1. July 24, 2008: PWZ producer Gale Anne Hurd announced at Comic-Con that director Lexi Alexander had gotten married to the film’s first assistant director and did not attend as she was on her honeymoon.
2. July 25, 2008: AICN’s Harry Knowles claimed that a LGF insider he’d known for years (”Jigsaw”) contacted him out of “sheer frustration” to say” Lexi was NOT on her honeymoon and had missed Comic-Con because she had been fired; she couldn’t say anything because she was wrapped up in a non-disclosure clause; and LGF had jettisoned Lexi’s composer and was going to market the film with a hard rock soundtrack instead of an orchestral score. On the same day, Lexi Alexander wiped her blog of all mention of PWZ and replaced it with a picture of the see/hear/speak no evil monkeys, which seemed to confirm she’d at least been gagged.
3. July 28, 2008: FilmSchoolRejects’ Neil Miller pursued LGF for confirmation of the AICN rumors, and finally a “reliable source close to the production” said: Lexi was not fired but she has been “pulled away” from the project; Lexi had turned in a cut for the first trailer that LGF hadn’t liked, and her response was “childish” and “unpredictably erratic”; producer Gale Anne Hurd brought in the Hulk editors to recut the film and make it “more presentable” for its release on December 5; if the production cannot “be salvaged” it could lead to a “limited [theater] release and a bigger DVD release”. In the comments section, PWZ crew member Tom Book defended Lexi as a loyal inspiring “tough cookie” who had been essentially abandoned by producer Gale Anne Hurd during the brutal winter production in Montreal, and that “a bunch of us have seen her cut and are aware of the changes the studio wants to make and trust me, no Punisher fan would agree with those changes.” Lexi’s “Hooligans” co-writer Dougie Brimson responded to Tom Book that Lexi was “disloyal” and “devious”, adding “trust me, I’m far from alone in thinking that way”!
4. July 29, 2008: UGO’s Dr. Know claimed they received a call from an LGF inside source (”Detective Soap”) who said: trouble between LGF and Lexi started months ago when LGF sent her some publicity materials for her approval that she put up on her blog, and when they asked her to remove them she went “a little bananas” and claimed this was “unfair and stifling censorship”; Lexi is like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”; Lexi really had been on her honeymoon during Comic-Con but though she knew the date plenty in advance had not bothered to change her plans; Lexi’s raw footage was fantastic; Lexi was new to working with a large studio and may not have been prepared for the lesser control over the finished product; PWZ had not been completely taken out of her hands but she was still a consultant and involved in further decision-making. CHUD’s Devin Faraci called bullsh*t UGO’s source, saying that “it’s news [in Hollywood] when someone is NICE to work with” and that UGO had painted her as “one step away from saying she had bad PMS”.
5. July 30, 2008: IESB’s Robert Sanchez claimed their own Lionsgate insider said: Lexi’s first cut which was shown to the studio was “unwatchable,” “unreleasable”, “one of the worst movies ever made”, and “Dolph Lundgren’s 1989 Punisher is a masterpiece compared to this outing”. (My note: This from an Oscar-nominated director?? I don’t think so. Sounds personal though!) On the same day, Lexi finally made a new post to her blog in which she sounded bitter about “the vicious cyber world” and mean people; she thanked people who were loyal to her, implying there were others who were NOT; she implied things had not gone smoothly in Hollywood and she’d moved on; and that she was excited about working on a new project with her former “Green Street Hooligans” producer Deborah del Prete.
