MILLAR, WANTED CLOSE TO FILM DEAL WITH UNIVERSAL

[MattBrady]

According to The Times Online (subscription required), drawing your protagonist to look strikingly similar to a current rap star looking to expand his reach into movies does pay off. The paper reveals that Wanted creator and writer Mark Millar is expecting to finalize a deal this week for a film deal based on the comic for six figures plus a share of the profits. Millar will also, reportedly, be executive producer of the film version of his story where supervillains rule the world.

Millar is in final negotiations with Universal, but, according to The Times, his fee and credits have been agreed upon.

And…in a calculated step of life imitating art, Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem is quite interested to sign on as the lead character, Wesley Gibson, whom he already resembles.

Millar told The Times: "I'm really excited about the possibility of Marshall playing the lead role, and Universal have already been in talks with his people, and also lined up one of the top five producers in Hollywood. I had three years of writing about superheroes, so last year I wanted to do something that was really bad.

"The plot of Wanted is ideal for a film treatment. Films about the bad guys are always far more interesting and this is the most violent and evil thing that I have ever written."

In the article, Millar noted that Gibson’s bisexual supercriminal father could be played by Tommy Lee Jones, while the film’s producers may also approach Beyoncé Knowles, presumably for the role of Fox, Wesley’s initial guide to the world of the supervillains.

For those who've missed the first two (sold out) issues, Wanted follows Gibson, the illegitimate son of the world's greatest supervillain, The Killer. When The Killer himself is assassinated by a cabal of other villains, Wesley is sought out as the heir to The Killer's fortune, legacy, and status as the world's preeminent villain.

Brought into the world of villains by the Fox, Gibson learns that supervillains are all that's left on the earth after they utterly defeated all super heroes years earlier, and then erased the population's memory of them ever having existed. Since then, the villains have run the world - allowing a brutal mirror of modern civilization to continue. Well, as civilized as a world where supervillains hold all the power can be.

[mc (_(\/)_)achete]

emenim would fit as the lead role.

plus, 'Wanted' is great so far. It's no 'Sleeper', but then again, there've only been 2 issues... looking forward to #3.

[walterk]

Hm. sounds quite interesting. Haven't had a chance to read the comics, but certainly sounds like it WOULD make for a good movie.

As for being about the villains...remember "Payback"?

just my $.02...

[Cmdr_Y]

for some reason I just can't see tommy lee jones doing this movie. Beyonce would be great, and HOT, as the fox.


As much as I would entertained by this movie, I'm concerned that it would just further the already glamerized image of the criminal to the viewing public. Ya know, the whole violence, murder, and raping is cool thing that movies like Natural Born Killers and Pulp Fiction show.

[drifter13x]

Well the resemblance was uncanny. Now all they need is Hally Berry to sign on. Real life celebrity name (and image) droping is a trick Miller is particullary fond of.

[Ali Weir]

Originally posted by Cmdr_Y
for some reason I just can't see tommy lee jones doing this movie. Beyonce would be great, and HOT, as the fox.

Well, Millar keeps saying things like "could be" and "may approach". In other words, "We'd like these people but that doesn't mean Beyonce or Tommy Lee Jones have expressed any interest whatsoever."

[ParisCub]

Eminem as the lead?

I mean, this guy can't even thing... What makes people think he can act?

[Tom Daylight]

This could be the new BAD BOYS II!

[Fazhoul]

Originally posted by walterk
As for being about the villains...remember "Payback"?

just my $.02...

I loved Payback! I always felt that it was one of Mel Gibson's most underrated movies.

[blankpoint]

Mediocre comics turn into mediocre films.

With Eminem and Beyonce... wowee.

At least it might keep her away from the Lois Lane role.

[shakey]

Why WOULD'NT the co-star of the Men In Blacks, and Batman Forever do WANTED? It's not like Tommy's staright dramas are getting HUGE box office numbers .

I loved Payback! I always felt that it was one of Mel Gibson's most underrated movies.

Payback is fine as a Gibson vehicle , but you MUST see the original, POINT BLANK with Lee Marvin (and a young, nude, nubile Angie Dickenson) That movie HAD to be GIl Kane's inspiration for his 60's short graphic novel HIS NAME IS...SAVAGE.

[Skyldt]

this would be the perfect movie. if it ever comes out.

[Brian Garside]

Originally posted by ParisCub
Eminem as the lead?

I mean, this guy can't even thing... What makes people think he can act?

I dithagwee. Eminem can indeed thing, as he'th thown on hith albumth time and time again. Perhapth you need to lithen to them.

