Screen Rant » the losers

Zoe Saldana Talks Star Trek, Avatar & The Losers

Rob Frappier — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:59:05 +0000

Since her starring turn as Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, the lovely Zoe Saldana has been racking up a number of major films. Besides the inevitable Star Trek sequel, Zaldana will play Aisha in the DC comic book adaptation The Losers, as well as the alien Neytiri in James Cameron’s epic sci-fi (or is it fantasy?) film Avatar. Recently, Coming Soon snagged an interview with the fast-rising actress at the DVD/Blu-ray release party for Star Trek.

In the interview, Saldana explains that, although her busy schedule has her worn out, she hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for any of her upcoming projects.

“I’m feeling great, but there’s a part of me that’s happy it’s almost over so I can finally take off my heels…Between guns, a little dress and heels I’m a little tired physically, but I never get mentally tired of talking about these projects I’ve been a part of because it’s every actor’s dream to work with amazing directors especially for a woman in Hollywood and film.”

Saldana also touched on her upcoming role in The Losers, saying Aisha was a “badass” and a blend of her Star Trek character Uhura and her Avatar character Neytiri. Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview came when Saldana expanded on her feelings about playing Neytiri, saying that taking on the alien role was “the most challenging role I’ve ever played.”

“It just challenged me from head to toe. Not only did I have to become more in tune with my body and train for seven months to do this role, but it was also a mental thing where I had to dehumanize myself because I was playing a different species–not of a different country. I was from a different planet so it took a lot of time and it was the most amazing experience I ever had.”

While she wasn’t my favorite character in the new Star Trek, I thought Saldana did a great job making the character of Uhura her own without disrespecting the Uhura of old. It is interesting to hear Saldana’s comments about her work in Avatar. While I am still hesitant to predict Avatar’s success, (I honestly don’t know what to expect from that movie) I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on her role to see if all her hard work paid off. I’ve always imagined it would be difficult to act in a movie that is filmed entirely in front of a green screen, let alone one that takes place on another planet with a completely imaginary race of creatures.

Speaking of Avatar, USA Today recently released a new image of Saldana as Neytiri. Check it out below.

So, what do you think of Zoe Saldana? Do you see her having a long and successful career as a Hollywood A-lister?

Source: Coming Soon, USA Today

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New Set Pic from ‘The Losers’

Rob Frappier — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:25:15 +0000

We shared the first images of the Warner Brothers’ film The Losers a little over a month ago. Now, thanks to the power of Twitter, we have a new image from the set of the film. Actor Idris Elba (The Wire) tweeted the picture, which features himself, Columbus Short, Chris Evans, Óscar Jaenada and Jeffrey Dean Morgan looking appropriately bad-ass as they wait on the film’s Puerto Rican set.

The Losers, which also features Star Trek’s Zoe Saldana, revolves around an ex-CIA Black Ops team who seek revenge against the mysterious Max (played by Jason Patric), their former handler and the man who betrayed them. The film is based on the Eisner-nominated DC/Vertigo comic book series of the same name, which ran from 2003 to 2006.

Check out the image below:

Though we haven’t seen that many action photos from The Losers yet, you can be guaranteed there will be plenty of gunfire and explosions (exactly the kind of stuff that packs theaters) in the film. In fact, as the newly formed DC Entertainment works to map out its production schedule, I’d be willing to bet that The Losers will become one of the company’s surprise hits.

One stumbling block for The Losers could be the general public’s unfamiliarity with the original comic book series. On the other hand, the same could have been said for Wanted, and that film went on to gross more than $340 million worldwide.

What do you think? Are you excited to see The Losers?

The Losers, which is being directed by Sylvain White, is set to hit theaters on April 9th, 2010.

Source: Twitter (via Collider)

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DC Entertainment: What’s The Game Plan?