6. August 1, 2008 (approx.): IMDB.com’s PWZ running time was updated to a running time of 87 minutes, fueling fan fears that “Lexi’s film was being butchered by Gale Anne Hurd”. In addition, Lionsgate’s “Midnight Meat Train”, a hardcore bloody violent horror film based on a story by Clive Barker, premiered in about 100 dollar theaters instead of wide release as had been hoped for by horror fans, a decision apparently made by new LGF COO Joe Drake. Rumors swirled that Drake was “dumping” the films made by his predecessor out of spite; Punisher fans feared this fate might befall PWZ too. Also, somewhere along the way IMDB was updated to show that Charlie Clouser had succeeded Lexi’s preferred composer Christopher Franke, then the composer was removed altogether. UpcomingFilmScores then reported that the new composer was Michael Wandmacher. When his source was questioned, the author wrote: “It was confirmed by his agency, Evolution Music Partners. Contrary to all the rumors going around on the net, which are ALL false, no other composer has been attached to this project save for Lexi’s original composer, Chris Franke. And the score is an orchestral/electronic hybrid. There’s no “heavy metal” in it.”
7. August 4, 2008: PWZ producer Gale Anne Hurd was alerted to some scathing posts about her on IMDB’s PWZ message boards and was confused by the hostility. In a private email she said: PWZ will NOT have a hard rock score but an orchestral score as the film deserves, and Lionsgate had NOT posted the 87-minute running time to IMDB because that wasn’t true. She even wondered if a rival studio were trying to give PWZ bad publicity by providing IMDB the bogus run time.
8. August 14, 2008: Latino Review’s George Roush claimed a source “deep within the bowels of Hollywood and close to the Punisher: War Zone project” contacted him to say: “the big fight over the Punisher project is Lionsgate wants a PG-13 cut to be released”, presumably with hopes of emulating the success of the PG-13 “The Dark Knight”. FilmSchoolRejects’ Robert Fure called bulls*** on Latino Review and tracked down their own source who is “close to the production” and whom he trusts completely, who said: PWZ will definitely be rated R.
9. August 16, 2008: PWZ cinematographer Steve Gainer posted on Tim Bradstreet / Thomas Jane’s Raw Studios message board that: Lexi is not off the film, is still “steering the boat”, is still involved in the edit process, did in fact get married; he saw a cut of PWZ that day that ran 91 minutes (my note: that’s only 4 minutes longer than the rumored 87 minutes from IMDB but still a standard length for a feature film); PWZ will be rated R and will be released in theaters on December 5, 2008. Based on Steve’s post, AICN and Latino Review published clarifications.
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Well there you have it. I wanted to get this out to you ASAP. What an unbelievably sordid mess… The sad part of it is, that in the end I have a feeling this will end up being about a fairly unremarkable film – a tempest in a teapot.
Punisher: War Zone opens on December 5th.
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61 Comments
Hi Ken,
I agree with you about the super power thing. Frank is my fave because, when all is said and done, he’s just a man. But what a man! Do you think part of wehat keeps The Punisher from being really popular (besides the two bad films we’ve already had) is the level of violence? I say that only about the MAX series, because that’s the only series I’ve read. The earlier versions of The Punisher, ther ones where he wears tights and white boots and gloves, does NOT interest me. Anyway, a Batman movie can get away with being PG-13. To me, a Punisher movie will always have to be rated R.
Hey Nomad, glad to see you’re still reading through our stupid comments, haha.
I never understood comic books’ obsession with tights. I’m glad Lexi decided to make Ray Stevenson wear body armor painted with the skull instead of just some tight shirt (or worse, spandex tights). It shows how human he really is, that he needs to be protected from enemy fire. And it adds a sense of realism in a movie full of outrageous action scenes.
But you’re definitely right about the ratings. For a Punisher movie to be true to the comics (MAX series mostly, that’s what I’m familiar with too), it has to be rated R. Coming from me, that’s quite a statement, because all of my friends know that I’m 100% against movies that try to use sex, foul language, and excessive violence as a gimmick to draw viewers. But if it’s actually necessary in the telling of the story, then I have no problem with it.
