The official Jonah Hex thread.

[Crook]

It's so pathetic how they're injecting modern rock music into the marketing.

 

[theMan-Bat]

It's so pathetic how they're injecting modern rock music into the marketing.

Yeah, I don't like the modern rock music in the trailer and TV spots, either. I'd like to hear appropriate atmospheric western music in the trailer and TV spots that fits the setting. They obviously are trying to use rock music in the trailer and TV spots to attract the interest of moviegoers who aren't into westerns. They did the same with the Clash of the Titans trailer. Fortunately not one chord of that misplaced heavy metal power rock played in the trailer was found in the actual soundtrack. The movie was appropriately scored with a dramatic orchestrated score that fit the setting. The music in trailers practically never is the same music in the soundtrack of the actually completed films. Brand new commissioned soundtrack music for a film often never is featured in the trailers. The early screening of the film that was shown played Marco Beltrami's western score for 3:10 to Yuma because Marco Beltrami's Jonah Hex score obviously wasn't finished yet since he was only brought into the project to score the film in February.

I actually liked the shot of him reviving the guy in the cage

And that shot is in the film so there is no reason for the frown about that.

 

[Webhead2006]

sure its modern music in trailers and it sucks for a western type of character, but we dont know if it will actually be full on rock songs in the film itself besides credits.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Just starting reading the Palmiotti Hex comics again and then saw the latest TV spots, wow, the movie just doesnt look faithful in the slightest, do they even touch upon his apache upbringing? Does he even have his apache axe/tomahawke?

Doesnt look like.

 

[Webhead2006]

from what i read it does take different history/comic lore of the character to the film.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Just starting reading the Palmiotti Hex comics again and then saw the latest TV spots, wow, the movie just doesnt look faithful in the slightest

On his blog Jimmy Palmiotti posted some screen-shots from the trailer and said "I think they both look great, and I actually like Megan [Fox] for this role...so shoot me. Its a fun scene and playful...and has a cool reveal not in the trailer. She gets to kick some major ass in this film. Jonah gets marked by Turnbull...which isn't like the book, but makes sense for the over all story of the feature film. Justin [Gray] and I were there when they shot this scene. It was fun to watch them light the house on fire over and over again. The actual hot iron was done digitally as you might have guessed, otherwise Josh [Brolin]'s face would have burnt pretty bad. The other cool thing about this scene was that Josh's wife was on set...my boyhood crush, the beautiful and very talented Diane Lane. She, like Josh...were so both so awesome."
http://jimmypalmiotti.blogspot.com/2010/04/some-jonah-hex-screen-shots.html
On the DC Message Boards Jimmy Palmiotti said "I think the trailer looks fun. Sure...it isn't going to exactly be the comic...and sure they make some changes...but overall they have to sell this movie to an audience that never heard of the comic...and judging by audience reactions at the movies, people seemed pretty excited to see this movie based on the trailer.
For us, it gets people interested in the character on some level and our hope is that we get some people giving the book a try...once we can get that, we can win them over."
http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/thread.jspa?threadID=2000218364&tstart=0

