2002’s Road To Perdition is an outstanding film. Directed by Sam Mendes, and including the likes of Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, and Stanley Tucci, the film made a modest $181 million worldwide. Even with great reviews and making money, the movie is generally believed to be underrated. Should we give this story another look? Max Allan Collins believes so. He’s the man who wrote the original comic the movie was based on has two more, Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. Here’s what he had to say.
“Well, I can only tease, I’m afraid. We seem to be right on the brink, or maybe it’s the precipice, I don’t know (Laughs), of a deal being signed. Things have gotten very, very serious and I have, for years, held onto it as a project I would direct, because I have directed five independent films. It does look like, now, that I won’t be directing, but it is my script. That’s the most important thing to me, that the material be faithfully rendered. That isn’t to say that you have to do it absolutely faithfully. There certainly are differences between my graphic novel and Road to Perdition, but the spirit of the story is there. Mendes really got it and understood it and, I think that, in some ways, enhanced it.”
“I don’t know. We’ve been approached and the offer seems to be very, very serious. We have signed a round of paper but it is not nailed down yet and it looks to be pretty interesting. I will tell you that this will happen about 10 years after Perdition ends. Michael is 10 years older in Road to Purgatory.”
This sounds promising and interesting. I believe that Mendes delivered an awesome mob story, rooted on fathers-sons relationships. If they can maintain the mood and cinematography that Mendes used on the fist one, I believe the sequels can work. Also, they need to get a great A-List cast like in the first one; they can’t just go ahead an make the film with unknowns. And they should get Hanks to make some flashback scenes to tie it better. This is a must for me. If they make them, I’ll definitely watch them.
Do you guys want to see Michael come back and kick some ass? Should they get Hanks to do some flashback/dream cameos? Do you want to see the story continued?