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:19:13 +0000

Yesterday we found out that Warner Bros. has created DC Entertainment Inc. (DCE) to better expand the DC Comics into a multimedia brand of steel . Now comes the inevitable question of “What’s the game plan?”

MTV Splash Page posted a nice piece declaring which DC properties should be put on fast-track under the DCE banner, and this being Friday and all, I thought I’d once again do a little call-and-response on the topic (I now consider Splash Page’s Josh Wigler to be something of a pen-pal).

So in response to the call, here’s my take on the DC Entertainment venture and what paths it should be considering…

BIGGER PICTURE BUSINESS

DC Entertainment Inc. President Diane Nelson has already been grilled by the press and thick-skinned exec has been pretty forthright with her opinions. As she told The Wrap earlier this week:

“…I’m the first one to admit, I’m not by my nature a comic fan. It’s not what I’m bringing to the party. We have so many experts who will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment. What I bring to the party is a skill at moving properties and brands through Time Warner as a company… additionally it will be about how invested our content distribution is in the DC library. If our businesses feel that they have greater access and enthusiasm for new characters to incubate.”

Now some people are going to read that quote and worry that Time Warner is going to “corporatize” (read: taint) their favorite DC properties. I’m going to keep in mind that Nelson is the same lady who helped transform Harry Potter from a lucrative book franchise into a multimedia/merchandising empire, loved by both Potter devotees and newcomers who just know the films. Nelson understands how to take what is at the resonating core of a character and/or story and fit it into the bigger profit picture.

For DC Superheroes, I suspect Nelson aims to give us more Dark Knight quality films and Arkham Asylum video games (read: ventures which transform the core appeal of the properties into commercial appeal), and fewer Catwoman disasters (read: failed ventures that tarnish both the core and commercial viability of the properties). And I see no reason at this point why she’d fail at the task.

DOING THINGS THE MARVEL WAY

No, I don’t want DC Entertainment to try to be the second coming of Marvel Studios, however, the latter did set an interesting precedent by linking all their Avengers related films – Captain America, Iron Man, Thor – in one shared continuity, complete with cinematic cameo crossovers.

Should Christopher Nolan’s Batman universe be disrupted for the sake of a Superman cameo? No. Should The Green Lantern maybe feature an appearance from Supes or (better yet) The Flash? Absolutely. And what would be the reasoning behind doing so? Remember a little project called Justice League that DC/WB tried and failed and failed and failed to get off the ground awhile back? If you want to expand your brand, getting your heroes onscreen together where everybody can revel in them is a great way to do it.

Click to continue reading about how DC Entertainment can expand its brand…

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Warner Bros. Creates DC Entertainment Inc.

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:49:39 +0000

After the Disney/Marvel merger DC Comics and longtime-partner Warner Bros. had to be shaking in their boots. “The House of the Mouse” is already looking like a force that few will likely be able to reckon with.

Well, in an effort to become one of those few forces able to take on Disney/Marvel, Nikke Finke reports that Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has launched a new division, DC Entertainment Inc., in order to better expand the DC Brand.

Marvel fanboys have already been having heart palpitations wondering what the fate of their favorite characters will be in the hands of Disney. Now DC fans can officially share in that anxiety.

Diane Nelson will be the lady in charge of DC Entertainment Inc., as announced yesterday by Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer, and COO, Alan Horn. The mission statement of DC Entertainment Inc. will be to “strategically integrate the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses.” Basically that constitutes Warner Bros. taking a more hands-on approach to developing DC Comic properties into successful film and TV franchises, interactive and new platform media, etc. In the midst of all this, DC Comics will remain as is for the most part, serving as the creative cornerstone of DC Entertainment Inc.

Of course this new structure means that DC’s comic book division has officially become a limb on a much larger body. As a result, Paul Levitz, President & Publisher of DC Comics since 2002, will vacate his exec post and return to a writing position, lending his three decades of experience to the “new DC” as a contributing editor and consultant.

