Savage Past, Savage Future...

Shane Black moves forward with his/my dream project...

The director of the biggest box office hit of the year did an interview with IGN about the status of his next fim, the big screen, authentic, period themed "Doc Savage".  He goes on to discuss the problems of adapting a pulp character that makes Superman's goodness look gritty (think Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Clark Kent).  Add to this the problem of finding an actor able to carry the physique of this pulp icon and you can see the challenges that exists for this film,

But all films are a challenge; filming some movies are akin to going into battle with an army.   Star Wars was an extremely difficult shoot, any production that Stanley Kubrick mounted was a mental and physical challenge.  And the obsticles sometimes make the film better.

Black seems to have an honest take on the character and genuinely knows the material.  It's not like many productions that twist and contort a character until he's unrcognizable to the audience you're aiming for.  With his newfound clout, Shane Black is the perfect person to adapt this classic property.  He's a geek that's been made.  If anyone can make the film pulp fans have wanted, he fits the mold.

Now he has to find an actor who fits the mold...

Hat Tip to /Film.

The Geek Codex...

It's amazing how the past can sometimes take control of the present...

Or predict the future.  Because that's what happened between the 1930's to the 1950's.  Much of the literature or films of these decades greatly influenced what we go to the theaters to see, or what we turn on the television to watch.  Now, I'm talking specifically about a certain type of literature (pulp magazines & comics) and a certain kind of film (serials).

Don't think so?  Think again.

Imagine some of the biggest hits in the last two decades, or even three decades and what do you come up with?  Star Wars?  It's a Saturday morning serial, especially "The Empire Strikes Back", as it's a pure matinee picture.  Raiders of the Lost Ark?  It's cut from the mold of old serials like "Spy Smasher" or "Zorro's Black Whip" among others.  Even it has imitators like "The Mummy" that play into the serial/pulp vein of pictures.  What is Disney's big tent pole picture this summer?  "The Lone Ranger" which is based on pulp stories that turned into serials like "The Lone Ranger" and "The Lone Ranger Rides Again" to the classic television series.

And then there are the pulp stories like "Doc Savage" that is walking right out of a tattered, old pulp magazine.  There have been some abortive attempts like "The Shadow" which has the correct look, but the wrong feel for the character.  And there have been efforts to bring him back, specifically, Sam Raimi a few years back before he got "Spider-Man" off the ground.  Disney's own "John Carter of Mars", which sadly didn't connect properly with audiences, comes from the Edgar Rice Burroughs stories printed in these old pulps.  Most people like to make fun of this that have never read the novels, or they simply forget because of Burroughs more famous pulp creation: Tarzan.

And comic books seem to be the biggest beneficiary of this resurgence.  There have been bad attempts at this over the decades, but around the end of the last century we started getting films that tapped the right fan artery.  Part of this was because Suit in charge were beginning to be the generation that read these comics so the stories were more authentic, and second, the introduction of computer graphics made it possible to create believable worlds; something that wasn't achievable a decade earlier.  A film of the Justice League or Avengers a couple of decades ago would have looked horrible, but with the help of CG and a script by Joss Whedon, look at what can be achieved?  A Justice League picture right now sounds like a monster waiting to be unleashed, not a film to be humiliatingly tucked away in a vault.

But a great deal of what you see on the silver screen today has been born from the DNA of these mediums.  And we're beginning o see more and more of them.  Expect if Doc Savage succeeds for The Shadow to be quickly green lit into production.  Studio Suits will go mining the pages of dingy pulps looking for the next character that they can exploit.  Something like The Spider could be the next one to go, or a less known pulp hero like Operator 5 or Secret Agent X.  If Warner Bros. wants to get on the band wagon, all they have to do is look through their DC Comics characters for "Spy Smasher", a little character they bought from Whiz Comics years ago.  He's the star of an incredibly entertaining serial by the same name that is utterly dear to me.

