Now my first thought that struck me was Patrick Duffy and The Man from Atlantis! Hopefully that won’t be how it turns out.
News through Coming Soon from Variety is that Chris Columbus has been scheduled in to produce and direct the marvel comic adaptation of Sub-Mariner for Universal Pictures.
Marvel Studios chairman-CEO Avi Arad and former Universal production president-turned-producer Kevin Misher are producing the film along with Columbus and his 1492 Productions.
David Self (Road to Perdition) wrote the script and is executive producing the film.
Sub-Mariner is based on Marvel’s first superhero, Prince Namor, a half-amphibian man from the kingdom of Atlantis. A troubled rebel with a fierce temper, he has both helped the human race and fought against it when humankind polluted his underwater kingdom.
I only read a few comics of Sub-Mariner, but it did look like an interesting story, but the thought of it turning into a Duffy of a movie (see what I did there) is a sad thought, especially for the first Marvel Superhero.
Hollywood is clinging on to the idea of bringing these heroes to light, and it’s not a bad thing, if they were done well. We need to treat these adaptations as proper movies, I think that Hollywood are looking at these movies and thinking of a kiddie or a geekie audience, you can imagine the attitude thinking of a small, already converted audience, they probably don’t ever stop to think of the connection to Superman and Batman and what those franchises can do when handled properly. Mind you, you’d think Spiderman would have opened their eyes by now!
So, listen up Hollywood, inject some money and passion into these movies, make them big!
Marc,
I would have to agree with you in that, although I am really into sci fi, comics, horror, etc. I don’t relly care to see a Sub Mariner movie. I collected comics when I was a kid and I don’t remember any of my friends talking about Sub Mariner when it came time to discussing the latest plot in a comic book. Isn’t there some other more interesting and popular super heroes that can be made into a good film? In fact, there are so many other characters and stories not being considered from DC comics. What about a movie about Thor? Now, i’d buy that for a dollar! :-)
I agree with you, Richard, about the treatment of the property being the top priority. But I really don’t see broad appeal in the Sub Mariner. I mean, he’s a pointy eared, (no offense Mr. Nimoy), guy with wings on his feet that lives underwater. Even within the comic book community, he hasn’t been able to carry his own title.
Don’t get me wrong, I would definitely pay to see a Sub Mariner film, but I really don’t know how many people in the general public would.
Alter Ego Comics
Why so Marc? I was just thinking to myself and there are successful adaptations of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc so why not live action\CGI?
Is it perhaps that the issue is not so much with the animation\live action medium but with the actual treatment itself? For example the script, the direction and production and whether or not these people have any belief and love in the material?
That was my hastily scribed point in the post (sorry was at work with a migraine and on my birthday too!) was that Hollywood could just be looking at these movies and seeing an established and fanatically faithful audience and going for the cash cow instead of putting some belief into it. See Spiderman and Batman (first only!) for an example.
Chris Columbus? What an aweful choice. Not that I am too interested in this movie, but Chris Columbus is such a generic director when it comes to the visual aspect of filmmaking.
One word – ANIMATION. My gut feeling is that the Sub Mariner would work best as an animated film.
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