Said Levitz:

“After so many roles at DC, it’s exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage. It’s a new golden age for comics and DC’s great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time.”

Diane Nelson (Click Image for Source)

Nelson is leaving her post as President of Warner Premiere to take on the DC Entertainment job. If you’re wondering about her qualifications and experience: in her two decades working in creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production, Nelson has most notably had a big hand in adapting and managing the Harry Potter franchise for WB. Taking J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels and turning them into a juggernaut (read: cash cow) movie franchise is no small accomplishment; IMO, it demonstrates that Nelson understands how to maintain the balance between being true to source material, while making the needed changes to create successful multimedia ventures – an area where DC has admittedly had some trouble (See: Superman Returns).

Said Nelson:

“The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort…DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.”

For a great in-depth explanation of all this (with more quotes from the players involved) head on over to Deadline Hollywood.

Personally, I’m not at all upset (or surprised, really) about any of this. For better or worse, comic book fans, these are chicks we raised that are coming home to roost. We were the ones who pushed for so long to see our favorite heroes grace the big and small screens; our money fed the box office and gave rise to the “Era of Geek-Chic.” And in that proud era, our favorite comic books and superheroes have had their market value shoot WAY up – they are now worldwide icons and potential cash cows. When you think about it like that, it’s only logical that the big dawgs have come a barkin’ and comic book publishers have had to answer the call by stepping up into the corporate big leagues.

But will the source material – our beloved comic books – survive and flourish under these bright neon corporate banners, or whither and be forever tainted? As the zen master says “We shall see…”

What do you think about the creation of DC Entertainment Inc.? Will it be a good way for DC to catch up to Marvel in the multimedia market, or are you DC fans worrying that this is the end of the age of innocence for your beloved universe?

(And be sure to check our list of tags below to know which DC/WB movies are currently in the pipeline . Will this re-structuring affect them too?)

Source: Deadline Hollywood

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First Set Pics Of ‘The Losers’

Ross Miller — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:14:05 +0000

The adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic series, The Losers, started production over a week ago in Puerto Rico for release next Spring. Today we have our first real look at the movie through some pics from the set, showing off two of the film’s stars, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) and Idris Elba (The Wire).

The set pics show Morgan and Elba in the midst of filming an action scene in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. There’s not much to go on beyond that, except maybe that we get to see what the two actors look like in character: Elba’s hair is different than it usually is, and clearly the two characters are strapped. Anyway, check out a few of the pics below (click any for larger version):

For the rest of the set pics you can head over to ComingSoon.

To give us a better idea of what the movie is about, and who’s playing who, here is a full plot synopsis for The Losers:

The film centers upon the members of an elite U.S. Special Forces unit sent into the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. The team – Clay (Morgan), Jensen (Chris Evans), Roque (Elba), Pooch (Columbus Short) and Cougar (Oscar Jaenada) – find themselves the target of a lethal betrayal instigated from inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max (Jason Patric).

Presumed dead, the group makes plans to even the score when they’re joined by the mysterious Aisha (Zoe Saldana), a beautiful operative with her own agenda. Working together, they must remain deep undercover while tracking the heavily-guarded Max, a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war.

I’ve been looking forward to The Losers ever since it was announced. I think they’ve assembled a pretty cool and diverse cast, with particularly Morgan and Elba (coincidentally the two featured in these set pics) making for an interesting combination. The film has an interesting premise to go on – a kind of Wanted meets The Expendables in a way. I really hope it’s lives up to its potential.

What do you think of these set pics? Are you looking forward to this movie?

The Losers is set to hit theaters on April 9th, 2010.

Source: ComingSoon

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: August 9, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:59:57 +0000

This week:

G.I. Joe shoots up the top spot at the box office; Jennifer Aniston goes to prison; Gunsmoke rides again; The Losers begin and Renny Harlin goes to Russia.

