Mark Millar's set report

[Antonello Blueberry]

http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=71517

Hey you,

I think I may have to rethink my position on foreigners. Normally, they annoy me as you know because they eat strange food and can't speak English, often waving their hands and shouting when they needn't. I hate travelling in general, but especially travelling to countries that aren't called America or Australia. Even Canada's a bit ****, a big chunk of the population speaking French for no good reason except to irritate. And so the trip to Prague didn't seem so alluring. My only experience of Eastern Europe was a solo trip to Bulgaria (which was ****) and the movie Hostel (which was terrifying). I feared this report might never be written and I'd end up tied to a chair, raped and murdered for the amusement of a Spanish IT specialist at the cost of 30 thousand US dollars. Comic writers don't come cheap.

But you know what? It was brilliant. Despite a five hour delay in Amsterdam, I had a great time and there I nothing-- I mean NOTHING-- more surreal than wandering around enormous, high school-sized sets of something that lived only in your head just a few years before. I wandered around wesley's apartment, touched the bedframe you saw on the splash page of issue two, sat on the chair where he was being toughened up just a few pages later and watched, in awe, the final edit of the scene from the end of the first issue. I promised Universal's white hot PR chick I wouldn't get more specific, but trust me when I say I'm still grinning from how good this looks. In a country where you can get a Big Mac for the equivalent of 50 cents you can imagine what 100 million dollars looks like on-screen. I saw the first 25 minutes of the movie itself and it's jaw-dropping. as we all know, the super-villains are different kind of villains now, but this first act is almost scene for scene the first two issues of the comic, right down to the dialogue and the captions. I couldn't be more happy with it. Timur is amazing. The west doesn't know what they're getting next March or how great he is yet. I instantly clicked with him as a guy and we're talking about another project together. I think he's the next big thing, perhaps the best action director around at the moment.

McAvoy in particular is just brilliant. He's a nice wee guy and grew up just a few miles from me, having gone to all the same pubs and football matches I did as well as the big water complex (The Time Capsule) just a few hundred yards where I lived through the nineties. He brings Wesley to life like nobody else I could imagine, that weird combo of cool and geeky, terrified and remorseless as he makes the jump from a guy who can't break up with his bird to a guy blowing hundreds of people away without even blinking. He's a TRIUMPH, darlings, as is Angelina and Morgan Freeman. Angelina was shooting the main day I was on the set and could not have been more friendly. It was weird meeting here after seeing her face on the cover of almost every magazine in the airport, but she's very easy-going, super-smart and pretty hot too. She can engage about everything from Henry Kissinger to British comedies and has a huge DVD collection, her impression of Little Britain's chav teenager being a jaw-dropper as it's the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. Got on very well with her and she seemed into the material so all looking good.

My only complaint, really, is the food. I arrived first day and found that these huge marquees had been built for the 500 people on the set where top chefs put together top nosh for the crew and extras. But it was all a bit rich for this lowly Scot and I asked where the nearest McDonalds was. One of the producers was aghast, saying these were some of the best chefs in the world and I just shook my head and explained that if they were as good as McDonalds THEY would have restaurants dotted all across the world. We had drivers for the visit and I disappeared with one of them, buying TWO Big Macs (one for lunch and one for heating up later for dinner). I can report that the Czech Big Macs are every bit as good as the American ones so a big thumbs up. My wife asked me what Prague itself was like, but in truth I didn't really look around. As soon as shooting and dinners were over I parked myself in an Irish bar called Caffrey's (on the old Square) and stayed in there all night watching English TV and getting rat-arsed with the crew. But their Guinness was excellent. So it's a country worth checking out if you're into a) McDonalds and b) Guinness. I heartily recommend it.

Home with a ton of photos, but sadly can't share them until Summer's out the way and PR campaign begins. Spidey and his amazing friends are still dominating the box office here so they asked me to hold off on posting these pics until they give the green light (everyone else's cameras having been banned during the shooting). But these pics are so friggin' cool I can barely contain myself. I sent a pic of me and Angelina to an old school friend I hadn't been in touch with for a few years under the headline "Have you met my new bird?" and his reply was a near-instant "You lucky c*nt!" so it's worth its weight in gold already. It's true, though, I AM a lucky c*nt.

It's good to be back.

Your boy,
MM

 

[green]

Nice to hear Millar so positive on the way its going.

 

[shinlyle]

Man...to hear him so enthused about it lifts my spirits...but unless they, AT THE VERY LEAST, slap an R-rating on this thing, it will never be what the Graphic Novel is.