Oops, I meant to say “And you’re definitely right about the ratings.” not “but” because I was never disagreeing with you before that in that post, lol. I just read it and realized how it sounds…
I love how the GPA has become the devil in this battle. We spoke our mind. Funny not one internet rag site bothered to ask any of us what we were doing or why. Sorry you didnt like our tatics. The time line sounds pretty good in this story. But it smells of positive spin, just like the last thing steve gainer said.
I don’t believe my post had much in there about the GPA, much less did it make you out to be the villains. Actually, I thought you got away without much of a mention at all, which surprised me when I first read it. Let’s not fight, Sugar. I promise you that civility works better than incivility, unless you’re Frank Castle. But he’s a special case.
Watch out for tha Warriors !!
Finally some clarification.
thanx,cant wait for this film.
@GPA
Hey bro, I’ve never even heard of “GPA” until your comment here, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to…
Vic
It’s the Global Punisher Army. They have a very interesting and attractive website celebrating all things Punisher. They have one section that is devoted to this film and trying to get Lexi Alexander’s vision out there. I agree wholeheartedly with the goal, but not with some of their methodology. In any case, the part of the site I and others objected to is gone. I think, after reading my friend’s report, that the Lexi version is lost to us as far as the theatrical release is concerned. Hopefully, we’ll get it on Bly-ray in a director’s cut. OOF! I can’t wait to see both versions!
If you’re a Punisher fan, you should definitely visit the site.
I just think those of us who’ve been waiting through several movies would like to see a good Punisher in theaters, not a watered down, half-hearted version. I don’t know why anybody has written it off already, unless the Punisher isn’t really their thing.
Nomad, is this new film going to be an Origin story or take off from the last film ?????
Rampage-
You do make a point. Why would Drake permit all this bad publicity if he weren’t thinking about dumping the film? It would certainly make him look justified later! But . . . on IMDB someone pointed out that LG’s The Midnight Meat Train was competition for a film Drake produced (The Strangers) so that’s why he dumped it. If there is ANY truth to that, then that would bode WELL for Punisher, wouldn’t it? At least we’d know Drake isn’t dumping ALL of his predecessor’s films out of spite.
All of the bad publicity simply begs the question of who was actually benefiting from it? Either Drake or . . . Alexander. It would seem she and the fans are the only ones even paying attention to the internet. If you think about it, the only time insiders get frustrated and angry enough to contact the media is when they want to put pressure on someone who isn’t otherwise listening. The only remotely credible insiders did it twice. Once when Lexi was fired and the movie was supposedly to get a metal soundtrack, and the other when the film supposedly got a PG-13 rating. And the updates made to IMDB, apparently NOT by LionsGate, were about the film’s running time and the composer, both of which turned out to be false and both of which lent credibility to the theory that Hurd was butchering Lexi’s film.
So I simply don’t buy that LionsGate is manipulating the online public in order to get their opinions on soundtracks and running times and ratings. The only thing which would consistently explain everything is that Alexander got either fired or pulled off the project and has been cleverly manipulating people in order to pressure LG to reinstate her. After all, the rumors only began after Alexander was fired. Unfortunately they have only eroded faith in the film.
I guess fans can go on believing that their outcry has actually influenced Lionsgate to ditch the PG-13 rating and the rock soundtrack, or they can believe that those things were never on the agenda to begin with and they’ve simply been manipulated by someone whose methods have damaged the very film they want to save!
Whatever. I just want it all the garbage to stop, and give me a good movie!!!!!!
GPA owenstar said “But it smells of positive spin, just like the last thing steve gainer said.” Got to agree with that!
Punisher War Zone is a total reboot, a total re-imagining, from the last two films. It assumes that the audience for the most part knows the origin story, but there are flashbacks of Frank, in the park, holding the bodies of his children. So people new to the Punisher will have SOME clue as to WHY Frank Castle would choose the life he’s chosen.
Like Nomad said complete reboot. Not even gonna feature the same origin or lead actor or really much of the same emotion. The 04 version tried to balance the violence with an emotional plot this version will try to balance Violence with Violence and a flashback of an emotional moment then they may add in some violence and gore.
