SilverSurfer Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There is no denying that 'origin tales' are all the rage, and it's not just for superheroes anymore. In an interview with MTV Movie Blog, director Alex Proyas gave a few updates about what he has planned for Dracula Year Zero, and the word of the day is 'realism'. Proyas told MTV, the film will be, "sort of the origin tale that mixes [the historical] Prince Vlad of Transylvania with sort of [fictionalized] Bram Stoker [take]" -- I guess if it helps, just think of it as 'Portrait of a Bloodsucker as a Young Man'

Proyas (like so many before him) is planning to mess with the mythology of the big, bad, Transylvanian. But, don't worry, there are still plenty of fangs to go around, Proyas tells MTV, "Oh, you've got to have teeth, I mean, the teeth are really important. I think Frank Langella in the 'Dracula' movie that was made in the 70s, I think he didn't want to have teeth in the movie. But, no, I like the teeth. I want to see girls with a lot of teeth." -- and maybe most importantly to fans, "...lots and lots of blood!"

Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless were hired to write the script for Universal, who are probably expecting this project to dovetail nicely with their other classic 'monster' flicks (The Wolfman and The Mummy). But is a realistic Dracula really the way to go? If you do a little digging on the life of Vlad the Impaler, it's not exactly the romantic tale that Coppola provided us with back in 1992. So keep your fingers crossed that Sazama and Sharpless have a copy of The Legend of Dracula lying around, and hopefully they have something like this in mind for Year Zero.

Dracula Year Zero is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.

You have to feel bad for the Silver Surfer. Everyone else is getting their own spin-off and franchise, and he can't even get the green-light. J. Michael Straczynski already said that his script was dead, but rumors continued to swirl that Alex Proyas was attached to direct.

But as reported by Slashfilm, Proyas shot that down at ComicCon. He didn't even know where the rumor originated. And while he's very fond of the character, he told MTV this week that he will never even consider directing a Silver Surfer movie. Why? "Because it's a Fox picture. And I'm determined never to work with them ever again because of my experience on I,Robot." Nor is he happy with the way the character was handled in Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer. "It's like the origin of Silver Surfer was in that movie, and I'm going, 'This is such a f–king great story, why throw it away? I think they messed it up ... Silver Surfer would have been something I would have loved to have done. He's one of the last cool ones left, really."

Who knows -- maybe Fox will relinquish the rights to the Fantastic Four characters (it's not like they're using them), and Proyas will not only get to direct a comic book movie, but fans will get a Silver Surfer movie from someone who really gets the character. But with all the studios jealously guarding their franchises, we'll probably see a Fantastic Four reboot before we see the Silver Surfer in the hands of someone that cares.

For the Silver Surfer fans dying to see his spin-off movie, this will come as a bitter disappointment. AMC's SciFi Scanner caught up with J. Michael Straczynski and asked him about the status of his Silver Surfer script. Not surprisingly, it is in the dead zone.

"Whether or not it ever gets made, I don't know, because they were kind of disappointed in how Fantastic Four 2 did. And given how this will be a subset of FF2 in terms of the marketing strategy, I think there is hesitation there about putting it forward. The script is pretty good, I like it, but whether or not it goes into production, I have no idea."

Silver Surfer would have taken place minutes after Fantastic Four 2 ended, and his surfboard raced back to his open arms. "You find out why Silver Surfer was there and what happened to him. We would have seen Galactus, his home world, what happened and him trying to get back there, because now that he's betrayed Galactus, he's concerned his home world might be in jeopardy."

We could really use a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It could be a faithful film, which would have certain relevance in a time when genetic research and other culturally debated scientific progresses, medical or not, continue to mark us as a God-aspirant species. Or it could be an updated or altered adaptation, to make the relevance more obvious. I think James Whale's films about the doctor and the monster are terrific, and we already have the greatest variation -- Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein -- but I'd personally like to see a new take on the original novel. Well, according to JoBlo, the guy who would most like to take the reigns on that idea is Guillermo Del Toro. During a visit to the set of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, JoBlo's Jason Adams quoted Del Toro as saying he "would kill to make" a faithful "Miltonian tragedy" version.

Apparently when Kenneth Branagh tried to do this 13 years ago with his Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, there was an unshot version of the script by Frank Darabont. Del Toro claims that draft was, according to Adams, "pretty much perfect." I admit I never bothered with Branagh's film. I'd rather watch "Johnny 5" play the monster than Robert DeNiro (or at least watch the robot read the book, as he does in Short Circuit 2). So, I can't directly say what didn't work about the adaptation. All I know is that it seems to have been pretty much disregarded by everyone. That said, I'm also not the biggest Del Toro enthusiast in the world. I'm not going to exclaim that he needs to make this and that he would deliver the best Frankenstein ever. I would, however, love to see him make the attempt.

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]

It seems I no longer need to worry -- or rant -- about the American government selling itself out for ad space. The Silver Surfer quarters that I complained about on Friday were not actually made with any cooperation from the U.S. Mint*. In fact, a press release from the Mint states the coins are "in no way approved, authorized, endorsed or sponsored by the United States Mint, nor is [the movie promotion] associated or affiliated with the United States Mint."

According to a spokesperson from 20th Century Fox, neither the studio nor the Franklin Mint meant to imply the U.S. Mint was involved, and certainly neither meant to break the law. But the marketing stunt may in fact be in violation, because it is illegal to turn federal money into an advertisement. This appears to be exactly what Fox and Franklin have done, since the 40,000 Silver Surfer coins are modified versions of actual U.S. quarters originally minted and circulated by the government in 2005.