The movie is based on the classic John Albano (creator of Jonah Hex) and Michael Fleisher (creator of Jeb Turnbull and Quentin Turnbull) Hex comics from the seventies. The movie is even filmed in anamorphic lenses to get the seventies Techniscope spaghetti western look. "[Director] Jimmy [Heyward] was telling me that he wanted to shoot it in a bit of sort of like an homage to the spaghetti westerns and that he was going to use these anamorphic lenses," Michael Fassbender recalled.
http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/what-inspired-a-jonah-hex.php
Jonah Hex in the Civil War with Jeb Turnbull where Jonah is considered a traitor to the south for not wanting to kill Yankee solders and Jeb is killed and Quentin Turnbull blames Jonah for the death of his son Jeb in the Civil War and betraying the south in the film is taken from Weird Western Tales #29 (1975) "Breakout at Fort Charlotte" written by Michael Fleisher.
There is a part of the film that the director had added with Jonah Hex's wolf-dog Ironjaws which is taken from Weird Western Tales #14 (1972) "Killer Die Alone" written by John Albano. This issue shows that Jonah will repay kindness from an animal. Director Jimmy Hayward said "When I came into the meeting with Warner Brothers, I had a digest, a Western Tales digest, with me. I told Josh [Brolin] this story; it was one of my favorite ones when I was a kid – when Jonah Hex is tied to a stake out in the desert, and Ironjaws bites off his bonds and then gets bitten by a rattlesnake, so Jonah Hex staggers through the desert for miles to get to the town, but when he gets to the town there’s only a person doctor, so he kicks in the door and goes up the stairs and the nurse yells, “You can’t come in here, you can’t bring a dog in here, this is a people doctor!” And there’s this guy getting his foot worked on upstairs and he’s like, “Take that thing outside and put a bullet in his brain! It’s a stupid dog!” So Jonah Hex opens the window and grabs the guy getting his foot worked on and throws him out the window to his death and then goes, “Doc, you’ve gotta fix my dog!”"
http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/p/jimmy-hayward-interview.html

do they even touch upon his apache upbringing? Does he even have his apache axe/tomahawke?

Doesnt look like.

In April '09 a casting call went out for "True Native American males" so they might actually show or explain his Apache back-story in the film.
http://ghostmodel.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/casting-call-for-film-jonah-hex-in-new-orleans/
Although we don't see him using his tomahawk axe in the trailer and TV spots, he does have his tomahawk axe in the movie.

Director Jimmy Hayward said "When we first started on the movie, he had a knife, and I’m like, dude, it’s got to be a tomahawk! It’s like little things like that that I draw from the comic that I think are so important. Like I said, the choice of Turnbull’s story, and mixing in some of the old comic book reasons for why his face has been burned into some of the lore and stuff like that, really drawing upon the origin material as opposed to just creating new stuff out of nothing."
http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/p/jimmy-hayward-interview.html

The Jonah Hex movie action figure also comes with his tomahawk axe.

Other weapons Jonah Hex uses in the movie include:
Two old .45 caliber cap and ball Dragoons

.45 single action Army Remington conversion Civil War cap and ball
(converted from cap and ball to cartridge)

A 1866 Yellow Blade Winchester 44-40

1873 Winchester

Quentin Turnbull's weapons include:
A 1856 LeMat revolver

A French revolver, with a nine shot cylinder with the equivalent of a 410 shotgun barrel below the regular barrel so you get nine pistol shots and then a shotgun blast. It's the same type of weapon that Civil War general Jeb Stuart (1833–1864) actually carried.
http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-bits-and-pieces-from-jonah-hex-set.html

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Well, i'm glad that he has his tomahawk, but whats the point if they dont mention his Apache upbringing? And why bring a family he never had into the storyline, not to mention Turnbull giving him the scar instead of the apache?

Sorry, but this movie just sounds terrible to me, and I only recently became a Hex fan as well, shame.

 

[DW4]

Well, i'm glad that he has his tomahawk, but whats the point if they dont mention his Apache upbringing? And why bring a family he never had into the storyline, not to mention Turnbull giving him the scar instead of the apache?

Sorry, but this movie just sounds terrible to me, and I only recently became a Hex fan as well, shame.

Movies do tend to change things around a bit. Was Bruce Wayne really trained by Ra Al Ghul and the League of Shadows?

No but it worked for Nolan and company.

I'm going to hold off on the criticism until I see the movie.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Well, i'm glad that he has his tomahawk, but whats the point if they dont mention his Apache upbringing?