You'll miss dialogue like this:

Wesley; "Happy goat-f**&ink, Mr. Rictus."

Mr. Rictus: "What's that? I don't f**% goats, boy.....I make sweet love to them."

t:

 

[MaskedManJRK]

Well, the first half is true to the book, at least.

Millar doesn't seem to me a guy who'd bulls**t about it, so maybe they fixed it so it's more purer to the book now. Hopefully.

Hopefully.

 

[chamber-music]

can't believe Angelina was doing vicky pollard impresssions

 

[Leto]

I was honestly really bothered about how much they changed the story from the book, but the great casting and the seemingly genuine praise by Mark Millar makes me believe this could turn out to be something good. Not truely Wanted, but still fun.

 

[Darth Elektra]

Sweet report.

 

[xwolverine2]

anything with freeman is gold...lol

and jolie is <3

 

[Spider-Bat]

Millar's probably happy about money, he seems like the type who likes to let his creation go to crap, he'll just bend over and happily take the money up his arse!

 

[Retroman]

http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=71517

Well if that ain't positive!From the creator himself.

can't believe Angelina was doing vicky pollard impresssions

Yeah i know. Those are the kind of anecdotes i like hearing about actors.

And how about that Big Mac....only 50 cents?!

 

[dpm07]

Great set report. He's giving off a good vibe so far on what this movie will be. That's great to hear.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Millar's probably happy about money, he seems like the type who likes to let his creation go to crap, he'll just bend over and happily take the money up his arse!

A couple of my friend's have had dealing's with Millar in the past and they'll be the 1st to confirm your suspicions.

 

[shinlyle]

I'm a HUGE fan of Millar's stuff, but I think this is just going to suck. On one hand, I'm pissed that my favorite comic of all time is being ruined, but, on the other hand, I suppose if someone offered me an assload of cash to let thm bastardize one of my creations (as I am dirt poor), I'd have a hard time turning it down. Also, if I knew that talking it up to the sleptical fanbase might generate some more bank for the film, which in turn, would mean more cash for me, then I'd probably go around mentioning the similarities to the original work, as opposed to the differences.

I mean, he's pretty much being paid an exorbitant amount of cash for his property, and he'll get more money if it does well, so why not pimp it out? What's he going to do? He's not going to go online and say, "Hey, this movie is going to suck because it's not like the comic I wrote! All fans avoid this like the black plague of death!"

 

[Brian Braddock]

I'm a HUGE fan of Millar's stuff, but I think this is just going to suck. On one hand, I'm pissed that my favorite comic of all time is being ruined, but, on the other hand, I suppose if someone offered me an assload of cash to let thm bastardize one of my creations (as I am dirt poor), I'd have a hard time turning it down. Also, if I knew that talking it up to the sleptical fanbase might generate some more bank for the film, which in turn, would mean more cash for me, then I'd probably go around mentioning the similarities to the original work, as opposed to the differences.

I mean, he's pretty much being paid an exorbitant amount of cash for his property, and he'll get more money if it does well, so why not pimp it out? What's he going to do? He's not going to go online and say, "Hey, this movie is going to suck because it's not like the comic I wrote! All fans avoid this like the black plague of death!"

When I read that ^^^I thought of:-

t:

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

More from Millar on the movie.
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=124839

As for the film version of Wanted, Millar said that he’s seen 25 minutes of the film and it’s amazing. 60% of the movie has been shot, and he could not be happier about it, noting that it’s weird to talk about it but he’s very happy with the experience. Millar said that, while visiting the filming location, he got to sunbathe with Angelina Jolie (who played The Fox) and said that she’s quite attractive. On film, he may end up as an extra on the movie. Purists should take heart, as Millar said that the movie version of the story is definitely rated R. He said you have to make this extremely violent, with lots of swearing and sex scenes. There’s a scene where a bunch of supervillains push a train off a cliff and you see the people in the train freaking out and climbing over seats as they fall. The producers said it’s nice to hear a writer not *****ing. They shoot things from the same angle from the panels in the comics, something that Millar said was very freaky to see as the writer.

When asked if he wanted to do more movies, he responded that he loves comics and it’s what he wants to do. When you talk to comics writers you realize how lucky you are, Millar said. You write something and a few months later it comes out exactly as you wrote it. You’re answerable to no one, no one says it’s too expensive or a person isn’t available. When something costs $100 million people are more uptight about it. He’s happy here.

...