Box Office

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra shot up the top spot with an estimated $56 million over the weekend. The film had a lot of bad buzz surrounding its release so this is seen as something of a coup. The $175 million price budget means that the film will need to do well abroad and sell a lot of toys before we see a sequel.

Meryl Streep shows that age isn’t a factor in her popularity as she scored her third $20 million-plus opener in three years with Julie and Julia. The film took $21.5 million over the weekend. If the film has the same legs as The Devil Wears Prada and Mama Mia then it could hit the $100 million mark.

Jerry Bruckheimer’s G-Force was third with a weekend take of $8.5 million giving the family film a strong $84 million total.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince banked more than $8 million giving the mega franchise film a huge $273 million total.

People just don’t seem to be finding Funny People funny. The Judd Apatow/ Adam Sandler film took just under $8 million this weekend. It’ll never see it’s $75 million production budget back on US screens.

The Ugly Truth banked another $7 million giving the R-rated comedy $69 million so far.

The Perfect Getaway failed to find an audience this weekend and made $6 million. It was cheap to make and should find an audience on DVD.

(500) Days Of Summer earned $4.3 million on just over 800 screens.

Orphan and Aliens in the Attic both took just under $4 million.

Movie News

1. Jennifer Aniston will star in Goree Girls. The film is a true story of a female country band in a Texas prison in the 1940s

John Lee Hancock recently completed a draft of the script by Margaret Nagle.

Aniston will also produce.

I’m pretty sure that I’m not in the target demographic for this film.

Source: Variety

2. Hollywood is moving ahead on a new film version of long running western series Gunsmoke.

CBS Films has hired National Treasure: Book of Secrets writer Gregory Poirier to write the script for the film.

Gunsmoke holds the record for being the longest running scripted television drama.

There’s a shock – a film version of a classic TV show. I wonder what’s next for the remake machine.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Principal photography has started on Dark Castle Entertainment’s The Losers.

The film is based on the comic book DC Comics’ Vertigo off-shoot. The adaptation is being directed by Stomp the Yard director Sylvain White.

The film stars Watchmen’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Star Trek’s Zoë Saldana and The Fantastic Fours’ Chris Evans.

The film is shooting in Puerto Rico.

The Losers opens in April 2010

Source: Latino Review

4. Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin will direct a currently untitled drama based on events that took place during the five-day Russia-Georgia battle.

“The drama involves an American journalist and his cameraman who get caught in the crossfire in Georgia and then have to deal with their obligation to be impartial journalists.”

Sounds like an interesting change of pace for the director.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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First Poster For The Losers

Ross Miller — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:32:15 +0000

The Losers is an adaptation of a DC/Vertigo comic series that ran for three years between 2003 and 2006. It follows a special forces unit who are tasked with waging the war on terror, but get betrayed by their handler.

However, they aren’t killed by this turn of events and band together to get revenge and get their name off a “CIA death list.” It stars the likes of Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Jason Patric (Narc) and Idris Elba (The Wire).

Recently, we got a look at the comparisons between the comic’s characters and the actors that will be playing them in the movie. And today we have the first poster for The Losers (that appeared at Comic Con) which expands on that, being very creative by showing what the characters look like in the comic and just attaching the actor’s names to each of them. It’s always refreshing to see a poster that doesn’t have the “floating header syndrome.” Check it out (click for larger):

With the direction they’ve went with this poster (apparently it’s similar to one of the comics, only altered to reflect the real look of the actors), I guess they realize that the interest for The Losers will come (at least at first) from those who are fans of the original comic, and are playing off of that to get them psyched. Let’s face it – beyond that original comic audience, the general movie going public have no idea what The Losers is.

However, that also seemed like the case with Wanted, and if you look at the numbers, that made over $400 million worldwide (if you include DVD sales) – could The Losers follow suit? I’d say there’s a very good chance of it.

What do you think of the first poster for The Losers? Do you think this movie will do well at the box office?

The Losers is set to hit theatres on April 16th, 2010.

Source: AICN

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Meet These ‘Losers’

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:20:51 +0000

Warner Bros.’ adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book The Losers seems to be generating bigger buzz. With more and more actors of note being added to the cast, The Losers is looking like it could potentially be one hell of a surprise action hit for Warner Bros.

Coming late to the party, Alex Billington over at First Showing thought to familiarize himself (and by extension the many of you out there who also aren’t familiar) with the world of The Losers by matching Wikipedia’s handy Loser’s character list to the actors playing the roles. Get familiar:

The Losers was a DC/Vertigo
comic book series that ran from August 2003 to March 2006. It follows a special forces unit tasked with waging the war on terror, who are ultimately betrayed by their handler, Max (Jason Patric) and get left for dead. Of course they don’t die, but instead band together to get their revenge on Max, and also wipe their names and identities off a CIA “death list.”

The cast now includes Jeffery Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Idris Elba (The Wire), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Chris Evans (Push), Columbus Short (Stomp The Yard), Jason Patric (Speed 2, Baby!) Holt McCallany (Vantage Point) and Spanish actor Óscar Jaenada (The Limits of Control). The film is being adapted and directed by Sylvain White (Stomp The Yard).

Since First Showing did so much C&P work, I’ll just introduce you to three of The Losers we’ve already covered, and then point you to where you can meet the rest. Here are your top Losers:

Clay (Jeffery Dean Morgan)

Clay is the leader, a brilliant tactician with a big revenge grudge.

Roque (Idris Elba)

Scarred-face Roque is all business; for him the job is all about payday.

Aisha (Zoe Saldana)

Aisha is a tough-as-nails hothead killer.

For the full actor/character list you can head over to First Showing.

The Losers is slated to hit theaters on April 16, 2010 (one week before The Expendables, which is another special-operatives-bent-on-revenge flick).

Source: First Showing and Wikipedia

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‘The Losers’ Targets an April 2010 Release

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:34:43 +0000

Warner Bros. has planted its adaptation of DC/Vertigo’s The Losers in the April 2010 lineup. The film – about a black ops team that goes looking for revenge on the Agency that betrayed them – will be released in close proximity to Sylvester Stallone’s similarly-themed mercenary/revenge actioner, The Expendables.

Will this move by Warner Bros. put the two films on a collision path? Or is April 2010 just going to be one hell of a fun month for action fans?

Screen Rant has been covering The Losers for a hot minute, but so far reader interest has been lukewarm at best. So in case you’re hearing about the film for the first time, here’s a more detailed synopsis:

The Losers chronicles the story of a special forces unit tasked with waging the war on terror, who are ultimately betrayed by their handler, “Max,” and get left for dead. Of course they don’t die, but instead band together to get their revenge on Max, and also wipe their names and identities off a CIA “death list.”

So far casting news has included announcements that Jeffery Dean Morgan (Watchmen) would be playing the role of Clay, leader of The Losers, and that Idris Elba (The Wire) and Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) are going to play Roque (The Losers’ money-hungry second-in-command) and Aisha (the livewire hothead) respectively.

Since those early announcements, The Losers‘ cast has grown to include Chris Evans (Push), Óscar Jaenada (Che) and Columbus Short (Stomp The Yard) as Losers, and Jason Patrick rumored to be playing the villainous Max. Sylvain White (Stomp The Yard) is directing.

The Losers is slated for an April 16, 2010 release – the same weekend as New Line’s Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

Yikes: being wedged between The Expendables (an action film boasting an ensemble cast of the genre’s biggest names) and Nightmare on Elm Street (a franchise that already has a large established fan base) is a potentially precarious place for a largely unknown property like The Losers.

One silver lining: The Losers will be the only big film offering moviegoers something new (the cast is still relatively unknown, as is the comic the film is adapted from). We’ve all seen Freddy Krueger do his thing before, and the same can be said about Stallone and the rest of The Expendables cast. And if that latter film ends up getting slapped with a PG-13 rating… Fuggetaboutit… The Losers might windup being a breakout hit. Guess we’ll know when we see a trailer.