Think Saw but with the Punisher in it.
Well, I don’t know if I agree with Daniel’s conclusion at all. We’ll just have to wait until 05 December to find out.
Sounds good, I might have to check this out after all,,,
wow this was alot to read but well worth it. i happen to be a huge punisher fan and collector. i’ve been punishing pretty much since the mid 1980’s and have had to go through two punisher films that just did not live up to the comic and the stories themselves just did not work for even a non comic film. i just hope that i can finally watch a punisher film that i can brag about later to all my friends since i’ve had to go through two huge raggings from the previous films.
I think the Tom Jane version balanced violence with boring, but the scale tipped a bit more toward the boring side…
I’m sorry, I normally don’t like movies with violence for violence sake, but this is The Punisher for goodness sakes. He don’t waste his time plotting some overly complicated scheme that greatly relied on chance before he strikes at his victim. He doesn’t spend half the freakin movie fixing up a car that only lasts half a minute in one lousy excuse of an action scene. He is THE PUNISHER. I didn’t see any “punishment” in the last movie except to my wallet when I paid for the ticket.
Nomad,
Maybe I read it wrong, but I didn’t think the part that said GPA came from you….I thought it was part of the insider scoop….
I respect what you have tried to do….even if I don’t always agree with your insider! Hahaha
Vic,
I am just disappointed no one bothered to ask before they slammed (not saying it happened here) just in general….
We did something pretty amazing…..
Vic the GPA was mentioned in the article you printed, ha ha!
“Because Marvel fans seem to live on the Internet, Lexi’s blog worked wonders in garnering their support. I can sympathize with her frustration with LGF, but her unprofessional blog stunt fanned a s***storm that eventually only served to torpedo PWZ’s image and, oddly enough, stroke Lexi’s ego — Punisher fansites lit up with “Bring Lexi Back” campaigns including a petition and a devoted website (GPA’s pwztruth), the latter attacking Gale Anne Hurd as a no-talent butcher of Lexi’s film. ”
I don’t think he’s saying GPA is the devil.. he’s just saying it was never gonna acomplish anything
GPA owenstar, your with GPA. waht did you acomplisH? Tell the other side of the story
AHAHAHAHAHA! Cank Frastle! [rofl]
Nomad
I’m curious to know why her co-writer on Hooligans popped up with such an obvious attack. What’s that all about?
KJ I think the Hooligans cowriter popped up cuz the crew member had been gushing about the director and that burned the cowriter who strongly disagreed
Nomad thanks I thought it was funny
Cank,
I didnt say here we were called devils….We have been slammed across the web….Some people didnt like the way we did things….didnt see it through our eyes….and thats fine, I understand we arent for everyone….But we have a right to do it as we see fit…and we had reason, even when it seemed we were crazy a-holes…hahhaha
I am not gonna tell the story on a blog…check out our site and ask there….no one bothered to ask what our grassroot movement was doing, why bother giving them a story now???
Good day my friend
Thanks for the info cank.
Wow, I’m sad to hear so many people talking so negatively about a metal soundtrack. I think the music was what helped make the new red band footage so awesome. But I happen to be a fan of rock and think it helps out an a violent action flick, and I know a lot of people disagree with that.
Zach, it can and it doesn’t. It really depends. Rock music can definitely add to the mood of the scene if that’s what it calls for, but to have an entire movie’s soundtrack consist of nothing but screaming black metal gets very old very fast and has been done so many times before because it seems like the easy way out.
I’m torn with the soundtrack. I love rock music and I have no problem with it being featured in a film however at the same time there is something to be said about a fantastic score. How terrible would it have been to give TDK a rock soundtrack ? Punisher in my opinion is one of those films that could honestly work either way. I think the best way to work it would make a blend of both some scene add a score sometimes put in a little rock. There really isn’t much debate though when it comes to CD soundtracks a rock CD will sell for more than a score one.
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