Back to the subject of Wanted, Millar said that the movie definitely does capture the essence of the miniseries, and that the film took out the costumes, something which he never really knew why they had done anyway. It’s interesting to see the people with powers in more normal clothes, Millar said, adding that while on set, he rode on the train as an extra, and that the production had built up 4 miles of train tracks. It was a very surreal experience, Millar said, one where he kept forgetting was in a movie.

Millar said that Angelina Jolie called him to talk about the role of The Fox. When she called, Millar said, he was sick with the flu and had to ask her to call back, although he has a sneaking suspicion that she had trouble with his accent. Talking about their kids, Millar said that he asked if Jolie wanted to get an Eskimo to complete the set, got a very blank stare in response as she worked out what he had said.

 

[terry78]

^LOL, she's so goofy. Millar likes to crack jokes like that.

 

[Symbiotica]

"As for the film version of Wanted, Millar said that he&#8217;s seen 25 minutes of the film and it&#8217;s amazing."

Yeah, I just bet it is. Amazing, but in what way?

this type of testimonial means zilch to me. This guy is being paid a tremendous amount of money to try and generate anticipation for this little disaster; I'd love to know what he REALLY thinks, but small chance of that happening - at least for the present.

"He said you have to make this extremely violent, with lots of swearing and sex scenes. There&#8217;s a scene where a bunch of supervillains push a train off a cliff and you see the people in the train freaking out and climbing over seats as they fall."

.... because everyone knows, paranormals pushing a train off a cliff happened in the miniseries! Yeppers, I remember those panels well. And like we don't see swearing and sex scenes in every other movie that comes down the pike...

"They shoot things from the same angle from the panels in the comics, something that Millar said was very freaky to see as the writer."

.... it must be especially freaky, when its stuff that never happened in the series!

Wow.... I'm losing respect for Millar fast.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=74617&st=0&p=1685211&#entry1685211

These look cool.

PS Yeah, the first draft of the script a couple of years back was based off the first issue and even then very loosely. I feared the worst, but then Yimur came in and the thing has been through four other writers since, each writer just making it closer to the finished book. So the end result is about 50% like the book, 50% like something else. The most recent draft I read was a few months back and really good. Basically, the first two issues is around the first half of the movie. They really go into the training sequence in some detail whereas I just covered it in captions and a few pages. Those were my fave bits in the movie version plus the scene where Wesley quits his job.

I was really aware we only had JG for six issues and so crammed a lot into those first two in particular. Some stuff that's maybe only three panels in issue two are extended scenes in the movie and they really work. They let the ideas breathe.

I still can't say this is great as I haven't seen even HALF the finished picture, but I love what I saw and the final drafts of the script in particular really capture the book well. It's very anarchic for a super-powered picture. I really can't wait to see this.

 

[Anti-Moderator]

I just hope Mark Millar paid for a nice house for this BS.

 

[M.O.Steel]

i still dont' understand why they dropped the costume.

 

[Mister Sinister]

Does anyone else think the real Mark Millar's tied up in a room somewhere with a gag over his mouth?

 

[Symbiotica]

Does anyone else think the real Mark Millar's tied up in a room somewhere with a gag over his mouth?

I think Rictus had something to do with it.... he has Millar on ice and he's got the rainbow-powered continent-smasher too, OMG we're all ****ed.

 

[shinlyle]

I think Rictus had something to do with it.... he has Millar on ice and he's got the rainbow-powered continent-smasher too, OMG we're all ****ed.

It would make more sense than him loving this crap. We're talking about the same guy who hated Superman Returns so vocally (and rightfully so), and then offered to write a Superman movie himself, and then he's like, "Okay, ruin my stuff, just fix Superman".

Yep....Mark Millar's a Skrull!!

 

[shinlyle]

i still dont' understand why they dropped the costume.

Because they dropped everything else, they wanted to make it unrecognizable.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

Millar's probably happy about money, he seems like the type who likes to let his creation go to crap, he'll just bend over and happily take the money up his arse!

couldn't agree more. i barfed in my mouth a bit over his glee. i cannot believe he just endorsed this...

saw the trailer on Sunday night with 'American gangster'(good flik) and was wowed over the Matrix ripoff this film is going to be.

this is literally a Matrix ripoff. from the dialogue, the look, the trailers & premise. some of the action looked jokey, angelina delivered lines that made me cringe but nothing was worse than the wanna be morpheus that morgan freeman delivers - it is a mirror of the morpheus rabbit hole speech. and that's how the trailer ends.

no one in the theatre knew what Wanted is, but they know a ripoff when they see one. many groaned.

a great comic has been pooped on.