Not everything will be a hit.  For every Star Wars, there is a "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" that doesn't perform.  Or a "Rocketeer" that disappoints.  But even that film has developed a growing following as it's gotten older.  It's aged like wine to the point where the Mouse is thinking of rebooting it for the next generation.  Everything old is new again, or can be.  If you were a fan of "The Clone Wars" then you might not know that you were watching a serial.  Everything about that show flows back to the old Flash Gordon serials, from the action to the opening exposition setting up what's to come.

Yes, pulp/serials/comics changed the world.  At least the one we pay money for a ticket to see.  They take us away from the boring, drab world we live in to take us to a world where good will win, and it will do so with style and presence.  It's a place where danger lurks around every corner, but fun pervades every bit of atmosphere.  Within this world we can escape the lives we live, to experience something missing from our day to day journeys.

Now sit back in your chair at that theater and watch these old tales live again...

Shadowy Beginnings...

Who knows what what eeeeeeviiiilllll...




Eighty-Two years ago today, an iconic figure in radio/pulp fiction was born...

On the Detective Story Hour at the beginning of the Thirties, on this night a despondent, tired and pessimistic America tuned into their radios for a break from the harshness that the stock market crash had spent over the nation.

On tonights program, a new and exciting character would right the wrongs and deliver justice to a society that looked for hope. The mysterious Shadow would go on to create a sensation for young and old alike. He was a pre-superhero, before Superman and Batman, that did things the common man couldn't, but wanted to. And he offered a chance for the listener to escape the Great Depression, if only for a few hours.

Happy Birthday, Lamont Cranston...

ROCKETEER$...

The More, the better...





No sooner had I mentioned that I'd like to see a sequel/reboot than a jewel was found...

Joe Johnston did an interview with Film Journal and mentioned that he'd love to do a sequel to "The Rocketeer." Now, he didn't mention a reboot so I take it he's talking about a continuation and not a reinterpretation. If you've seen some of the Q&A from the 20th Anniversary screening of the film at the El Capitan, then you saw Billy Campbell still looks pretty good. I don't know if I'd buy him being only a few years older though.

I wouldn't want to see a film with this character set in the 50's. That's a little too far from the material, but maybe they could get away with early 40's? Have Cliff Secord on some secret mission in the waning days of World War 2. It could/would be an interesting thing to see. Maybe they can get Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to write the script based on their work on "Captain America" and then get Joss Whedon to do a polish on the dialog. Maybe? That would be oh, so cool.

And then, if I could just get Disney to adapt "Crimson Skies" too…

Thirty Years After The Greatest Adventure...

I hate snakes...





Thirty years ago today the world changed for me...

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg opened up a film that would define action for decades. It introduced one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema: Indiana Jones.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" was a film that I had no idea what to expect, or what it was about. I actually saw it earlier than opening night. Paramount Studios actually had test screening of it all across small town America a couple of weeks before it came out. My small town was one of those places where an advance screening took place. And I went. Not really knowing what to expect, I when as a little kid that loved the movies these two guys made and went in on that blind faith alone.

I came out blown away.

I actually stayed through the entire credit run; something I had never done before, but do quite often now. I left feeling as though Spielberg and Lucas had taking something from my mind and pulled it out and thrown it upon the screen. I can remember watching all that fun, all that action and saying to myself: "Wow, this is intense." After each one of the films action set pieces went on, I'd think that this must be it, the last one, no more action, no more story. This must be the end. But the story and action continued. It was a delightful roller coaster ride. I loved it. I went home and looked up the Ark of the Covenant, because I thought it was such a marvelous device. And I was surprised to find that it was real. So as well as entertaining me, it taught my ignorant mind a little unknown history.

Growing up in the lazy little suburbs of my quaint little city, there was little to do. I was a book reader, a comic reader and a movie-goer. I watched an ample amount of television consisting of a lot of escapist testosterone driven episodes of late 70's/early 80's cheese. One Sunday afternoon, I also happened to stumble on to a little PBS show entitled: "Super Serial Showcase." I watched it and marveled at the delight of these continuing adventures. How everything was fun and filled with action, great heroes and really nasty villains. I wondered to myself why Hollywood didn't make a movie like this. And then one day as I entered adolescence they did. They DID. For all their faults, for all the ranting I do here on Lucas or Spielberg, I have to give them my deepest respect and gratitude on this day.

