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LayerCake Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Mark Millar's 'Kick-Ass' Update

Filed under: Deals », Scripts », Movie Marketing »

Now that Wanted is ready to hit the big screen and early buzz has been positive, it should come as no surprise that Mark Millar's other film project has kicked into high gear. Comic Book Resources got the chance to speak with Millar about the upcoming feature film adaptation of his work when the conversation turned to the feature film version of his Icon series, Kick-Ass. Millar tells Resources, "The casting's all been done, and everything's all in line now with that. There's two big names attached, which I can't mention so we can get on the cover of 'Variety.' And now we've got everyone. The kids who show up at the end of issue #3 - we just cast the girl, and that was a really tricky one because we needed to find someone who could do martial arts stuff."

The story of Kick-Ass is a little different from your average tale of a caped crusader. Instead, Kick was told through flashbacks about a 15-year-old kid named Dave Lizewski. Dave is just a regular kid with no special powers or abilities, but he makes the incredibly dangerous decision to become a superhero. Early speculation has Matthew 'Layer Cake' Vaughn handling the script and directing duties, but so far nothing has been confirmed -- and Millar has kept quiet on that front.

So let the games begin: sound off below on who you think can fill Lizewski's homemade tights.

Matthew Vaughn Set to Helm 'Thor'

Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Comic/Superhero/Geek »

Although he made his Marvel Comics debut in 1962, (The Mighty) Thor has been around for quite some time. In Norse and German mythology, Thor is the god of thunder ... and war. I'm sorry, but that alone makes him cooler than Superman. Say what you will about good ol' Kal-El -- but he's not exactly a GOD, now is he? Would a god run screaming from a glowing green meteorite? No ,I think not. Plus Thor has this awesome giant hammer called Mjolnir that spits lightning and returns to its owner when thrown at an evildoer. Yeah, Thor! Whack those villains with your gigantic hammer! (But remember the PG-13 rating.)

Oh, and Marvel finally decided who'll be directing their big-screen adaptation of The Mighty Thor. According to Variety, it'll be Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake and Stardust, and producer of Guy Ritchie's only two good movies. Comics fans will no doubt remember Mr. Vaughn as the man who was supposed to helm X-Men: The Last Stand, but bailed on the project (probably wisely) for personal reasons.

Marvel and Vaughn will be working from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich, and our source indicates that the studio might want to get the project rolling before the end of the year -- what with that black cloud of a Hollywood strike looming on the horizon. If Thor turns out to be anything like Marvel's current projects (The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man) then we can expect a whole bunch of nifty casting announcements to hit the scene soon. But for now I ask our readers: Who would YOU hire to play the massive blonde hero-god?

My vote is for DJ Qualls.

Silver Surfer Solo Film Being Prepped and 'Thor' May Get Director

Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »

According to the LA Times today, 20th Century Fox is already prepping a solo spin-off for the Silver Surfer. The Marvel character features in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, opening this weekend, and Fox is apparently hoping that pic performs well enough to give the Surfer his own movie, because the studio has hired comic book writer/screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski to pen the thing. Straczynski has written for a number of Marvel titles, including the new series Silver Surfer: Requiem, he created the sci-fi series Babylon 5 and he recently delivered scripts for The Changeling, to be directed by Clint Eastwood, and the zombie adaptation World War Z. The LA Times article claims the Silver Surfer movie would be darker in tone than the new Fantastic Four sequel, possibly in response to fan criticisms of the sequel's PG rating. I've never actually read the Silver Surfer comics, so I'm not sure how dark is appropriate for the character, but I'll always take a more grown-up comic adaptation than something geared toward young children.

More exciting for me is the news, also mentioned in the LA Times piece, that Thor may soon have a director. Unlike the Surfer comics, The Mighty Thor was a title I followed for years, and so far the closest thing I've had to seeing the hero/god on the big screen is his 'cameo' in Adventures in Babysitting (and I doubt he'll be in the remake). Supposedly Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn is in negotiations to helm the comic adaptation, which was greenlit last summer and which has a script by Mark Protosevich (Poseidon). I'm not a huge fan of Vaughn's directorial style and I was happy when he dropped out of X-Men: The Last Stand (though now I think he'd have done better), but I'm willing to give him a chance with Thor. I think his style may actually be appropriate for the god of thunder. Besides, we've so far only seen one film from him; his next, Stardust, arrives in August.

[via JoBlo and Moviehole]
 
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