He also acted in a little movie called "8 Mile" last year, and seemed to do quite well.

[Mr. Special ED]

Originally posted by ParisCub
Eminem as the lead?

I mean, this guy can't even thing... What makes people think he can act?

He cant thing huh. I think what makes people THINK he can act is his critically lauded performance in 8 MILE. Not too shabby for someone who hasnt acted before.

[Chris1]

Boy, that was fast. I heard this as a rumor a few months ago but I didn't think it meant anything. I am concerned however about comic book writers writing specifically for Hollywood producers. I'm not saying that is the case here but it could snowball into that. Some have already commented that the upcoming FF movie might have sparked the aborted revamp of that book. (Which eventually got its own book.)

[Juelz]

This was a great comic IMO.

Yeah Em was amazing at playing himself and his rapping his over rated, go listen to a Nas CD

[Primate]

Funny... When I was reading issue #1, I thought, "Jeez, these two characters sure look like Eminem and Halle Berry!"

Well, obiosuly o was wrong on the second thought, but it's just TOO CUTE to learn that this is how the comic was designed! I can't decide if this is brilliant or tacky, on the part of the creators. Or both...

[Zeus]

The comic is friggin great, and i think Em would do a hell of a job...i could see Halle as The Fox, cause of that whole "Catwoman" outfit thats pretty similar.

[FIG]

I can't wait to see the development on this. From what I've seen they shouldn't make too many changes to the costumes. If they do that is just stupid. The character designs are designed with realism in mind.

[Adam G]

This is book is wild. It would make for a great movie. Can't wait to meet JG. Jones at Wizard World East this year

Any of you guys remember way back in the summer, months and months before issue 1 ever hit the stands, Millar was talking about how Eminem was interested in this, and how people were describing it as "Watchmen with Supervillains?" Well, what I want to know is, how the FUCK can that be when issue 1 hadn't even been drawn?

I mean, seriously? How can Eminem, or his "people," or some high-powered Hollywood producers be ready to agree to make a film out of something without even seeing it? And how can someone (whoever they are) compare it to Watchmen when they haven't even read the first 22 pages? Are we to believe that J.G. Jones has actually had the entire series drawn for a year, and Top Cow is just parcelling it out with occasional delays for no reason?

What I'm saying is, Mark Millar is the most shameless, sleazy self-promoter this industry has ever seen. At least Stan had a sense of irony and childish mischief in his soap-box and letter-page plugs. Millar is like the pathetic guy at the party showing pictuers of his new girlfriend to everyone then, unsatisfied with the responce, goes on to enthusiastically describe how good in bed she is.

My personal favorite example of the outrageous lengths Millar will reach to toot his own horn; in an early interview about his new Spiderman book, Millar revealed that the first issue ends with "the worst thing that's ever happened to Peter Parker." Really? The worst thing? So, worse than enabling Uncle Ben's murder? Worse than the deaths of Gwen, or Captain Stacey? But of course! Why would I doubt for a second that Millar is on the cusp of launching a series which will eclipse all of these defining, classic moments in Spiderman history? After all, is he not the man who can have a book compaired to Watchmen months before the art on the first issue is even completed?

Mark Millar and his movie deals can kiss my ass. I'll believe it when I read it in the trades, and not a second before.

[brazilgilliam]

What an awful choice for a movie: awful dialogue, predictable plot, cardboard thin characters, and the only thing to ground this stupid book was it's "adult" sensibilities. Why waste your time?

[Greg O]

The introduction to this piece is somewhat misleading Matt. It's far more appropriate and much closer to the truth to say 'Apparently pretending that a current Rap star is interested in your property does pay off, when it comes to trying to sell it to Hollywood'

The cental premise of this hype, that Eminem is interested in Wanted is baloney, bull, untrue, a con, a snowjob, whatever phrase fits the bill, instigated by Millar himself to promote and sell Wanted as a property.

The Scottish Sunday Times piece is simply a tool in Millar's attempt to gild the lily in regards to selling Wanted. All reports of Eminem's interest, much like the description of Wanted as"Watchmen for Super-villains" originated solely from Millar himself, even though he later feigns astonishment and excitement at such news.

There's nothing wrong with creating and fanning such hype, as a means of selling the property it's quite brilliant, although Millar's faux humility in the face of rumours he himself has started is translucently shallow. His repeated 'genuine' ignorance when reacting to rumours he's started is increasingly bordering on the pathetic.

Of late Millar has been right up there with Liefeild when it comes to confusing his 'stories' with reality.

