super max Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Supermax! It's such a catchy word that not one, but two projects have borrowed it for their title. The first is David S. Goyer's Supermax, which puts the Green Arrow behind bars and pits him against the villains of the DC universe. The other is a horror script from actors-turned-writers Mitch Rouse and Christopher Nelson, and that's the one this particular Cinematical story is about.

Supermax does share some similarities with the Green Arrow script in that it's about a maximum security prison that's stocked full with unnatural individuals. Instead of DC villains, this one is full of the supernatural. The story centers around a skilled prison guard who is reassigned to the creepy facility just in time for a prison riot to break out. He's forced to team up with one of the prison's most horrifying inmates to survive, and fight his way out. Who or what that inmate is remains a mystery. (Fangoria has an interview with Nelson and Rouse up and while they don't reveal much beyond their enthusiasm, you might find it a fun read.

Bloody Disgusting first broke the news that Supermax had been sold to Columbia, and now The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Rouse and Nelson will be seeing their nightmares come alive there. Production is set to begin in early 2010, and while many have predicted this Supermax will kill the DC one, I imagine that the issue will be fixed by one or both films changing their titles.

Unfortunately, David S. Goyer doesn't have a lot to tell us about any of the many projects he's working on, but most of us will no doubt settle for even the tiniest updates. So, just as I was, you'll probably be satisfied with the little interview he gave to Wizard magazine, in which he was asked about the hottest things he's got in the pipeline. First up is Magneto, the X-Men spin-off/prequel that he scripted and will soon be directing. All he could say is that he's been scouting locations and right now it looks like he'll be primarily filming in Europe and Argentina. He also hinted that he's going to have to budget wisely to get the thing in for a cheap enough price (meaning he wrote some expensive-to-do scenes or Fox doesn't see good reason to spend too much on this one).

Of further interest to comic geeks, Goyer shared that his script for Super Max (aka the Green Lantern Arrow prison movie*) features a number of obscure, "third-tier" super villains, including Icicle from the comic JSA. He says that he gave DC a list of villains he wanted to use and then the comic publisher weeded out the ones it didn't want appearing in the movie. Speaking of DC, Goyer also told Wizard that he's returning to comic books soon with his JSA writing partner Geoff Johns. All he could reveal is that it takes place following the upcoming Final Crisis series.

Goyer isn't all comics, though. He shared with Wizard his inspiration and basic idea for The Invisible Man, which he sees as sort of a sequel to H.G. Wells' novel, and mentioned that he also played loose with the young adult books that Jumper is based upon. The most exciting thing he had to say, at least for Heroes fans, is that he's really interested in scripting an episode of Heroes: Origins. I don't know how he has the time to tackle all of these things right now -- all I can think of is that his real name must be Jamie Madrox -- but I'll just have to patiently await each one in due time.

[ Thanks to ComingSoon.net for the tip. ]

*You know, I think if I had actually been a DC fan, I still would have confused the two Green characters. Apologies to the fans and readers.

Let this be an inspiration to all you aspiring screenwriters out there. 22 year-old newcomer Justin Marks has been selected by writer/director/producer David Goyer to write the screenplay for Goyer's proposed Green Arrow movie, Super Max. (Erik brought you news of the project here and here). Marks has never had a feature film produced before, but has recently been linked to Voltron. "I love finding new people out of nowhere. I love working with young talent, whether it be actors or writers," says Goyer. The script will center on DC Comics hero Green Arrow, who is wrongly placed in a maximum security prison for supervillains, including villains he previously put there. So now he doesn't only have to worry about taking showers and getting stabbed with toothbrushes, he's got laser-eyes and world domination schemes to contend with.

Goyer is probably best known for writing Batman Begins, and he also did some work on the upcoming sequel, The Dark Knight (he's not saying whether Two-Face will be one of the villains). Goyer does have some non-superhero projects in the works as well. He co-wrote the script for Doug Liman's upcoming Jumper, which will star Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. He is overseeing the script for Here, There Be Dragons, an adaptation of James A. Owens' book, which imagines authors J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Charles Williams taking a journey together. He is also working on a remake of David Cronenberg's mind-blowing (literally!) horror classic Scanners, which he is considering directing, as he did the "teen supernatural thriller" The Invisible, which will be in theaters next Friday.

According to Wizard Entertainment, David Goyer -- fresh off a not-so-successful stint working for Warner Bros. on a big-screen version of The Flash -- has switched gears and moved onto another DC Comics hero, the Green Arrow. However, what he's pitched the studio is unlike any superhero film we've seen before -- that's right, Goyer's Green Arrow tale is more like DCU meets Fox's Prison Break. Pic will apparently center on the Green Arrow being wrongfully accused of a crime; he's then sent to a Super Max prison, stripped of his secret identity and forced to live amongst a slew of the same DCU villains he helped put away. In the meantime, while he's off defending himself, Arrow must find a way to trust these bad guys so that he can use their help to escape.

Goyer, who's developing the project with Justin Marx, says he also plans to tie in a graphic novel or miniseries. I assume something like that would help set up the origins of these villains, who they were before and how they wound up in this Super Max lock up. Keep in mind, none of these villains will appear in costume -- like Green Arrow, they've been stripped of their identities and forced to use their real names. Goyer explains, "We've populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe. For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they're all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that." Maybe it's because I'm, like, an uber geek when it comes to Fox's Prison Break, but I think this is one of the best superhero-themed ideas I've heard in a long time. It's different, it's unique and it will be fun to watch these guys do battle as real men without masks. What do you think about it? And who are some of the villains you'd like to see Goyer include?