Source: Jo Blo

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Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana Join ‘The Losers’

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:34:41 +0000

Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana will be joining Jeffery “The Comedian” Dean Morgan for the big-screen adaptation of DC/Vertigo’s The Losers.

Elba is best known for his roles on HBO’s The Wire, and currently The Office. The lovely Saldana is poised to be a breakout name in 2009 with starring roles in J.J. Abram’s Star Trek reboot and director James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi epic, Avatar.

Quite a winning cast for The Losers.

For those who aren’t familiar: The Losers was a DC/Vertigo comic book series that ran from August 2003 to March 2006. It chronicles the story of a special forces unit tasked with waging the war on terror, who are ultimately betrayed by their handler, “Max,” and get left for dead. Of course they don’t die, but instead band together to get their revenge on Max, and also wipe their names and identities off a CIA “death list.”

Elba is in talks to play “Roque,” The Losers‘ scarred-faced second-in-command, whose only motivation is the money. Saldana is supposedly in talks to play Aisha, the group’s hard-ass hothead.

Idris Elba will be the Money-hungry Roque

Zoe Saldana will be livewire killer, Aisha

This is good news, IMO. The Losers comic book never made it onto my radar (although the premise sounds pretty cool). I gave the film half a nod when I heard that Jeffery Dean Morgan was going to be playing the group’s leader, Clay, but now that I know that Elba and Saldana (two actors I consider to be fast-rising stars) are on board, The Losers is suddenly gaining a lot of clout with me.

Joel (The Matrix) Silver is producing The Losers. Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) will helm the film and the script was written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac).The Losers is currently slated for a 2011 release.

What do you think about Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana joining The Losers?

Source: MTV News

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Counterpoint: How To Make DC Comics Movies That WORK

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:16:27 +0000

With DC Comics about to have another hit on their hands when Watchmen premieres in theaters on March 6th, a lot of movie blogs/news sites have been pondering where DC/Warner Bros. should go from here.

With all the hype surrounding Watchmen, and all the internet chatter about DC Comics’ uncertain cinematic future, I found myself wondering: Why hasn’t DC had as much success at the box office as rival company Marvel?

In an attempt to answer that very question I came up with this comprehensive guide to how DC Comics SHOULD be making movies.

This week, writer/director Joss Whedon (Dollhouse, Firefly) spoke up about why he believes DC Comics has had a hard time making the transition to the big screen. According to Whedon, Batman has been a cinematic cash cow in the last few years primarily because The Caped Crusader is one of the only heroes out of the DC stable who’s whole reason for being a “hero” is an all too human anguish that makes him easily relatable to the average person.

I get what Whedon is saying on that front: I’ve always maintained that Superman Returns flopped in large part because the film was this grand meditation on why Superman is better than the average person–not just because of his god-like powers, but rather the moral strength of his character. In this day and age what moviegoer wants to pay money to see a film where they’re being told that some Superman is better than them? If Superman Unleashed hopes to revitalize the struggling franchise, I hope the filmmakers are out there right now scouring comic shops and compiling the most celebrated Superman stories they can get their hands on.

Marvel on the other hand, has always had the luxury of building their movie franchises on the backs of characters that Stan Lee purposefully created as allegories for the experiences of the common man, so that the common man would better be able to relate to them. Peter Parker is the geek who never gets the girl; X-Men are minorities who face discrimination and prejudice at every turn, etc… etc… We relate to these characters because they’ve been fashioned for us to do so. It’s easier for a fanboy to believe he can be Spider-Man than Superman; therefore it’s easier for the moviegoer who doesn’t read comics to believe the same.