For they opened another world to me...

Classic...

I love serials, I love old adventure films, and I love DC Comics...

So when Disney animator Robb Pratt created his own little short featuring a retro-50's Man of Steel, I had to check it out. It's a fun little piece that's only about a minute long, but filled with geeky, pulp love. I know exactly where Pratt is coming from with this short. This has the same look and feel that I'd want for an Indiana Jones animated series. Call up Lucas and have him get Paul Dini to work with Pratt on a series. It'd be awesome!

And classic...

Hat Tip to /Film.

Sequel To The Past...

Pulp Noir...


From time to time you'll see articles of my love of pulps and serials on the site...

I love all things "Shadow," "Spider" and "Savage." Especially Savage, Doc Savage. I've read many a pulp and have always wanted to see them adapted faithfully and correctly to the silver screen. I was greatly looking forward to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film back in the 90's, even though "Arnuuld" was about five years past the age he should have played it (Predator era look). Then there was word that Sam Raimi was going to direct a remake of "The Shadow" which would have been interesting. That came and went without making so much as a thud or a whimper. Then, earlier this year it was announced that Shane Black was making an attempt at bringing the Man of Bronze back. And knowing Black is a big Doc fan, that's good news. Hopefully the powers that be will greenlight this and we'll get a film that will show audiences what others and myself already know. That Doc is the next Indiana Jones waiting to be, that already was, but most never knew about. We will see.

But in the meantime, a wonderfully fun book I read a few years ago, Paul Malmont's "The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril" is getting a sequel. Now if you've never heard of this book, then shame on you. Go get it, it's a really good read, filled with interesting characters, pulpy plots and a well crafted storyline that fits into today's sensibilities, all while set in the past of 1937. And it's populated with real people, that actually existed. It's a fictional "what if?" story involving some of the great pulp fiction writers and it handles each of them with loving care, even though it doesn't have to. Walter Gibson (Shadow creator), Lester Dent (Doc Savage creator), H.P. Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness and other horrific masterpieces), L. Ron Hubbard and others. Each character is a three dimensional person, not a caricature or cartoon, but real and filled with the feelings and heartaches we all experience. A wonderful read.

His sequel, which will hopefully be out later this year, is called "The Astounding, The Amazing and the Unknown." Set in 1943, it follows the further adventures of these men as well as several other new, real life authors on a new adventure that is every bit what the title says. I look forward to hearing that publish date so I can go out and enjoy sitting back and reading this continuation of characters that I, and he, love(d). If you read the original, keep an eye out for when this comes out. If you haven't read the original, you're missing a truly great read.

Also, of note. If you liked this one and would like to read something in the same area of work, may I suggest Glen David Gold's "Carter beats the Devil." Hollywood has tried before to make this into a film, and is currently taking another stab at it. Hopefully stories like these will get made and we can rely on less strip mining of 80's/90's television and movies for worthy film projects. I can dream, can't I?

Time will tell...

Mini-Marvels...

It looks like we can look forward to a lot more unknown in the Marvel Movie Universe...

By that I mean, a lot of secondary and B-Level characters making their mark on the big screen and possibly television.

If you haven't read it, Latino Review is reporting from one of their sources that Marvel Studios and Disney are thinking about attaching short film versions of their lesser known heroes. These shorts, between 8-11 minutes would be introductory and a great way for the Mouse to gauge how much interest the public has in these characters without having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars only to find that the world has no interest in seeing them*.

I find this fascinating for one reason, this is what Hollywood used to call "Serials." This is what the inspiration for "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Star Wars," and several other films. I look forward to this immensely. It's not known if these projects will be live-action or hand-drawn/cg animation. I would hope that will Disney's vast collection of animation, they could pull something quite enjoyable together. This might be the route that Marvel goes with that proposed S.H.I.E.L.D. animated series that is one of many ideas that the Suits are going over.

