Why does Zak Penn keep getting work?

[Figs]

Ha! that was the first thing that came into my mind as I read Boom's post, hell I thought Behind Enemy lines was decent as well....

Yeah, I remember seeing Behind Enemy Lines in the theatre and thought it was pretty good. Not anything close to horrible, I think a lot of people gave it hell because it was Owen Wilson trying out an action oriented role instead of comedy.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Penn more so. Arad is a producer and helps get these projects off the ground. If he doesn't interfere like SM3 it's fine.

 

[Catman]

He gets work because the movie's make money. Simple as that. X-Men: The Last Stand may have been bad, but it was one of the most successful movies of 2006.

 

[Nightmare]

wow, lookin at that list. This guy sucks.

 

[jaymes_e06]

But he is not the worst. Uwe Boll is by far the worst director of all time! Ever!

 

[Silvermoth]

But surely there's someone else in the biz who makes money and good films? I agree, get Penn out!

 

[nogap87]

but...but he wrote last action hero...

Love that movie, but didn't it get a bunch of rewrites?

 

[Spider-Vader]

Zak Penn and Avi Araad both need to quit.

I thought Arad quit Marvel to do something else.

 

[luke1234]

Basically Zak Penn just plain suckss. And every day im gonna come back to this thread and say the same thing until they kick him off the avengers.

 

[JP]

Funny thing is he complains about the re-writes on X2. . .

 

[Rac]

B) were salvaged by another, more competent writer (X-Men 2).

Funny thing is he complains about the re-writes on X2. . .

I've understood that he had some story ideas and perhaps a treatment written for X2, but Singer only liked one of the ideas and used it and a bit altered it to fit his ideas. Then he goes all cry baby to WGA so that he van get the story credit...

 

[Casius--J]

WOW this guy really does suck, although I thought Behind Enemy Lines was good.

I'm not a fan of the idea of him writing the Avengers either, I hope it gets some good rewrites as the incredible hulk and X2 did.

 

[That-Guy]

That's it man... I'm going to become a screenwriter. Because apparently in Hollywood, the bigger the hack you are, the more projects they throw your way.

 

[KenK]

Love that movie, but didn't it get a bunch of rewrites?

Shane Black was a writer on that movie, too. I'm more inclined to believe that any badass moment in the film is one that he's probably responsible for.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Black's a great writer. I always thought he could write a great IM script.

 

[Evil Twin]

While I'm not going to disagree with Penn's overall quality, he gets work because he meets his schedules, turns in what the producers want, is aware of the source material, and is familiar enough with formula that he'll give you an uninspired but workable three act structure with set pieces. He won't go all artsy fartsy and try to reinvent the wheel, perhaps like Whedon and Wonder Woman. Yeah, he won't give you anything inspired, but he'll give you a first draft that you can work with.

Considering Marvel's approach has been to put the schedule before the script, all leading up to a singular end point, someone that can get the initial pieces of the puzzle in place and consistent with each other has its place. And value.

 

[nogap87]

That's it man... I'm going to become a screenwriter. Because apparently in Hollywood, the bigger the hack you are, the more projects they throw your way.

I guess that explains Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.

Shane Black was a writer on that movie, too. I'm more inclined to believe that any badass moment in the film is one that he's probably responsible for.

I'm inclined to agree with you.

 

[Octoberist]

Kevin Smith Says it best: "In Hollywood, you just kind of fail upwards."

 

[The Guard]

I think Evil Twin nailed it. Penn is the "safe" choice.