§ Good news: Joe Johnston is on board for the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie, which will lead in to the AVENGERS franchise:
Joe Johnston has inked a deal to direct “First Avenger: Captain America,” Marvel Studios’ take on its classic comic book character. Marvel’s Kevin Feige is producing.
No writers are on board, but the studio, which is hearing pitches, expects to hire shortly.
Johnston first met with Marvel two years ago. When the two parties clicked, general talks turned into Captain America-specific meetings, with much of the project’s current direction resulting from those early conversations.
Johnston directed the ahead-of-its-time ROCKETEER movie, and would seem a fine choice for this sensitive, retro material.
§ Mixed news: Brett Ratner has won the CONAN derby, and is slated to direct.
Over the past few weeks, Ratner has been considering signing on to direct a 21st century update of “Conan,” co-produced by Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate Films, even as he pushes another high-profile project — a fourth installment of the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise — toward a greenlight at Paramount, where he recently set up shop. While the “Conan” development deal puts the brawny brigand on Ratner’s docket, “BHC IV” is still likely to go into production first. Ratner jibed to the “Conan” script by Gersh-repped Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who looked to Robert E. Howard’s original pulp stories of the 1930s to create their take on the character. The writers are doing a quick polish to incorporate some of Ratner’s ideas, with an eye toward releasing the film in 2010.
Our review: Blearrrrrrrrgh — more rubbery plastic movie making. VOTE NO on Ratner!
§ Even worse: McG floated as helmer of Wonder Woman film. GROSS. Amazonian Charlie’s Angels? NO THANKS.
§ Interesting: Beyoncé promoting herself for the ROLE of Wonder Woman.
“I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be
a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?”Beyoncé says that she has met with representatives of DC Comics and Warner Bros. to express her interest in a major role in one of the many comic-book adaptations now in the pipeline following the massive success of “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and the “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” franchises. Beyoncé’s acting to career to date has included a comedic role in “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and two notable music world roles, the first as a quasi-Diana Ross character in “Dreamgirls” and as the defiant and heroin-addicted Etta James in the upcoming “Cadillac Records.”
WE SAY: She looks great in costumes!
who knows about Cap, Conan and the Amazons, but seriously, ANOTHER Beverly Hills Cop Movie? Seriously?!? O.o
You know, a Beyoncé would probably do pretty well… but I don’t think there’s a chance in hell of a black Wonder Woman.
Okay, Beyonce looks GREAT, with an exotic look which fits well with the mythos.
HOWEVER, how does one convince Warner Brothers to produce a movie, based on a female comicbook character, starring a well known African-American actress? They did it once before, and won four Golden Raspberry Awards.
No. Just plain no. Sure WW’s Greek and I’ve known some fairly dark Mediterraneans, but Beyonce? Aw, hell no!
Lots of people are bringing up “Catwoman” as a reason not to cast Beyonce as Wonder Woman.
Nobody seems to be noticing that the reason why the movie tanked had little or nothing to do with the casting of Halle Berry in the lead role, and everything to do with the fact that the movie looked like it had absolutely nothing going for it other than Halle Berry in a ripped up leather costume. If Halle Berry had any effect on the movie at all, it was with a bunch of comic book fans howling that the movie was “unfaithful” to the prior casting in the Batman movies — conveniently forgetting that Catwoman has been even less consistent in comics, TV, and other media over time than Wonder Woman has.
All that said, I can’t find myself generating much enthusiasm or rage over the idea, mostly because I’m becoming increasingly convinced that Warner and/or DC have little enthusiasm and less of a clue in doing a WW movie at all, so what Beyonce wants or doesn’t isn’t going to matter much anyway. This might change if the animated DTV does well, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that.
I personally would try to get someone that can act for wonder woman… first order of business…
nothing about her says wonder woman or actress to me.
as you can tell, I am not a fan. Who really cares what she wants?
maybe you do, but i dont. casting is key to characters.
I would like to point out that Beyonce’s a pretty mediocre actress.
I just went out and rented The Rocketeer (at an omg brick-and-mortar video store, how retro) so as to better judge Joe Johnston’s potential, but I did see and like October Sky, so I’m inclined to be favorable to him.
Charles Moulton bondage stories with Beyonce… sure.
I admit, my first thought was “But Wonder Woman is Greek!”. On reflection, though, Diana isn’t Hippolyta’s biological child. She’s literally a gift from the gods, so actually, she could look like anyone as long as she was female and beautiful.
It doesn’t matter who they make Wonder Woman — Beyonce, Cobie Smulders, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Ayelet Zurer — as long as they cast Simon Pegg as Steve Trevor.
“… who looked to Robert E. Howard’s original pulp stories of the 1930s to create their take on the character.”
WOW! They looked to the source material??!! Now they’re a revolutionary concept! I wonder if they actually read it … or just looked to it …
Joe Johnston would be a cool match for Captain America. A silver lining among the clouds, I must say!!
All I know is that I would love to be the casting director for an open call looking for an unknown to play WW.
Of course I would have an assisstant filtering out the wierdos.
Hey Heidi – what’s your beef with Brett Radner? I thought he did a absolute bang up job with X-Men: Last Stand?
Oh, and least I forget, – Hey Heidi – what’s your beef with McG? I think he does a stand up job as producer of Supernatural week after week.
~
Coat
I’d watch Beyonce boiling an egg. She would make a fantastic Wonder Woman.
Beyonce as Sailor Moon,…not Wonder Woman.
I’d prefer they went with an actress who looks more like the traditional depiction of the character.
A watchable Wonder Woman movie would be the most shocking event in the history of humanity.
Also, now that we have a black prez, the novelty of casting black actors as white heroes for the sake of it will start to give diminishing returns. Especially when they are only famous because they sing a song called “Bootylicious”.
Is it a Conan movie coming out in the 21st century or a Conan movie SET in the 21st Century? My God, I can’t tell if I’m horrified or way more thrilled than I should be about the thought of Conan beheading corporate executives in midtown in a loincloth.
I’d rather see Beyonce as Conan.
Casting Beyonce as Wonder Woman is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. Ridiculous and scary.
How “mighty white” of you who thinks Beyonce’s color is a factor. Make judgments on facts, Beyonce is not a great actress, neither is Halle Berry or Jessica Alba. They were Hollywood’s answer the same tired white women Hollywood was cranking out and missing out on money not being spent by people who were not being represented in films. Ever saw the casting footage of Christopher Reeve? he didn’t look like much until they molded him into their image.
No worries it ain’t gonna happen.
I love your article! Thank You. roulette software