More Dispatches From 'Punisher: War Zone'

It's been a week since the surprising news that Lexi Alexander was booted from Punisher: War Zone, and the silence is deafening. Alexander's blog, which had been offering only a photo of hear no evil, see no evil monkeys, is now back online, and managing to talk completely around anything movie related. She doesn't sound happy, though, hinting that she'd like to moon people, that mean people should explode like tires, and that life is sometimes about losing it all.

But Iain Stasukevich over at CHUD received an inside scoop from someone involved with the film, and who had no idea he was talking to a writer for one of the Internet's biggest movie news sites. According to the mystery person, all this drama is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, generated to drum up interest in the film. Lexi Alexander is still director, and the final cut will be set in a few weeks.

Now, this goes against some of the other insider info that has been floating around (and which was left in a comment on my previous Punisher post.) And frankly, when it comes to drumming up interest, a bigger panel and some copious swag at Comic-Con would have probably had a much bigger and better effect. If it is all hype, however, it would explain why everyone involved seemed so darn cheery at the convention. They knew it was a load of drama that would subside before too long. On the other hand, Alexander has been so chatty with fans on her blog that I have a hard time believing that she would willingly ditch her panel unless something ugly (as ugly, say, as being booted from one's own film) had happened.

So, we just have to see what develops in the coming months. I'd like to believe it is all hype -- or, at least, that it's just a few clashing tempers and that all will be patched up. I have to echo Stasukevich, though, and say that I just want a good movie. The studio can play all the mind games they want. Just give us the goods.