The tomahawk axe is a part of the Jonah Hex character so of course he should be shown with it in the film. In April '09 a casting call went out for "True Native American males" so they might actually show or explain his Apache back-story in the film.
http://ghostmodel.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/casting-call-for-film-jonah-hex-in-new-orleans/

And why bring a family he never had into the storyline,

Jonah Hex did have a wife and son in the Jonah Hex comics written by Michael Fleisher.

not to mention Turnbull giving him the scar instead of the apache?

Having Turnbull burn the right side of Jonah Hex's face for the death of his son Jeb, rather than an Apache chief burning the right side of Jonah Hex's face for the death of the Apache chiefs son, weaves Hex's scared face into the films storyline with Turnbull and works better within the film and serves to make things more personal between Hex and Turnbull.

Sorry, but this movie just sounds terrible to me, and I only recently became a Hex fan as well, shame.

Most movie adaptions take some liberates with the source material. As long as they are differences that don't change the essence of the characters. As long as he's former Civil War Confederate Jonah Hex who's face was scared and is now a legendary bounty hunter, etc. Which he is.

 

[Rumpy Bulge Dubz]

Movies do tend to change things around a bit. Was Bruce Wayne really trained by Ra Al Ghul and the League of Shadows?

No but it worked for Nolan and company.

I'm going to hold off on the criticism until I see the movie.

much like Burton's Batman in which The Joker murdered Bruce's parents. Is that how it went down in the comics and graphic novels? No, but it didn't hinder the movie either, was still a great flick.

I'm reserving judgement until I see the film as well, it looks weak, sure, but it very could surprise me

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^To be fair though, that was the only major change they made at the time, JH has a lot more than that, add to that the bad buzz surrounding the movie and my faith has gone out of the window.

 

[Webhead2006]

sure all the press for the film hasnt been great, and all but the film itself should be the judgement. Hopefully in the end of the day they got the essence of the character right.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

sure all the press for the film hasnt been great, and all but the film itself should be the judgement. Hopefully in the end of the day they got the essence of the character right.

The film itself or at least the real reviews, not some web rumors which may be very far from the truth.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea for me i rather judge the film for myself if its good or bad, or just ok. Then yea i may take a gander at some creditable reviewers to see their opinion. But for me i like to judge a film for myself and all. Then of course promos/trailers have to spark an interest for me to see a film. as for the trailer/tv spots i think it looks ok for what the film is. I do hope it turns out to be alright once i see the whole film.

 

[theMan-Bat]

^To be fair though, that was the only major change they made at the time, JH has a lot more than that, add to that the bad buzz surrounding the movie and my faith has gone out of the window.

If you can accept the changes to Batman in the Batman films then you should be able to accept some changes to Jonah Hex. Joker killing Batman's parents was not the only major change they made. The 1989 Batman film is full of changes. The whole Jack Napier gangster Joker history was a major change, as was Joker with a permanent grin. Bruce Wayne meets Vicki Vale under completely different circumstances, Vicki didn't know Bruce's secret identity in the comics, Joker never showed any interest in Vicki Vale in the comics or wanted his face on the one dollar bill, etc., Alexander Knox, Mayor Borg, Carl Grissom, Antoine Rotelli, Vinnie Ricorso, Alicia Hunt, Lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Becky Narita, Candy Walker, Amanda Keeler, Bob the Goon, etc. never even existed in the comics, Batman's all black armored costume was another big change from the comics, and the Batmobile was completey redesigned, and the Batplane was completely redesigned and renamed the Batwing. And there was bad buzz surrounding the movie with the casting of comedian Michael Keaton as Batman, many people thought it was going to be a camper comedy than Adam West's version, they were calling it "the Mr. Mom Batman." Some comic book fans who saw the movie were still complaining about all the changes from the comics and thought it should have been a faithful adaption of Killing Joke, and some fanboys to this day complain about the movie, but I never have. I love that movie. Those changes worked better for the film and didn't change the essence of the Batman characters. Batman was the dark mysterious terror striking creature of the night as he was created to be, the Joker was the killer clown with his chemical that leaves his victims smiling in death as he was created to be, and Vicki was the photographer with a romance with Bruce Wayne as she was created to be. And the changes to Jonah Hex, with Turnbull giving him his scare, etc., are not changing the essence of the characters either. Jonah Hex is the scared former Civil War Confederate turned bounty hunter as he was created, Turnbull is still the southern Confederate plantation owner with an eagle topped cane, upset about the outcome of the Civil War, blaming Jonah Hex for the death of his son in the Civil War as he was created. I recommend you give the Jonah Hex film a fair chance like you give Batman.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Well, if the film tanks at the box office, Josh Brolin could always go back to doing critically acclaimed films that will get him major accolades during awards season. In fact, he has Wall Street 2, True Grit and The Woody Allen movie all coming out later this year. He may end up getting a nomination for the Woody Allen flick or for True Grit.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

