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Male heroes draw comic fans
Enlarge20th Century Fox
Center of the storm: Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) leads the Fantastic Four: Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), left, Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It arrives Friday.
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');
It's no secret that comic-book movies even the bad ones have become a virtual Hollywood ATM.
That is, as long as they aren't anchored by women. Then all bets are off.
PHOTOS: See more of the Silver Surfer
MORE: Doug Jones stretches into character
Comic devotees plunk down plenty of cash for critically trashed movies with men at their heart, from Ghost Rider ($115 million) to Daredevil ($102 million) to franchise-crushers such as Batman and Robin ($107 million).
Women as superheroes are a tougher sell like Catwoman ($40 million) or Elektra ($24 million).
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Jessica Alba | Fantastic Four | Ioan Gruffudd | Michael Chiklis | Silver Surfer | Silver Surfer | Ben Grimm | Reed Richards
That makes the Fantastic Four franchise something of a puzzle. The first film released in 2005 earned $154 million with Jessica Alba in the role of Sue Storm, the backbone of the team. And expectations for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will be just as high when the movie opens Friday.
"There's a bias against comic-book movies with women in big roles," says Blair Butler, a commentator for the G4TV network, which is aimed at video gamers and comic-book devotees.
"That may be because fanboys are, well, boys," Butler says. "They like women in distress or supporting roles or in a bondage outfit with open-toed stilettos like Catwoman. It's nice to see this (franchise) give Sue Storm a strong role and an outfit that covers her body."
The question of women's roles in superhero stories dubbed the "women in refrigerators" debate after a Green Lantern issue in which the superhero's girlfriend was found dismembered in an icebox began on comic pages and websites but has spilled onto the big screen.
"Certainly, a lot of the comic world is from the male perspective," says Rob Worley of Comics2Film.com. "You look at the way, say, Wonder Woman is drawn, and it's done from a very stereotypical perspective. She is drawn to match the male fantasy."
And film scripts have been similarly weak, concedes Kevin Feige, head of production for Marvel Studios.
"There haven't been good female comic-book-driven movies yet," he says. "I think because the first few out of the gate were weak, people got gun-shy about making more. But we have several in the works, and I'm sure when the story is there, people will come."
Alba believes one way to attract moviegoers to female superheroes is to worry less about die-hard comic fans.
"I think the success of our movie is that we were aiming for the families as much as the fans. And that's a group that recognizes strong women roles."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-12-silver-surfer_N.htm
Also here is a Doug Jones Article from the same issue of that day.
Jones stretches into character
The man with the moves: Doug Jones gave digital artists what they needed to bring the Silver Surfer to life.
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer gliding into theaters Friday, longtime costumed character actor Doug Jones will be riding the highest-profile wave of his career.
But movie fans probably have met some other creatures brought to life by Jones:
Abe Sapien, the amphibious sideman in Hellboy (2004). Jones says his goldfish served as an inspiration for his portrayal of Sapien. "I wanted to incorporate how their heads would kind of give a bit of a dart and then the rest of the body flows behind," says the 47-year-old Indianapolis native. "I wanted to give that same effect with my head going down through the limbs."
PHOTOS: See more of the Silver Surfer
MORE: Male heroes draw comic fans
He will play Abe Sapien again in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) and two more characters, the Chamberlain ("That is kind of like a doorkeeper for the bad guy") and the Angel of Death ("Which has a really yummy moment that will make you go, 'Oh.' You might see that character again.")
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Jones | Mike Snider | Silver Surfer | Silver Surfer | Hellboy | Ivana Baquero
Jones' delivery as Abe Sapien and the Surfer have some similarities, says Mike Elizalde, president of Glendale, Calif., effects company Spectral Motion. His firm worked with Jones on both characters. "They both possess powers beyond those of mortal humans and they are both elegant and beautiful," Elizalde says.
Jones' background as a mime and his tall, slender body makes him ideal for such challenges.
"He is very conscious of what every joint in his body is doing at any given moment," Elizalde says. "I admire his performance tremendously."
The Faun and the Pale Man (Pan's Labyrinth). Jones reunited with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro to play two characters in the 2006 film, which won three Oscars, including one for makeup. "My costume and makeup for the faun was a five-hour process. (With attached stilts) I was 7 feet tall and (co-star Ivana Baquero) was 4 feet tall," he says. "There were some obstacles to overcome."
He also had to memorize his lines in Spanish. "I had to learn (Baquero's) character's dialogue as well so I knew what she was saying back to me."
He considers the faun his favorite costumed character. "What I loved about the faun's head was the ram's horns. They were beautiful, and a slight tilt of the head could be dramatic," Jones says. "That character and that movie is a piece of art and is something I would love to have follow me around."
Several glued-on silicon appendages were needed to transform Jones into the Pale Man. The headgear forced him to look out the right nostril with the left eye and left nostril with the right eye. "Vision was the problem. It kind of had a dizzying effect," he says.
The Imp monsters in Doom (2005). "They were these grotesque creatures," he says.
Occasionally, he is recognized by "someone on the street saying, 'Are you Doug Jones?' That will shock me. They will say, 'You were in Doom.' They saw me in the special extras."
His makeup process is shown on the Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy two-disc DVDs and on the Hellboy Blu-ray disc ($29) released last week.
Jones appreciates DVDs because the extras "are personal to me," he says. "There's a record and documentation of how I got ready that day."
Enlarge20th Century Fox
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');
It's no secret that comic-book movies even the bad ones have become a virtual Hollywood ATM.
That is, as long as they aren't anchored by women. Then all bets are off.
PHOTOS: See more of the Silver Surfer
MORE: Doug Jones stretches into character
Comic devotees plunk down plenty of cash for critically trashed movies with men at their heart, from Ghost Rider ($115 million) to Daredevil ($102 million) to franchise-crushers such as Batman and Robin ($107 million).
Women as superheroes are a tougher sell like Catwoman ($40 million) or Elektra ($24 million).
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Jessica Alba | Fantastic Four | Ioan Gruffudd | Michael Chiklis | Silver Surfer | Silver Surfer | Ben Grimm | Reed Richards
That makes the Fantastic Four franchise something of a puzzle. The first film released in 2005 earned $154 million with Jessica Alba in the role of Sue Storm, the backbone of the team. And expectations for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer will be just as high when the movie opens Friday.
"There's a bias against comic-book movies with women in big roles," says Blair Butler, a commentator for the G4TV network, which is aimed at video gamers and comic-book devotees.
"That may be because fanboys are, well, boys," Butler says. "They like women in distress or supporting roles or in a bondage outfit with open-toed stilettos like Catwoman. It's nice to see this (franchise) give Sue Storm a strong role and an outfit that covers her body."
The question of women's roles in superhero stories dubbed the "women in refrigerators" debate after a Green Lantern issue in which the superhero's girlfriend was found dismembered in an icebox began on comic pages and websites but has spilled onto the big screen.
"Certainly, a lot of the comic world is from the male perspective," says Rob Worley of Comics2Film.com. "You look at the way, say, Wonder Woman is drawn, and it's done from a very stereotypical perspective. She is drawn to match the male fantasy."
And film scripts have been similarly weak, concedes Kevin Feige, head of production for Marvel Studios.
"There haven't been good female comic-book-driven movies yet," he says. "I think because the first few out of the gate were weak, people got gun-shy about making more. But we have several in the works, and I'm sure when the story is there, people will come."
Alba believes one way to attract moviegoers to female superheroes is to worry less about die-hard comic fans.
"I think the success of our movie is that we were aiming for the families as much as the fans. And that's a group that recognizes strong women roles."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-12-silver-surfer_N.htm
Also here is a Doug Jones Article from the same issue of that day.
Jones stretches into character
The man with the moves: Doug Jones gave digital artists what they needed to bring the Silver Surfer to life.
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer gliding into theaters Friday, longtime costumed character actor Doug Jones will be riding the highest-profile wave of his career.
But movie fans probably have met some other creatures brought to life by Jones:
Abe Sapien, the amphibious sideman in Hellboy (2004). Jones says his goldfish served as an inspiration for his portrayal of Sapien. "I wanted to incorporate how their heads would kind of give a bit of a dart and then the rest of the body flows behind," says the 47-year-old Indianapolis native. "I wanted to give that same effect with my head going down through the limbs."
PHOTOS: See more of the Silver Surfer
MORE: Male heroes draw comic fans
He will play Abe Sapien again in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) and two more characters, the Chamberlain ("That is kind of like a doorkeeper for the bad guy") and the Angel of Death ("Which has a really yummy moment that will make you go, 'Oh.' You might see that character again.")
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Jones | Mike Snider | Silver Surfer | Silver Surfer | Hellboy | Ivana Baquero
Jones' delivery as Abe Sapien and the Surfer have some similarities, says Mike Elizalde, president of Glendale, Calif., effects company Spectral Motion. His firm worked with Jones on both characters. "They both possess powers beyond those of mortal humans and they are both elegant and beautiful," Elizalde says.
Jones' background as a mime and his tall, slender body makes him ideal for such challenges.
"He is very conscious of what every joint in his body is doing at any given moment," Elizalde says. "I admire his performance tremendously."
The Faun and the Pale Man (Pan's Labyrinth). Jones reunited with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro to play two characters in the 2006 film, which won three Oscars, including one for makeup. "My costume and makeup for the faun was a five-hour process. (With attached stilts) I was 7 feet tall and (co-star Ivana Baquero) was 4 feet tall," he says. "There were some obstacles to overcome."
He also had to memorize his lines in Spanish. "I had to learn (Baquero's) character's dialogue as well so I knew what she was saying back to me."
He considers the faun his favorite costumed character. "What I loved about the faun's head was the ram's horns. They were beautiful, and a slight tilt of the head could be dramatic," Jones says. "That character and that movie is a piece of art and is something I would love to have follow me around."
Several glued-on silicon appendages were needed to transform Jones into the Pale Man. The headgear forced him to look out the right nostril with the left eye and left nostril with the right eye. "Vision was the problem. It kind of had a dizzying effect," he says.
The Imp monsters in Doom (2005). "They were these grotesque creatures," he says.
Occasionally, he is recognized by "someone on the street saying, 'Are you Doug Jones?' That will shock me. They will say, 'You were in Doom.' They saw me in the special extras."
His makeup process is shown on the Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy two-disc DVDs and on the Hellboy Blu-ray disc ($29) released last week.
Jones appreciates DVDs because the extras "are personal to me," he says. "There's a record and documentation of how I got ready that day."
