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Brett Ratner Wants Robert Pattinson In Youngblood

Rob Keyes — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:58:50 +0000

At the beginning of the year, it was announced that Brett Ratner would be directing yet another comic book movie, Youngblood. Of course this wasn’t met with positive reaction, but since then, the only other major update we had was that the screenwriters were half-way through finishing their first draft of the script.

The few details we did find touched on some of the characters we may see, one that we wouldn’t see, and the unique reality show elements would stylize the film – The Youngblood team are celebs who work for the government, after all.

Today, we have one more update for you about who Ratner wants to star in his film…

MTV spoke with Brett Ratner and asked him if he had any ideas of what actors he’d like to play a part in the film.

“Definitely [Robert Pattinson] from ‘Twilight,’… He just feels like he belongs in that world. I don’t only see him as a vampire, he’s a really good actor.”

Heh.

I wonder what audience he’s trying to appeal to here. I think what he means to say is that he wants the large Twilighter legion to pay to see his film when it’s done – Perhaps to balance off some of the X-Men fans who won’t be paying to see it. We don’t need to get into X-Men: The Last Stand again, I don’t like looking back on it.

So, what can we expect from Ratner’s adaptation?

“My vision for it is: We’re going to make a very edgy, cool film… We’re not soft-peddling it at all.”

That’s good news I suppose, but what does it mean? How will the movie compare to the hardcore style of the book?

It would be interesting to see Pattinson in a superhero role and what he could do with a major film and a better script than he’s use to (if that were to actually happen), but I think Ratner’s throwing that out there for the wrong reasons.

According to creator Rob Liefeld (he’s also the creator of Deadpool), the story of the Youngblood movie will focus on the relationship between the veteran of the group, Chapel and newcomer, Shaft. My guess is that Pattinson is being eyed for the role of Shaft, the bow-and-arrow master pictured up top.

We’ll let you know if we hear anything more on Youngblood.

What do you think of Ratner’s comments?

Source: MTV

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New Details On Rob Liefeld’s ‘Youngblood’ & ‘Capeshooters’

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:36:09 +0000

In February, Screen Rant reported that beloved director Brett Ratner would be helming the big-screen adaptation of Rob Liefeld’s 1990’s Avengers knock-off original comic book series, Youngblood. Today we’ve got more info on Youngblood for you, including who is writing the script, what the plot is likely to focus on, and the shocking news that a major character from the Youngblood comics WON’T be making the transition to the big-screen.

We’ve also got a bit of info on another upcoming Liefeld project called Capeshooters, which is sounding a bit more interesting (to me) than Youngblood.

In a recent interview with MTV News, Youngblood creator Rob Liefeld explained that the screenwriting team of J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani are currently half-way through a first draft of the Youngblood script. Lavin and Damiani are also currently working on adapting another Liefeld project for the big-screen: the upcoming graphic novel Capeshooters, which follows two slackers who make their living videotaping superhero exploits, only to discover that a major superhero is actually a nefarious villain (sounds much more interesting than Youngblood, right?).

Lavin and Damiani’s script for Youngblood will try to balance the comic book’s mix of violence, big action, and (ahem) deep meditation on politics and celebrity culture. As far as the story goes, Youngblood will focus on the relationship between team newcomer Hawkeye Shaft (a bow and arrow-wielding marksman) and veteran hard-ass special ops soldier, Chapel. According to Liefeld:

They don’t like each other…Shaft is the new kid on the block in the movie, and he and Chapel have to put aside their differences to save the Youngblood program.”

For those who never read Youngblood, it’s about a team of superheroes sanctioned by the government (for better AND worse), who are generally regarded by the public as rockstars. This conflict (between notions of celebrity, military duty and true heroism) was best personified in the comic books by the character of Badrock, who was basically Thing from Fantastic Four (a big rocky strong guy), only with the alter-ego of a teenage boy who idolized Youngblood and the whole idea of living a superhero’s life.

Badrock won’t be making the cut of the first Youngblood film.

Sorry Youngblood fans, but Badrock won’t be included in the film version’s cast of characters – at least not in the first movie – a decision made by Liefeld himself: “[Badrock] doesn’t fit in the first film.”

Ok… I would’ve thought old Badrock was the perfect character to build the film around. You have him be the newbie on the team, and use fanboy idealism and naivete as an access point for the audience into what Youngblood is all about. But hell, what do I know about making movies?

Rob Liefeld, on the other hand, has some… other ideas on how to draw the audience to the theater for Youngblood:

“There are characters that have micro-cameras installed on their bows, their arrows, their semiautomatic rifles, their bo staffs… You’re getting footage from a thousand angles, from the casing on their weapons to their armor.”

“When Youngblood goes live, the whole word watches,”

So… what? Youngblood is going to be a movie version of the first superhero reality show? Why do I want to see camera angle shots from the casing of a weapon or an arrow or a bullet flying at hight speed? Does the name Wanted ring a bell????

I’ll confess: I liked Image Comics’ initial run of Youngblood. The first 12 issues or so were a welcome (read: violent) departure from the candy-coated Avengers comics of the time, and introduced me to Shadowhawk, who is still one of my favorite Image heroes. But this Youngblood movie is already sounding doomed, IMO. Count me on board for Capeshooters, though: that film sounds like it could be interesting.

How do you feel about Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood movie? For fans of the comics: how do you feel about Badrock being nixed from the film? For those just hearing about this for the first time, what sounds more interesting to you: Youngblood or Capeshooters?

Source: MTV News

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Brett Ratner Wants To Be On The Comic Book Movie A-List

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:13:50 +0000

Everyone’s favorite director, Brett Ratner, recently went on a bit of a rant to MTV News, talking about how he would love to direct more comic book movies, if only there were still some of the ‘best heroes’ to go around.

Now, I know what a lot of you are already thinking–but at least take a look at what the man had to say before you go ripping into him, please.

“I would do any superhero movie that I was asked to do,” Ratner told MTV News. “But I wouldn’t have been interested in ‘Iron Man.’ I have a lot of respect for [Jon Favreau], because to me, it was a B-character. ‘Iron Man’? … But look what he did.”

Those comments definitely got under some people’s skin–this story was sent my way under the subject-heading, “Brett Ratner slams Jon Favreau and Iron Man,” for God’s sake. But I don’t see it as that bad of a comment: Iron Man was a B-list superhero (at best) and Jon Favreau deserves a lot of respect for taking the character and turning him into a mainstream icon.

However, I will call Ratner out on the fact that he said he wasn’t interested in comic book “B-characters.” I mean the guy is going to be producing and directing Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, a comic book that was basically a C-list knock-off of The Avengers. He’d better hope that he too can work that Favreau magic at the box office.

For you Ratner-haters out there, here’s something Brett said in that same interview that will truly make you shudder with the thought of “What if?”, only to make you warm with joy all over again:

“I was so upset when I left ‘Superman,’” said Ratner. “[Bryan] Singer has his ‘X-Men,’ [Christopher] Nolan has ‘Batman‘ — there’s nothing left. ‘Hulk‘ has been exploited already. There’s nothing left for me.”

“I mean, I’m not going to go and do the Silver Surfer or something,” shrugged Ratner.

So we know that Silver Surfer is safe, but could you imagine if Ratner was handed a Batman or Superman film, or (God forbid!) another crack at X-Men? Don’t think it couldn’t happen! This guy is THE go-to guy in situations where celebrated directors depart from their franchises. Once Chris Nolan is tired of Batman…

Seriously though, I’m going to use this platform to proclaim that I’ve never understood all the Ratner-hate. Or for that matter, the intense hatred for X-Men: The Last Stand that I come across every day in the blogosphere. X3 wasn’t that bad of a movie; I keep watching it (gasp! I own it!) trying to get on the same page as a lot of my blogger-brethren, but I can’t do it. The film just isn’t that bad. I mean it certainly mucked with the X-Men continuum by killing off Cyclops and “killing off” Professor X… but the fight sequences were some of the best of the series (IMHO) and the plot (though a bit over-crammed) worked for me. X3 was a nice end chapter to the trilogy and a good setup for a fresher, younger, X-Men franchise down the line. Even Kelsey Grammer’s Beast was OK (though the makeup was a bit corny).

There, I said it. It’s so good to finally be able to come out of the closet as an X3 liker (not lover).

So, personally speaking: I would let Brett Ratner have a crack at another well-known comic book hero(es). It would be a B-list or C-list hero, but I would let him have a chance–if he deemed the project “worthy,” of course.

OK I’m finished. Now you can all go ahead and rant back about how you REALLY feel about Brett Ratner, X-Men: The Last Stand and Kofi Outlaw for saying he’s cool with both. I await your judgment.

Source: MTV News

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Brett Ratner To Helm Youngblood

Rob Keyes — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:05:09 +0000

Reliance Big Entertainment has acquired the film rights to Youngblood, the comic series created by Rob Liefeld, and has set Brett Ratner to direct. The Image Comics series which debuted in 1992 is about a Superhero team that works for the government.

In speaking to Variety, Ratner said:

“Most of the great graphic novels are gone, and ‘Youngblood’ is one of the few comicbooks left with tentpole potential… It was a real personal passion project for me, and a lot of people wanted (‘Youngblood’), but the amazing thing about the guys at Reliance is the speed with which they’re able to move.”

Reliance Big Entertainment, an Indian Media Conglomerate is making a big push into the American Film Industry. Among the many development deals it has made with big international stars in the U.S. including George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Tom Hanksl Playstone Productions and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, it has recently made a deal with Brett Ratner’s shingle Rat Entertainment. This particular project will be the first to rise out of Reliance’s many Hollywood deals.

I didn’t like Director Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour 3 and not many movies have disappointed me as much as X-Men: The Last Stand did so I’m not excited about this – especially considering the way Ratner discusses this project. He makes it sound so mediocre by saying all the good comic stories are gone and this is part of what’s left at the bottom of the barrel.

What do you think?

Source: Variety

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