Zak Penn is writing The Avengers

[FlawlessVictory]

In an interview with Empire (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24718) magazine, Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige talked about The Avengers (http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=44657) as well:

"Zak Penn is already on board The Avengers [as writer] and he's spending a lot of his time looking into what we're doing with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, seeing how we're tying it all together. And he's beginning to outline the script now – he'll be doing that over the summer."

The Avengers (http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=44657) is coming to theaters on May 4, 2012.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/thornews.php?id=8306

[FlawlessVictory]

So for one of the biggest superhero movie of all times Marvel has decided to go to Zak Penn. I don't understand why. My enthusiasm for this project has taken a nosedive. I don't see this turning out well, I hope I'm proved wrong.

[Matt]

Zak Penn wrote early drafts of X2, Hulk, and TIH as well. My guess is he will write an early draft then someone else will be brought in to touch it up and iron out the flaws.

[bunk]

I like that they're getting an early start on the script.

[Rac]

The script better get a complete rewrite like TIH.

[mclay18]

The script better get a complete rewrite like TIH.

The trouble is, Marvel and Universal were already in the storyboarding stage when Edward Norton rewrote the script and therefore the WGA didn't give him a co-writing credit in the movie.

And besides, like Matt said, Penn did write an early draft of X2. And if Favreau is indeed going to direct this baby straight after IM-2, he's gonna have other writers come on and redo it to his liking (or encourage Penn to step up his game when in rewrites).

[TheVileOne]

I'm not a huge fan of Zak Penn and his attitude about Ultimates, but my hope would be that Favreau and whatever writers he brings on would stick with what really works like they did with Iron Man.

[Chewy]

Yeah, let Penn write an early draft and get an outline together so that Favs and his team have more breathing room b/w IM2 and Avengers than they did b/w IM & IM2

[Mister J]

I don't mind Penn contributing the framework, but I would have reservations if the final product turns out to largely be a solo effort.

I do like that Marvel's eye is on the prize though.

[FrostBite]

I knew this before The Incredible Hulk was even out...

And to this day it makes me think this movie is going to be a train wreck.

Here's an idea, get Norton back as Banner, let him rewrite the script, and then don't cut out all the hard work he puts into it like last time.

The idea of the Avengers as a movie is already hard enough to pull off... you shove Zak Penn into the mix and everything is going to go to ****.

[Timstuff]

You'd think someone with the last name "Penn" wouldn't suck at writing. :o

[Dev]

^Hahaha. Good one. Penn is writing for Marvel now so I think he would step up his game. All the other times he wrote the scripts for other movies it was for other studios like Fox, Universal etc..

[The Guard]

Penn wrote an early draft of X2 that never saw the light of day. He's been pretty vocal about it. What does that tell you?

Sigh.

I haven't liked much of what he's done, short of parts of X3, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Here's hoping he writes a good script and really puts his all into it.

[Katsuro]

Yeah, i'm gonna pray he just writes an early draft, that's heavily rewritten by someone else. It worked for Incredible Hulk.

[Philly Phanboy]

Is it too blunt to say that there are much better writers that they should go with? :O

I really can't understand why Marvel uses Zak as their "go to" guy so often when his record is so lame. I personally think his best project was his work on the Fantastic Four video game. Maybe he should get a job with a video game production team and leave the scriptwriting to somebody else? :huh::up:

[TheVileOne]

At least its not Simon Kinberg who IMHO, hasn't written anything that was truly inspired or exceptional.

[Angamb]

I don't understand this decision either.

I think he should be the nicest man in the business and all the ejecutives like him, so that's why they sign him...

He isn't the best in his job, hasn't been nominated at important awards...

Marvel should sign bigger names.... why not an Academy winner? or a nominated one, at least...

[Dev]

^Academy award winners want nothing to do with comic book movies.

[The Guard]

I think it's simply that he's passionate, and he knows people. I suspect he and Avi Arad are friends, or something along those lines.

[MarvelMovies]

No surprise, Zak Penn has been attached to this project since 2006:
http://www.internapse.com/marvel/news.php?id=880

and has talked about the film several times since then:
http://www.internapse.com/marvel/upcoming/avengers/news.php?year=all

[mclay18]

Penn wrote an early draft of X2 that never saw the light of day. He's been pretty vocal about it. What does that tell you?

That Dougherty and Harris heavily rewrote his script into one good enough to shoot? I mean, he does have a co-screenplay credit in X2, after all. Has he ever said any specifics about what he wrote remained in the final shooting script for X2?

[FaT_tONle]

Hasn't Penn also said the movie was going to be motion cap at some point? I seriously thought Marvel was giving him the direct to DVD feature... instead he gets the real thing. Well I'll preach the choir... REWRITE!!!

[The Guard]

That Dougherty and Harris heavily rewrote his script into one good enough to shoot? I mean, he does have a co-screenplay credit in X2, after all. Has he ever said any specifics about what he wrote remained in the final shooting script for X2?

Supposedly Penn and Hayter wrote separate drafts, which were then combined in some fashion. David Hayter apparently wrote most of the draft that Doughtery and Harris touched up for the final film, because he's the credited screenwriter on it.

Zak Penn wanted a movie with a broader Phoenix Story and Sentinels at the end. And the Danger Room, I believe. He has said online that these were his main contributions to the story development process. Penn's forte seems to be remaining more faithful to the characters than other writers have.

