Last week, producer Adi Shankar, director Joe Lynch, and True Blood star Ryan Kwanten's "Truth in Journalism" short film debuted online. The project immediately piqued the interest of comics fans who knew that Shankar had also made the "unofficial" Punisher short "Dirty Laundry" last year with Thomas Jane. And sure enough, it turned out that "Truth in Journalism" features a very familiar Marvel character as well… but beware of spoilers from here on in.
Yes, Kwanten plays Eddie Brock, a.k.a. the Spider-Man villain Venom, in the short. "Truth…" is interesting not just because it was made by actual Hollywood players -- Shankar's exec-producing credits include The Grey, Dredd, and the upcoming Lone Survivor -- but also because of the short's unique take on the source material, not to mention the fact that it's also an unauthorized adaptation of a Marvel character.
After watching "Truth…" I asked Shankar on Twitter if he worried about getting shut down by Marvel because of the unofficial nature of these films, and I found his answer pretty interesting… which led to the following chat (as well as a hint as to what his next short film will be).
Scott Collura: Can you take me through how the concept of the Punisher and Venom shorts came about?
Adi Shankar: I had the idea for a Man Bites Dog mash-up with an anti-hero about 5 years ago, initially for a Duke Nukem movie and then for a Judge Dredd movie, but the concept was met with a lot of blank stares when I would talk about it. After "Dirty Laundry" came out and Dredd trailers hit the internet I told Joe Lynch about the idea. He freaked out and came back with a script a few days later. The Punisher is a mash-up of sorts too -- of the Mean Joe Greene 1980 SuperBowl Coke ad with the narrative structure of a classic western. The goal every time is to make a good 10-20 minute film with a story that stands on its own feet. The fact that a known superhero has been engineered into it is icing on the cake.
SC: Since these are "unofficial" films, what is your goal for them? Is it just about love of the characters? Are you concerned about Marvel or Sony trying to shut these films down or get them pulled?
AS: I'm here now, I'm inevitably going to die at some point, and as an artist I feel an ardent urge to constantly be creating. I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that as a feature film producer I shouldn’t dabble in television, web content, or even comic books. That thinking perpetuates the consumerist mosh pit we are now desperately trying to dig ourselves out of. I have a burning desire to entertain and different mediums allow me to do this in different ways. As for Marvel and Sony, I made a free ad for them. I’m not worried. I do apologize to Topher Grace. All the negative comments towards him as a result of the short are most unfortunate.
SC: The Man Bites Dog aspect of "Truth in Journalism" is an unexpected and fun approach. Is that one of the appeals of being "unofficial" -- you can truly sample and redo characters as you like?
AS: Like mashing Man Bites Dog with Venom, I guess sometimes my ideas for movies are a little out there. I get a lot of blank stares ... a lot of blank stares. A dream movie of mine, for example, is a hard R ferociously violent gangster movie in a world where humans and puppets co-exist. Like I said I get a lot of blank stares. As a creative person, it’s validating that people responded to the Man Bites Dog/Anti-hero mashup.
SC: You mentioned to me on Twitter about the characters being so "embedded in our culture." Can you expand on that?
AS: A lot of these characters are so embedded in our global 21st century mythology and collective consciousness that as artists we have no choice but to re-imagine, parody, and re-interpret them. Batman, Superman, Wolverine, Flash, etc. … they are our equivalent of Greek gods. At the risk of sounding like an anarchist (I’m not one): people judge civilizations by their culture and their art, so what does it say about our civilization that our culture is predominately owned by conglomerates? I'm a huge fan of the Marvel movies ... Kevin Feige, I would argue always does right by his IP. However, a repeat of the Shazam vs Superman case from 1950 is a disaster scenario for our culture. Shazam used to regularly outsell Superman. DC sued claiming copyright infringement and won. As a result one of the most significant characters in the history of comics was buried. That's an example of a conglomerate burying our culture. What happened to Ultraforce? So in a sense all fan films are a small step towards reclaiming the culture. As a side note, I think the sheer volume of Deadpool fan films right now should serve as a major hint to Fox.
SC: As a producer, how do you measure success for these films?
AS: By the fact that they exist and that people are talking about them. Period. It’s pure art not made for commercial gain.
SC: Can you give me any hints about your next short? Could DC or other comics characters also get adapted? What kind of timeframe are you looking at?
AS: Watch my upcoming movie The Voices with Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick when it comes to theaters next year. It’s going to be my best movie yet. Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) the director is a genius. As for the shorts all I can tell you is that I am the law.*
*We'd heard rumors of a Dredd short… looks like it's actually happening!
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN at scottcollura and on Facebook.
Source : ign[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment