happier.”

Fans are not looking for another Rush Hour film, they did that and it was fine for what it was.

Impress us Seth! Don’t rip us off!