Millar himself first start the rumour of Eminem's involvement back in May '03 when he posted:
"WANTED is a six part series coming out from a surprise company (not Marvel) at the end of the year. The artist is one of the biggest in the industry and no, I've never worked with him, but you all love him. It's the most evil, nasty thing I've ever written and ish one is being drawn as we speak. Catch the previous on the second Thursday in July and the Eminem flick in 05. "

This story was picked up by Millarworld board member (and Ninth Art columnist) Craig McGill who had interviewed Millar previously and sold it to the Scottish Daily Mirror either with or without Millar's blessing (although Millar's subsequent exploitation and embracing of the Eminem connection to sell Wanted tend to suggest he was a willing party in his associates piece). Millar certainly never at any stage pointed out that the fact was Eminem had shown no interest in Wanted and his agent had no knowledge of Eminem trying to buy the property.

After the story appeared in early June 03 Millar posted:
"Dunno if this is in the English editions of today's Daily Mirror, but the Scots version has a full page spread about Eminem coming to Glasgow to talk about appearing in the movie version of the creator-owned comic I'm working on. This is by no means official or even confirmed, but it's all over the place. Why are writers always the last to hear about the good stuff?"

This was the start of Millar feigning ignorance at the Eminem connection and also the point from where Millar had something other than his own posted hype to sell the property.

Much like the LITG reported story of Millar describing Wanted as Watchmen and then later graciously and humbly acknowledging his own self-hype of it as 2nd party praise in an interview, the Eminem Rumour was started by Millar, fanned by Millar then embellished and used by Millar.

In the PR he wrote promoting his Millarworld books the unsubatantiated Millar rumour about Eminem's interest became Eminem actually giving interviews to the British (not Scottish) press extolling his desire to purchase and appear in Wanted.

In July 03 after Eminem had toured in the UK and Glasgow without seemingly contacting Millar, Millar's self penned official PR for Wanted read:
"As has been reported elsewhere, Eminem appeared in a UK newspaper last month talking about how he wanted to buy and appear in the movie version of WANTED so the heat seems to be spreading before information on the titles has even been released."

Eminem never appeared in a UK newsapaper or anywhere else talking about Wanted. Never. Nor did anyone attached to Eminem. Thus far Millar is the only one talking about Eminem and Wanted.

The latest puff piece being reported here and seized upon by Millars fans as actual news appeared in the Scottish Sunday Times. The Scottish Sunday Times is not the oft quoted 'Times of London'. The Times, Millar likes to refer to, it is the Scottish version of the Paper only available in Scotland which has to fill a particular quotient of copy each week with local parochial stories to compete with Scotland own indigenous Sundays. The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish all have their own versions of the Times which feature stories that never appear anywhere else in the UK.
An expert in self-promotion Millar is no doubt aware that the provincial versions of the Sunday Times have a quota to fill with specifically Scottish interest pieces so are only to happy to print anything with a Scottish bent that has a quatable factor about it.

This latest piece was written by Senay Boztas who Millar previously gave the Red Son feature to. On his boards Millar has referred to her as 'The girl who allways does my stuff'. It is unequivacably apparent that all of Boztas's information came from Millar himself. Eminem couldn't have 'stocked up on copies of the comic when he played Glasgow recently'; that was June 23rd 2003. Even though Millar refers to his excitement regarding Marshall playing the lead role (one can only assume they are on first name basis now, 'Please Mark call me Marshall all my pals do'?), Variety has not reported on any interest or meetings nor have any Hollywood news agencies nor have any Eminem news sources. In fact the only source for the fact that Eminem is seriously interested in Millar's Wanted is Millar himself. Although if Millar sticks to form we can expect him to now start citing 'The Times' as evidence of this.

Apart from the fact that everything concerning Eminem's involvement has no other basis other than Millar himself, the likelyhood of Eminem wishing to attach himself to a vehicle (when he has already stated that he has no desire to act again and has shown no interest in any other film since 8-mile) which he does not own and where his own likeness would be used to generate profit for both Millar and TopCow in any number of printed sequels or spinoffs is contrary to every professional descision he has made since becoming successful.

Like every other Millar tale, this is pure fiction, impressive on the surface until you start to see all the plotholes and mischaracterisation.

GOD

[StoneGold]

Originally posted by MrAlarm
Any of you guys remember way back in the summer, months and months before issue 1 ever hit the stands, Millar was talking about how Eminem was interested in this, and how people were describing it as "Watchmen with Supervillains?" Well, what I want to know is, how the FUCK can that be when issue 1 hadn't even been drawn?

Same way LXG was sold as a movie before it was written?

[cactusmaac]

That's impressive work GOD.