"What if Batman was the Joker?"; Tony Scott Directed "Nemesis" Coming?

The title of the blog post is from the actual publicity for the comic book. What comic book? Mark Millar's Nemesis. What if someone as smart and with as much wealth and power as Bruce Wayne didn't become Batman, but rather the Joker?! Scary thought. Well that's exactly the concept behind Nemesis, a revenge tale brought to life in a dark, mute tone.

Today /slashfilm, via Bleeding Cool and Deadline are reporting the movie will soon be directed by Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Taking of Pelham 1,2,3, Unstoppable). Fox has the rights to the movie and supposedly they're moving head quickly on the project. I love the comic book, I only have the first of four issues and I think it's brilliant. There's a lot of over-the-top action in the comic book, and it's a different kind of over-the-top than Kick-Ass, involving presidents, planes, explosions, etc. Plus, Mark Millar knows what he's doing.

Don't know who Mark Millar is? Don't read too many comics? He's the man responsible for awesome comic book-to-movie translations such as Wanted and Kick-Ass. The man can write a comic book, that's for sure! His style of writing is almost as if it's meant to be translated into feature films. I have no doubt Nemesis will be a good movie, especially if done correctly by someone of Tony Scott's expertise. I'll post if it becomes official. This is some pretty cool news.

Why Angelina Jolie Is Turning Down "Wanted 2"

Wanted was a comic book movie adaptation that I really enjoyed. Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy were great in the film. The movie was profitable, so a sequel was inevitable right? Will everyone be coming back? The answer is no. Angelina Jolie will not be. Then there were rumors Kristen Stewart would be joining the sequel. Let's make sense of all of this.

[SPOILER ALERT]
Angelina Jolie's character, Fox, dies at the end of Wanted. So I thought this was always a stupid story. Why dig so deep to make her character come back to life or any of that stupid stuff. During a press junket for the upcoming spy thriller, Salt, Angelina Jolie sat down with comingsoon.net. She commented on the sequel, and her rejection of it.

Being dead makes it difficult. They were (trying to bring me back) but I kind of feel like if I die in a movie, I should die actually. I'm that way, and that character is not as complex as Salt. It would just be doing the exact same thing in another movie, so it's not that interesting to me.

[END SPOILER ALERT]

I already liked Angelina Jolie before this, now I like her even more. How refreshing is it to hear an actress or actor say, "I'm not just going to take the money, this has to make the most sense in the movie". I completely agree with Jolie's decision and think it's the right thing to do.

A few weeks ago I presented a way to make a sequel work for Jolie's character. How about a prequel? Kristen Stewart could show us the Fox's younger years and her inception into the fraternity. That would be pretty cool! We'll see what happens.

Kristen Stewart for Wanted sequel? How about a prequel?

So I guess the rumor lately is that Kristen Stewart is replacing Angelina Jolie in the sequel to Wanted, the comic book adaptation. Access Hollywood asked Stewart if she'd take the role and here's what she had to say:

Yes. Definitely, as long as it was good, Wanted was a great movie, James McAvoy makes that movie different than most other action movies because he's a real guy, and I feel like most action movies don't have that.

Without giving anything away, Jolie's character needs to be replaced. But I have a more compelling idea. This idea of mine is not good news for James McAvoy. How about a prequel about Jolie's character, Fox, and her first few years in The Fraternity. That would be sick! We got a glimpse of her childhood in the first Wanted, but there's more they could do.

I really enjoyed the first film, and agree with Stewart's comments about how the movie follows just a regular guy. I liked that. Not to mention all the crazy action! I'm OK with this sequel, although I'm sure others wont be.

Quickie: Gears of War Script in the works

Billy Ray, director of Breach, has been reported to start on a Gears of War script, based on the best-selling XBOX games.

Apparently he's teaming up with Chris Morgan, writer of Wanted.

Sweet!

Castlevania video game adaptation a reality

Dave McNary at Variety reported today that Castlevania, the popular video game would be adapted to the big screen. The game is about Vampires battling Belmonts every hundred or so years. Steven Paul is producing (Ghost Rider). Saw director, James Wan, has signed on to direct the film. The video game first came onto the scene in 1986 in Japan. Crystal Sky Entertainment bought the rights to a picture in 2005, but nothing ever took off because of the Writer's strike.

My only worry with this news is that a new trend will begin, the video game adaptation trend. I don't think I have much to worry about though. In order for a trend like this to occur: A. The movies have to be good, and B. They need to make a lot of money. That's what lead to the Comic Book movie trend we're seeing a lot of these days. A. The movies are good, i.e. Iron Man and The Dark Knight. And B. They're making a lot of money, i.e. Wanted and Ghost Rider!

Does anyone else see this trend coming? Before you answer, remember that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tekken are coming soon.