However, I do think Whedon’s comments overlook an important point. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were big $uccesses at the box office (IMHO) because the filmmakers drew their screenplays from some of the most celebrated Batman lore that is currently in print. Batman Begins borrowed heavily from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s now-classic reimagining of The Caped Crusader’s origins, Batman: Year One. The Dark Knight’s intricately woven crime-saga was built off the comic book bones of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s noir-epic, The Long Halloween, while Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as The Joker borrowed from the more dark and modern renderings of The Clown Prince of Crime such as Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke.

And for those who’ve been paying close attention, DC/Warner Bros.’ next big venture, Green Lantern, has generated positive early buzz primarily because the script for the film will reportedly adhere closely to “Emerald Dawn,” one of the most famous GL stories ever told.

Do you see the pattern here?

The powers that be over at DC/Warner Bros. need to start thinking not only of which DC characters deserve a box office run, but also which famous DC Comics stories need to be told. To phrase this another way: DC, let Marvel worry about the character stuff; you worry about the many, many celebrated storylines you have at your disposal.

Watchmen is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It’s one of the most famous Comic book stories ever told under the DC banner–now it’s poised to be one of the biggest movies of 2009. Watchmen has endured not because of people’s fascination with the particular characters (aside from maybe Rorschach), but rather because of the impact of the story as a whole. Name me one Marvel storyline (storyline, not character) that has had THAT kind of social impact.

So what other famous stories does DC have to tell? Obviously there is Frank Miller’s iconic vision of Batman’s future, The Dark Knight Returns–a subject which resurfaced once again this week, in an interview First Showing conducted with Watchmen director Zack Snyder. (Snyder would still like to tackle the project, but there’s no guarantee yet that he will. Maybe Watchmen will change that if it does well enough at the box office.)

DC/Vertigo’s The Losers is on track to becoming a feature film. The comic had only a small cult following, but many of those that read it have had good things to say about it. We’ll see how the film turns out.

If I ruled Hollywood (and I aim to), I would love to see the early Preacher storylines compiled into a film (I’m talking the “Gone To Texas” and “Until The End of Time” storylines). There’s also Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Batman: Hush, or Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman–arguably one of the best Superman stories I’ve read in the last decade. Another safe bet would be ANY of the stories Grant Morrison told during his run on Justice League, should a JL movie ever crawl its way out of the grave.

Of course I’m just scratching the surface here. There are many, many, great DC Comics storylines that I’m totally blanking on at this moment. But then, that’s why I have you my wonderful, knowledgeable, readers. What DC Comics Storylines do you think DC/Warner should be adapting for the big screen? Hit us back and let us know.

Sources: Slash Film & First Showing

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The Comedian Is The Biggest Loser

Kofi Outlaw — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:26:31 +0000

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who stars as The Comedian in Watchmen next month, has taken on the role of another comic book anti-hero: Morgan will play Clay, leader of a disenfranchised band of ex-special forces operatives, in the adaptation of DC/Vertigo’s The Losers.

For those who aren’t familiar: The Losers was a DC/Vertigo comic book series that ran from August 2003 to March 2006. It chronicles the story of a special forces unit tasked with waging the war on terror, who are ultimately betrayed by their handler, “Max,” and get left for dead. Of course they don’t die, but instead band together to get their revenge on Max, and also wipe their names and identities off a CIA “death list.”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, Clay, is the leader of The Losers: a man known for wearing black suits without ties, and having a gifted mind for black-bag espionage… Sounds like Morgan was looking for something of a departure from his role as The Comedian (sarcasm alert!).

Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) will be the man with the plan (and the gun) in The Losers

Joel (The Matrix) Silver is producing The Losers. Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) will helm the film and the script was written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). The Losers is currently slated for a 2011 release.

So what do you think: is Jeffrey Dean Morgan somebody you’d like to see in a film like The Losers? Or will you have to see Watchmen before you can judge his ability to play a comic book anti-hero? Let us know what you think.

Source: The Moving Picture

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