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VENOM
Jul 31, 2008 1:47:24 GMT -5
Post by All Star Batman on Jul 31, 2008 1:47:24 GMT -5
www.firstshowing.net/2008/07/30/bring-on-venom-sony-moving-forward-with-venom-spin-off/Bring On Venom! Sony Moving Forward With Venom Spin-Off! July 30, 2008 by Alex Billington It seems increasingly obvious that Hollywood is interested in focusing more on villains than anything. Fueled by the success of The Dark Knight, which used the Joker in marketing more than Batman, Sony has decided to move forward on developing a spin-off Venom project following the character's introduction in Spider-Man 3. Hollywood Reporter confirms that Sony is currently developing the project, with a draft originally penned by novice screenwriter Jacob Estes, but they've since decided to go "in a different direction" and are looking for new writers. While neither Sony nor Marvel would comment any further, this is undoubtedly exciting news for Venom fans! Does this mean Spider-Man 4 in 2011 is doomed? Back in February, we actually wrote about the possibility of a Venom spin-off as a rumor as revealed by IESB. While this news today only really confirms that rumor from February, they also add the bit about Sony throwing out Estes' script in search of a new idea. I can only hope that they're looking for someone who can write a dark and intense story in the same vein as The Dark Knight yet still inspired from the Spider-Man universe that was so successful for them. I imagine Sony was a bit mad when The Dark Knight topped Spider-Man 3's opening weekend box office record and now they're looking for a way to give them a real fight. And I'm sure Venom might be the one to do it! On top of all of that news, we also learn that Sony has decided to ditch Topher Grace from Spider-Man 3 in favor of someone who could actually topline a big superhero movie on their own. I personally didn't mind Topher as Venom, but for once Sony seems to be listening to the fans who were all quite upset with the third movie and the way Venom was treated. Keeping on the subject of Spider-Man, back in June, producer Laura Ziskin confirmed that we would be seeing Spider-Man 4 in 2011. It sounds like Sony is squeezing as much juice out of their deal with Marvel as possible. But if this means we get to see a Venom spin-off, hell, I'm all for it! It's about time they realized Venom's potential! While I have a forthcoming editorial looking at Hollywood's interest in villains, I think it's appropriate to start up some discussion on the idea of focusing on villains as the main characters. Not that movies like Iron Man are bad, but The Dark Knight was more of a movie about the Joker and the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is being sold as more of a movie about Voldemort and Tom Riddle. However, a Venom spin-off presents so many intriguing questions, such as: Who will Venom be fighting if Spider-Man is still getting his own movies? Will Venom be the hero or just someone that another hero must deal with? Who could play a better Venom than Topher Grace? Would it be better to recreated the look of Venom or stay with the style in Spider-Man 3?
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VENOM
Jul 31, 2008 10:30:25 GMT -5
Post by jlavaia on Jul 31, 2008 10:30:25 GMT -5
i didnt like Topher Grace as Venom either. he was too small. Eddie Brock is a big guy. they need Vin Diesel, or someone of a similiar build, to play Venom. Marvel has another villain movie coming late next year as well, Magneto. thanks for the info All-Star.
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VENOM
Aug 4, 2008 12:59:54 GMT -5
Post by All Star Batman on Aug 4, 2008 12:59:54 GMT -5
Todd McFarlane Weighs in on 'Venom' Movie Spin-off By Vaneta Rogers posted: 04 August 2008 09:47 am ETBuzz up! del.icio.us
If the villain Venom ends up starring in his own movie, the artist who defined his look in the comics hopes Hollywood makes him "creepier."
"When I created him, he was a monster first, then a guy underneath," said Todd McFarlane, the artist behind Venom's first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #299. "He should be creepier than what he was in Spider-Man 3."
On Thursday, news emerged that Sony Pictures, prompted by the success of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker, is moving forward with development of the film project "Venom," a Spider-Man spin-off based on the villain.
"I always thought Spider-Man was a skinny runt of a guy, and his villains felt more formidable if they were physically more superior," McFarlane explained, saying that when he first drew Venom, he didn't even know there was supposed to be a guy inside the suit. "I didn't realize until afterward that it was Eddie Brock underneath... which is why the proportions are the way they are [in the comics], with the big jaws and the hunching. I pictured him as a creature, and not a human being in a costume."
Venom is a thick, black parasite that attaches itself to the outside of a human host, giving the wearer superpowers. The implication of the villain being a vehicle for a movie is that Sony doesn't have to use the actor who played Venom in Spider-Man 3, Topher Grace, in the lead role of a new film, since the parasite can switch from one host to another. But the idea of another host also makes McFarlane's request for a scarier Venom possible.
"You don't want to scare the kids, because the kids love the character," McFarlane said of Venom, echoing the sentiment of those in Hollywood who maintain superhero movies must be PG or PG-13 to succeed because they need young audiences. "But I think you could add a little bit of a creep factor. I mean, it never bugged me to watch Frankenstein as a kid, so you could have a little bit of it, as long as you have a good story backing it up."
McFarlane, who was publicizing his role as one of the six artists drawing the upcoming comic Image United, became a comic book superstar in the '80s because of his artwork on Spider-Man, including his co-creation of the wildly popular Venom with writer David Michelinie. He later founded Image Comics and became an advocate of creator-owned characters, including his '90s hit series Spawn. The entrepreneur also founded the action figure company McFarlane Toys, and is well known to sports fans as a collector of historically significant baseballs.
But even if the new Venom is "creepier," the artist questioned the idea of a villain being the center character of a Spider-Man spin-off. "I'm thinking about how they want to make anti-heroes nowadays," he said, using the Halle Berry Catwoman film as an example. "Those don't work. The reason they're so cool as a bad guy is because they're bad. And as soon as you try to give too much humanity to them, then you go, no! Now they're not as good as a bad guy because you're trying to redeem them."
He said that although "smart people can make things happen in other ways," he doesn't think Venom can make an audience care about him if he's still a villain. McFarlane said that Don Corleone and the Sopranos are examples of characters who were able to entice viewer sympathy despite their villainy, "but they were human. Can you bring that mentality to Venom and make it work? Or do you make him all bad?
"You're trying to give something to people when they leave. I don't know if you can have a movie about a guy who goes out there and maims everybody and wins all the time," he said. "I don't know what their mindset is and how they can get there other than adding too much niceness to him, but we'll see."
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VENOM
Aug 4, 2008 20:16:53 GMT -5
Post by jasontodd2 on Aug 4, 2008 20:16:53 GMT -5
Thanks for the info All Star.
A Venom movie Hmmmmm....
I agree that Topher Grace was all wrong for Venom in Spiderman III, if anything they should have kept Topher in mind for Peter Parker if Tobey Maquire doesn't want to play the Webhead anymore.
great choice in Vin Diesel JLavaia to play Venom.
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VENOM
Aug 4, 2008 23:12:14 GMT -5
Post by DrGreenEvil on Aug 4, 2008 23:12:14 GMT -5
This could be interesting and different. Although I still haven't seen Spiderman 3.
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VENOM
Aug 5, 2008 13:33:51 GMT -5
Post by All Star Batman on Aug 5, 2008 13:33:51 GMT -5
This could be interesting and different. Although I still haven't seen Spiderman 3. Don't get your hopes up on that one. The hype it got didn't deliver.
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