It appears that Kurt Sutter has decided to ditch on Punisher: War Zone. He was originally a writer for the project but now has decided to bail out in order to save face. We get the following scoop thanks to our friends at cinematical:
Kurt Sutter, one of War Zone’s writers, has elected to take his name off the project. Over on his blog, Sutter claims that not only does he not deserve credit, as his original script has been rewritten out of existence, but he no longer wants credit or any association whatsoever with the project. In fact, he has few kind words for the film whatsoever. In his words, War Zone is a “simple story, very obvious dialogue and the inclusion of as many characters from the anthology that a movie will allow.” It’s a very tight script, he notes, but not very unique and not something that he could take any pride putting his name on. Sutter’s dismissal of the current script earned him the ire of Punisher fans, though it is a bit perplexing as to why ducking out of WGA arbitration should earn you a death threat.
This is never a good sign. I do not care how many re-writes a project has, if it is still quality – you want your name on there. This appears to be a “jumping ship” scenario and I cannot say that I am surprised. Jain jumped ship, now Sutter joins the fray. This project is losing people faster than the bush administration (ba – dum, pshhhht).
What has me most concerned about this blog entry is the inclusion of as many characters as possible. Too many characters is the achilles heel of comic book movies and should ALWAYS be avoided at all costs. I am wondering how many characters they will bastardize with one fell swoop. I suppose we will wait and see.
International friends, are you still holding out hope for this, or is the writing on the wall?
i think doug DOES work for fox news!!!!
BUSTED!
jk
the only thing that i dont like about the 1st punisher is that they didnt show him in the marines- every punisher comic book usually started with him killing and ramboing it out in the jungle against vietnameese soldiers
i love it when he says “give me the 60” you know hes goign to kick ass when he asks for an m60
I LOVE THE PUNISHER lol
This guy is a douche nozzle. His blog screams of arrogance. This one line from his blog sums up his sour grapes.
“When Thomas Jane distanced himself from the project using my draft as the reason, my name was on hundreds of blogs.”
And this line:
“It’s a traditional comic book movie. Which I added, is not a bad thing, it’s just not the kind of movie I would write.”
Sounds like a Hack writer complaining about a project because he hates the genre of comic book movies. Doug needs to read all the entries because the guy says the script is tight and well written.
another entry:
“Let me say, also for the record, the Punisher: Warzone script is not a bad script, in fact, I think it’s a very tight script. My beef, my frustration, was not about the script being good or bad, it was about creative choices. The comic book formula I referenced makes for fantastic movies. ”
Why not put that part in your blog Doug, instead of just picking what you want? Do you work for Fox News?
it’s time for dolph lundgren to take over as the true punisher! honestly i can care less all i want to be is entertained for 2hrs. plus, i would wait till it’s available in the $5 bin at walmart or target.
To be honest, I really have no idea what I think of this film now. I loved hearing that they were making a second film but all this crap with Jane being gone and script writers walking could just be buzz to get this film on the radar.
I’ll judge it when I see it I guess.
I thought the first one was okay. There was potential there but that potential was tied to Thomas Jane. Once he left the project, he took all its potential with him. It still might be okay, but it wont build on what the first one did.
i loved the first one
I heard about this a few days ago, and now that more information has come out, I have made the following observations:
1) Why the threats? If it is true Jane left Punisher because of the Sutter script *alone*, then the *fans* would be happy to see Sutter walk away. Threats serve no purpose
2) Most scribes fight like the dickens for arbitration. Some film credits wind up having writing credits as long as the eye can see; some writers get a “co-story by” credit, others somewhere between the “ands” (“&” rep writing teams) …and others get no credit whatsoever. Sutter feels that the filmmakers tossed out all of his work. If they did so, this should not be a problem. He should not get credit.
So, since they want to credit him, it implies that *maybe* the current filming script is falling back to one of Sutter’s drafts to fill in story problems. One scene, a bit of dialog, who knows. But they want his name on there for a reason. Again, many writers who work thier butts off on films and get re-written don’t always get credited. Many writers whose work is not used sometimes get credited anyway, even though they had nothing to do with the finished picture. If he wants his name off, again, it should not be a big deal
3) Too many characters…is an understatement. Look, don’t get me wrong. I love Marvel. I grew p on the majority of the characters like everyone else. But, like everyone else, I’m growing…a wee bit tired of seeing even the most useless, mundane characters being put into a film “just because” they were in the comic and I, like everyone else, is upset over the Marvel trend of having new characters, be it heroes or villains, eat up chunks of screen time and either taking away time away from main characters or new introduced characters not being used enough (looking at YOU, Spider-Man 3) …it’s all about the spinoff. It’s all about “pleasing the fans”.
But why aren’t the “fans” pleased? Because there are some things that might work great in a comic book and/or an animated show that simply do not work in a live acton context Look at the ‘Wolverine’ news, yes, most of the characters announced, in the comics, they were part of the Weapon X storyline…MOST. what is Gambit doing there? I am a fan of the character, as are other folks, but is the film about Wolverine?
The first (well second) Punisher film was a steaming pile of anal excretion. I have no interest in this this.
did people really think this movie would be good? The last punisher was one of the worst films of all time..i put punisher in the AvsP movie category…
First Tom Jane Punisher ruled. This one is officially in the ‘ignore til proof of credibility emerges’ catagory.
Hey, what happened to that post about Ben Stein on the Live show?
You just erase postings now?
Jane left cause he hated Sutter’s script and Sutter wouldn’t re-write it, so Jane left. After he left, the company brought in someone else to do some re-writes and pretty much removed all of Sutter’s script except one scene or something like that.
Seeing as how Sutter is the reason Jane bailed, I’m not sad to see him go. The fucker should have bailed long ago, before Jane left so then maybe Jane would still be attached to the project.
damn…..i never was a fan of the punisher but after reading garth ennis’ new max series of the punisher im now a fan. there is so much that can be done with the character and u dont see how hollywood always manages to screw stuff like this up.
i was looking forward to war zone but a writer removing his name from the flick that he helped write is never a good sign. and all his reasons really have me worried
No Jane = No Klendathu.
“I just want my kids back”
if ray stevens (i think thats his name) pawns at being frank castle ill go to his house and hang him
I LOVED THAMAS JANE AS THE PUNISHER
oh well- im loking forward 2 it
Very obvious dialogue is what worried me.
wow.. i loved the punisher, but knowing that kurt sutter wants out is bad, i’ believe anything that guy says, cause of his writing on the shield alone.
it must be an awesome film. I know if I was attached to a great movie as a writer I would definitely fight to have my name removed too.
Can’t wait.
Holding on to my Frozen Hope, but it is Melting fast.