[Sarg92]

What would you all say if The Avengers got the same treatment as The Incredible Hulk script wise. As in Zak Penn writes a draft and Edward Norton redrafts and makes it a lot better with a lot of though gone behind it and action. Norton would also have input from other actors like Downey Jr and co...

Or what if Norton writes the script from scratch or Marvel get someone else to write The Avengers that is a decent writer?

[The Guard]

Meh. THE INCREDIBLE HULK was not exactly a high quality story. If Zak Penn has a great AVENGERS movie in him, great. But they need to be careful with this, if this is what they're building to with all these other movies.

[FlawlessVictory]

‘Avengers’ Screenwriter Zak Penn Warns That Movie ‘Might Suck’ Despite Filmmakers’ Best Intentions (http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/06/24/avengers-screenwriter-zak-penn-warns-that-movie-might-suck-despite-filmmakers-best-intentions/)


Published by Josh Wigler (http://splashpage.mtv.com/author/joshwigler/) on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 2:10 pm.

Even for a comic book movie screenwriting veteran such as Zak Penn (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/zak-penn), the task of bringing multiple Marvel characters together in one film is a daunting one. It’s so daunting, in fact, that Penn isn’t even sure it’ll work when he has to write “The Avengers (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/the-avengers)” this summer.

“It’s hard to make a good movie,” the screenwriter told a crowd gathered at a Los Angeles Film Festival panel last night, according to Sci Fi Wire (http://scifiwire.com/2009/06/x-men-writer-zak-penn-bre.php). “We all have the best intentions, and it still might suck.”

That won’t stop Penn from trying. Having already written mutant mash-ups in “X2: X-Men United (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/x2-x-men-united)” and “X-Men: The Last Stand (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/x-men-the-last-stand),” Penn is no stranger to juggling a multitude of superheroes. Believe it or not, he actually wanted to include more comic book characters in those films, as Penn said that he’d planned to incorporate the Fantastic Four (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/fantastic-four) into the X-Men (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/x-men) movies. Unfortunately, Fox wasn’t warm to the idea, signifying a very different approach from Marvel Studios’ current edict.

“[Marvel wants] to see that they’re all connected, not like the Fantastic Four can’t come into the X-Men world, like I was told [by Fox],” Penn revealed, saying that he’d be involved in the development of “Thor (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/thor)” and “The First Avenger: Captain America (http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/the-first-avenger-captain-america),” both of which will debut before “The Avengers.”

“I’m taking a meeting next week with the ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America’ people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen,” he said. “I’ll see where they are leaving the characters; it’s pretty complicated.”

Even if “The Avengers” doesn’t work out quite as well as he’d hope, Penn suggested that the film is — at the very least — in the right hands. He praised Marvel’s work as a studio thus far, pointing to their first-hand knowledge of the source material as the reason for their success.

“Marvel is autonomous now,” Penn said. “It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie.”

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/06/24/avengers-screenwriter-zak-penn-warns-that-movie-might-suck-despite-filmmakers-best-intentions/

[FaT_tONle]

Appreciate the confidence booster Penn... :whatever:

[TheVileOne]

I don't want to sound like a negative nancy, but I'm just not 100% sold as Penn as the writer for this project.

[ddddeeee]

I don't want to sound like a negative nancy, but I'm just not 100% sold as Penn as the writer for this project.

I don't know why anyone would. I feel better knowing there'll be like a million rewrites.

[topdog1]

I don't know why anyone would. I feel better knowing there'll be like a million rewrites.

Listen to the X2 DVD commentary track. Bryan Singer's people re-structured and wrote X2. Ed Norton saved Incredible Hulk. I hope Zak Penn is NOT the final hand on Avengers. His track record is quite poor.

It all depends on who is doing the outline for the film. If they mandate alien crap with an Ultimates flavor, no writer will be able to pull it off. That's THE big worry at this point.

[KangConquers]

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/06/24/avengers-screenwriter-zak-penn-warns-that-movie-might-suck-despite-filmmakers-best-intentions/

way to hype fans.

[The Guard]

Maybe he was quoted out of context, and they're just trying to rile people up, but...

Le sigh.

[Venom'sDad]

I don't want to sound like a negative nancy, but I'm just not 100% sold as Penn as the writer for this project.

Neither am I

[The Guard]

Neither is Penn, apparently.

[TheVileOne]

Just get Orci and Kurtzman already . . .

lol, I kid, I kid.

[Blackman]

Well if they write like how they wrote Star Trek I wouldnt mind having them write at all

[calibud]

I think Penn can be a talented guy when his hands aren't bound by a studio. Anyone who's seen The Grand and Incident at Loch Ness can attest to that....I think. Granted both of those films had a bit of improvising and weren't placing any scriptly demands on him...

Still, Marvel's been good about letting the directors of The Avengers series let loose. I don't trust Penn entirely, but I do trust Marvel. Hell, they let Norton take a crack at his Hulk script just because he wanted to. Same with Downey Jr bringing in Justin Theroux on IM2. They trust their cast and crew to use their best judgment and it's paid off pretty well. I was surprised to find out Penn had even written Hulk considering how much I liked it.

I never thought I'd defend this guy, but all of Penn's laughable Marvel films have been under Fox's thumb who are known for their mindless frugality. I don't know what kind of film was hidden under X3 or FF or even Elektra, but Fox likely had a gun to his head. He might be sacrificing his integrity to please the studios but I believe Marvel are good at nudging creativity and openness from their people.