Wow, first Disney Shorts, then Pixar Shorts and now Marvel Shorts...

The Future's Past Redone...

Someone contact whoever owns the film rights to "Flash Gordon" right now...

This little test trailer is absolutely what they should be aiming for. It's short, cool and oh so retro. Oh, and if you like that old fashioned-stylized figure above, then head over to Go Hero to find/give much love.

Hat Tip to Sci Fi Wire via Ain't It Cool News.

Shane's Savage Tales...

According to Ain't It Cool News, Shane Black is writing a screenplay for Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman that involves my favorite pulp literature figure...

If you are a regular reader of Blue Sky you know that I love old serials and pulp magazines. Heck, if you go to my Twitter page you can pretty much understand that. But I've always enjoyed reading these dime store novels and listening to the 30's radio programs or Saturday morning serials. I've got endless stories of The Spider, The Shadow or The Avenger. Even Conan or Solomon Kane, which I just finisher reading are great pulp figures. But they're not my favorite.

Doc Savage is.

Clark Savage Jr. is a character I've known about since I was a teen, but didn't get around to reading till a decade later. I've seen the cheesy 70's movie that was made about him and shudder when remembering it. That was kind of like watching that Captain America television movie made in that decade as well. Taking a classic archetype character and throwing away all that is good and creating a campy version of what you think people will want. He's always been a figure of missed opportunity. Handled right, this could be something along the lines of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Handled wrongly, it could come off like "The Mummy 3" film, or worse, the Russell Mulcahy version of "The Shadow," which got the look right, but the tone and feel exactly the opposite.

About a decade ago, there were plans to make a big budget film version of it that sounded spot on, for the most part. Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell were producing it with a script by David Leslie Johnson for Arnold Schwarzenegger to star as the Man of Bronze. Although Arnold was about ten years older than what he should be to play this (if it'd been made around the time he did "Predator" he would have looked spot on), he was still a good fit for the roll, although not exactly what Lester Dent had in mind when he created the adventurer. Alas, that was not to be. The script came in and was apparently budgeted at a level of something James Cameron would create. Understandable, since the world Doc Savage's in involves action on an epic scope most of the time. So the studio got cold feet and it languished in that wonderful place called Development Hell.

Until now...

Shane Black is writing the new adaption of the character. And it sounds like he's being faithful to the character with no modernizing him, no updating him, no messing with the mythology of his existence. Sounds great to me. But when it's done, I have no idea who to cast for him. Doc Savage, like Indiana Jones, is a character that belongs where his story is cast: the 30's. Thankfully it sounds like Black is going to keep true to the times and feel. I look forward to hearing more about this. Especially who they wind up having direct it. That will be a critical decision just as choosing Black as writer. The project has many obstacles to overcome even after these, but should this come together It'll be on my radar for the next couple of years. Hopefully it won't fade away like the last, aborted attempt.

And I keep wondering who's going to fill the Doc's shoes since Arnold is too old and too busy to play the part...

A Long, Long Time Ahead In A Galaxy Too Far Away...

It appears that there is news about the live-action Star Wars series...

Steve Sansweet, the swarmy spokeshole for Lucasfilm was at Dragon Con in Atlanta this week and gave out some vague, but mildly revealing details about the coming new Star Wars television series.

First, that it would start pre-production later this year.

Second, that it would be in production throughout 2010.

Thirdly, that the writers are busy working on it and from the sound of it, he has no idea what they're writing. That's ok, it's George. There's going to be a cute, annoying kid in it somewhere.

And lastly, we won't see it on television until late 2011/early 2012. Say whaaaaaa?

Well, that gives Iger plenty of time to prepare a pitch for the show being on ABC with reruns on Disney XD, doesn't it? Maybe even that "other" acquisition we talked about by then? I can dream you know.

I've got the television on and I'm waiting for this show to finally come on and I'm, I'm so sleepy, muust sta Zzzzzzzzz...