It is hard to understand exactly how Fox and Franklin think the promotion, which advertises the website for the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, did not imply the coins are real, legal tender. Though the Franklin Mint often produces collectible and commemorative coins, it does not usually distribute them for free by dumping them into circulation. The Silver Surfer quarters were sent into the currency stream last week and all are expected to be in circulation by the end of the Memorial Day weekend. If neither Fox nor Franklin means for them to be accepted as real money, then how are they to be distributed? So far neither company has been issued a fine or other legal ramification, but we'll see if something more happens with the story once the business week begins.

*Thanks to commenter Alex C. for tipping me off about the follow-up story.

I'm fine with the government providing financial assistance to the movie industry (via subsidies and such), but when it is directly involved with the marketing of a film, I think that's a bit too much. The U.S. Mint has gotten together with * the Franklin Mint and 20th Century Fox to create a limited edition version of the U.S. quarter that features an image of the Silver Surfer on the tails side. These coins, which have already been released into circulation, also include the address for the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer website. There are only a total of 40,000 out there, so if you manage to find one, you might not want to go and use it in a vending machine; you should probably hold on to it. Besides the fact that it's a collectible (people are already selling them on eBay), there's also a contest open only to people who find one of the coins -- with the prize being a trip to the London premiere of FF:ROTSS.

Recently another government agency, the U.S. Postal Service, participated in movie marketing by placing 400 R2D2 mailboxes on sidewalks throughout the country. Of course, this was to celebrate the anniversary of a movie (also released by Fox) that has become something of a national treasure. The Silver Surfer coins are less forgivable because they advertise a new release that may not even be a big success. For that reason, the stunt seems to imply that our government agencies are for sale to advertising agencies. What, now, would stop the Federal Reserve from replacing George Washington with Spider-Man on limited edition one-dollar bills? How about we offer up the sides of government buildings and vehicles (including military vehicles, too) for logos and billboards? And why not have the President tell us to drink Coca-Cola at the end of his State of the Union speech?

*For a follow-up on this story, which points out that the U.S. Mint was not involved, check out the following post:
Silver Surfer Quarters Are Not Legal Currency

There's a brand new trailer in town for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and I must say it's pretty sweet. Don't be fooled by the fact that this one opens just like the teaser trailer that's been around for the last few months, with the Silver Surfer streaking toward Earth like a meteor; this baby's got a whole bunch of new stuff. There's the Fantasticar for starters, the FF's airborne transport, and I'm happy to report it looks nothing like the flying bathtub used in the first few issues of the comic. Not only do we get to see all four of our heroes displaying their powers, but The Thing and The Human Torch actually exchange abilities, much to the Torch's chagrin. We also see the Torch making eyes at a female military officer, who may be the Frankie Raye character I blogged about last October. There's lots more surfing with the alien this time too, and a better look at the global destruction the Silver Surfer causes. Check it out; you know you want to. The rest of us will wait.

I can't say I've ever been this jazzed up for a sequel to a film I didn't like. For my money, the last Fantastic Four flick had the characters spending too much time trying to cure themselves and not enough time being superheroes, but at least they got the premise and the characters right, even if the story was weak. This leaves the sequel in a strong position to redeem the franchise. I was a big fan of the Fantastic Four comic book back in the 80s, and there's still enough comic-book geek in me to hope we've got a genuine blockbuster here. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer hits U.S. theaters on June 15.

Since it did not stand up to some of the buzz surrounding the other superhero flick this summer, the sequel to Fantastic Four has had a relatively low profile. There have already been a few sets of posters so far, and now Marvel.com is hosting 10 new international posters for Fantastic Four 2: Rise of The Silver Surfer. The one-sheets have been pretty consistent, and these latest posters are no different. Giving us a look at all 4 heroes decked out in their "spandexed" best. We also get another look at the Surfer himself, and now since we know what he is going to sound like too, a pretty clear picture is starting to emerge for fans.

Director Tim Story has already promised fans a definite improvement from the last film -- namely more action. Opinions have varied so far on whether a sequel can deliver, although considering the reaction the trailer received back in December, expectations seem pretty low to begin with. It's not like this latest round of posters is going to convince anyone to see the film who wasn't planning on it already. Although I'm sure a 30-foot Jessica Alba in a skin-tight cat suit will draw at least a few glances. Considering no one was all that excited about this sequel in the first place, any talk of a third film is going to have to wait until opening weekend.

A few excited websites got the news half-right a couple days back: Yes, it's true that the man who played Morpheus will provide a voice in Fox's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. But no, that voice will not belong to "Galactus, Eater of Planets." Mr. Fishburne will voice the title character himself. Silver Surfer: Body by Doug Jones, Powers by Weta Digital, Voice by Laurence Fishburne.

You'd think that with a voice like his, Mr. Fishburne would be a veteran when it comes to voice-over work, but as far as I can tell, his only experience in this arena lies as the narrator in TMNT and with some material for the Matrix video games. (How has he not been given a job by Pixar or DreamWorks Animation yet? The guy's a natural!) Needless to say, the addition of Laurence Fishburne to any project raises both the Geek Quotient and the Bad-Ass Factor -- exponentially.

But the important question (and by "important" I mean "really nerdy) is this: Does Laurence Fishburne possess the appropriate pipes to play the platinum powerhouse? I ask the old-school Marvel fans: As you read the Silver Surfer character, does his voice sound anything like Larry Fishburne's? I don't know much about the character, but I always figured he'd sound something like C-3P0.