If you can accept the changes to Batman in the Batman films then you should be able to accept some changes to Jonah Hex. Joker killing Batman's parents was not the only major change they made. The 1989 Batman film is full of changes. The whole Jack Napier gangster Joker history was a major change, as was Joker with a permanent grin. Bruce Wayne meets Vicki Vale under completely different circumstances, Vicki didn't know Bruce's secret identity in the comics, Joker never showed any interest in Vicki Vale in the comics or wanted his face on the one dollar bill, etc., Alexander Knox, Mayor Borg, Carl Grissom, Antoine Rotelli, Vinnie Ricorso, Alicia Hunt, Lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Becky Narita, Candy Walker, Amanda Keeler, Bob the Goon, etc. never even existed in the comics, Batman's all black armored costume was another big change from the comics, and the Batmobile was completey redesigned, and the Batplane was completely redesigned and renamed the Batwing. And there was bad buzz surrounding the movie with the casting of comedian Michael Keaton as Batman, many people thought it was going to be a camper comedy than Adam West's version, they were calling it "the Mr. Mom Batman." Some comic book fans who saw the movie were still complaining about all the changes from the comics and thought it should have been a faithful adaption of Killing Joke, and some fanboys to this day complain about the movie, but I never have. I love that movie. Those changes worked better for the film and didn't change the essence of the Batman characters. Batman was the dark mysterious terror striking creature of the night as he was created to be, the Joker was the killer clown with his chemical that leaves his victims smiling in death as he was created to be, and Vicki was the photographer with a romance with Bruce Wayne as she was created to be. And the changes to Jonah Hex, with Turnbull giving him his scare, etc., are not changing the essence of the characters either. Jonah Hex is the scared former Civil War Confederate turned bounty hunter as he was created, Turnbull is still the southern Confederate plantation owner with an eagle topped cane, upset about the outcome of the Civil War, blaming Jonah Hex for the death of his son in the Civil War as he was created. I recommend you give the Jonah Hex film a fair chance like you give Batman.

I'm going to give the film a chance, without doubt, I was just saying me expectations are extremely low at this point, I just wish they would take out Turnbull giving him the scar and killing his wife and kid.

I personally love the apache part of Hex's stories and the Palmiotti book 'Origin' is a superb story that could have so easily been adapted to the movie and into the storyline. It could be part of the character that whenever he has a good thing going it always goes up in flames. But the apache part is such an important part of his character for me and I hate the fact its being left out, maybe they could touch upon it in a sequel but with it going up against TS3 and the lack of marketing I doubt we'll get one.

What happened to his wife and kids in the old comic?

