Questions about "Wanted" casting

[Mass Nerder]

Okay I hope I'm putting this thread in the right place. I didn't see a board for Wanted nor did I see any other threads about Wanted but I didn't do a huge search so if there have been to many threads already by all means take this one off and point me in the right direction. Anyway, so far I'm really confused by the casting of Wanted of all the actors they have so far I can't even begin to think who these actors are actually playing. Or is it going to be one of those movies that has almost nothing to do with the graphic novel. And also does anyone know what Mark Millar has said about the movie so far? Thanks a million

 

[Lucius Cipher]

Or is it going to be one of those movies that has almost nothing to do with the graphic novel.

Yeah, its exactly that. McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, Freeman plays Sloan, and Jolie plays The Fox, Sloan's "second in command." I'm really upset because I just now found out how far into production they were on this film, but had no idea that they were gonna deviate so far from the source material. What a shame....

And also does anyone know what Mark Millar has said about the movie so far? Thanks a million

Despite Millar's work essentially being raped by Hollywood, he is never-the-less impressed by what he has seen so far:

Wanted creator Mark Millar has posted an update on his official site about Universal Pictures' adaptation of his graphic novel directed by Timur Bekmambetov ("Night Watch") and starring James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman.

Millar got to see 30 minutes of pre-vis (rough versions of sequences in a movie using computer graphics) for the film and talks about the footage:

This is going to be amazing. Like I trailered yesterday, even Gill's Mum gave a big Keannu-style WHOA at a sequence between a car chase and a train. I can't give much in the way of details here, but watching some of the scenes from the book come to life can only be compared to giving birth to a 100 million dollar baby. The opening sequence with The Killer plus boyfriends chasing his would-be assassins across the rooftops is just jaw-dropping. I was honestly pinching myself, worried I was bi-polar and this whole thing was just a wishful hallucination.

March 08 cannot get here fast enough. McAvoy, Freeman and the big star they aren't telling you about until Summer plus an action director THIS GOOD really is going to be something special. Three months ago my expectations were zero. Now they're enormous.

Wanted hits theaters on March 28, 2008.

 

[Mass Nerder]

The casting is a bit off and that was my big question. Though Millar makes it sound like it's pretty faithful. But I guess only time will tell.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

The casting is a bit off and that was my big question. Though Millar makes it sound like it's pretty faithful. But I guess only time will tell.

As long as the creator is happy with the casting why should I be worried?
The thing that worries me is that according to Millar himself the movie doesn't deal anymore with superheroes and supervillains, but on something more magic-related.
Anyway James McAvoy is Wesley, Angelina Jolie is Fox, Morgan Freeman is Sloan, probably the movie version of the Professor.
Common is Gunsmith (?), Kirsten Hager might be Lisa.
There's a rumor that Ray Stevenson might be in the movie, and Millar said that there's still a very big name actor to be announced.

 

[terry78]

Just so you know, Wanted is being shot downtown Chicago on lower Wacker and some other spots. I'll try and get a glance, and if anyone else lives over here, you know what to do.

 

[KenK]

I'm surprised the production has moved ahead so quickly. The 90s was just saw a glut of indie comics that got optioned, with big names attached, and nothing ever came about from them.

The casting so far definitely surprises me, especially Angelina Jolie. I know she's not above the occasional action movie, I just didn't see it being that high-profile of a project that she'd be interested in. Especially with a relatively unknown and foreign director.

 

[Mass Nerder]

I'm surprised the production has moved ahead so quickly. The 90s was just saw a glut of indie comics that got optioned, with big names attached, and nothing ever came about from them.

The casting so far definitely surprises me, especially Angelina Jolie. I know she's not above the occasional action movie, I just didn't see it being that high-profile of a project that she'd be interested in. Especially with a relatively unknown and foreign director.

Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking. I mean this book came out not long ago at all. Why and how did it move ahead so fast?