 

[Rumpy Bulge Dubz]

If you can accept the changes to Batman in the Batman films then you should be able to accept some changes to Jonah Hex. Joker killing Batman's parents was not the only major change they made. The 1989 Batman film is full of changes. The whole Jack Napier gangster Joker history was a major change, as was Joker with a permanent grin. Bruce Wayne meets Vicki Vale under completely different circumstances, Vicki didn't know Bruce's secret identity in the comics, Joker never showed any interest in Vicki Vale in the comics or wanted his face on the one dollar bill, etc., Alexander Knox, Mayor Borg, Carl Grissom, Antoine Rotelli, Vinnie Ricorso, Alicia Hunt, Lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Becky Narita, Candy Walker, Amanda Keeler, Bob the Goon, etc. never even existed in the comics, Batman's all black armored costume was another big change from the comics, and the Batmobile was completey redesigned, and the Batplane was completely redesigned and renamed the Batwing. And there was bad buzz surrounding the movie with the casting of comedian Michael Keaton as Batman, many people thought it was going to be a camper comedy than Adam West's version, they were calling it "the Mr. Mom Batman." Some comic book fans who saw the movie were still complaining about all the changes from the comics and thought it should have been a faithful adaption of Killing Joke, and some fanboys to this day complain about the movie, but I never have. I love that movie. Those changes worked better for the film and didn't change the essence of the Batman characters. Batman was the dark mysterious terror striking creature of the night as he was created to be, the Joker was the killer clown with his chemical that leaves his victims smiling in death as he was created to be, and Vicki was the photographer with a romance with Bruce Wayne as she was created to be. And the changes to Jonah Hex, with Turnbull giving him his scare, etc., are not changing the essence of the characters either. Jonah Hex is the scared former Civil War Confederate turned bounty hunter as he was created, Turnbull is still the southern Confederate plantation owner with an eagle topped cane, upset about the outcome of the Civil War, blaming Jonah Hex for the death of his son in the Civil War as he was created. I recommend you give the Jonah Hex film a fair chance like you give Batman.

It's because of all of this (changes that worked) that I'm giving Jonah a chance.

Great Posting

 

[theMan-Bat]

I personally love the apache part of Hex's stories and the Palmiotti book 'Origin' is a superb story that could have so easily been adapted to the movie and into the storyline. It could be part of the character that whenever he has a good thing going it always goes up in flames. But the apache part is such an important part of his character for me and I hate the fact its being left out.

We don't even know for a fact that the Apache back-story has been left out. In April '09 a casting call went out for "True Native American males" so they might actually show or explain his Apache back-story in the film.
http://ghostmodel.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/casting-call-for-film-jonah-hex-in-new-orleans/

What happened to his wife and kids in the old comic?

In the comic books Jonah Hex had a wife named Mei Ling, they married in Jonah Hex #45 (1981) "Blood Wedding" written by Michael Fleisher, and had a son named Jason who was born in Jonah Hex #51 (1981) "The Comforter" written by Michael Fleisher. In Jonah Hex #53 (1981) "The Haunting", also written by Michael Fleisher, Jonah Hex's wife took his son and left him.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea maybe its there and they alter the native american bit, or if we get lucky enough for a sequel they can delve into other aspects of hex.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^The thing is though, a sequel isnt guaranteed, so I would prefer they covered everything in this movie.

 

[Webhead2006]

oh yea i know that, i was just pointing out if its not shown in film that if a sequel happens it could be explained there. But yea i know its probably not likely unless the film does modest success.

 

[MadVillainy]

does anyone know the budget for this?

 

[theMan-Bat]

The original budget was $40 million & got bumped up to $50 million because as Jimmy Palmiotti told the Philadelphia Daily News "the studio saw the rough cut and loved it, so much so they pushed up the date and decided to put more money into the film."

http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-movie-actually-hexed.html
http://www.lonely.geek.nz/jonah_hex_film.html

 

[DW4]

The original budget was $40 million & got bumped up to $50 million because as Jimmy Palmiotti told the Philadelphia Daily News "the studio saw the rough cut and loved it, so much so they pushed up the date and decided to put more money into the film."

http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-movie-actually-hexed.html
http://www.lonely.geek.nz/jonah_hex_film.html

To be honest with a 50 million dollar budget I easily seeing this at least covering it WW and making some money when it's released on DVD and blu-ray.

I didn't know the budget was that low to be honest.