Movies
Update: ‘Alien’ Article #2: Official Title ‘Paradise’, More Casting, Remake?
Sigh: Chris Petrikin, senior V.P. of communications at Fox, said this via Twitter last night: “I don’t know where to begin to correct what is being written about a certain Ridley Scott project…” It should be noted we don’t know which report he’s referring to. There’s been a lot of news regarding the development of Twentieth Century Fox’s Alien, which has lead to a series of new developments. The latest comes from the NY Post who discovered that the official working title is now Paradise (although it’s unclear if it’s Alien: Paradise or just Paradise), and that it will actually be a REMAKE, contrary to all of the previous reports. There’s a slew of fresh info that you’ll find beyond the break, including characters and potential casting. What are your thoughts on this breaking news?
From the NY Post:
“We’re told that Paradise reboots the original Alien franchise, in that the story follows a group of space travelers who encounter a monstrous alien creature that picks them off, one by one. Since there’s no working budget yet on the film, formal offers have not gone out to actors, but our spies tell us that several are at the top of Scott’s list for leading roles.
By now, readers of this blog know that Noomi Rapace has been the front-runner for the role of “Elizabeth Shaw,” the film’s main character, but we’ve learned of other parts, too: There’s “David,” who’s actually an android, an earlier version of the Bishop 341-B character that Lance Henriksen famously played in Aliens. We’re told that Scott was interested in Michael Fassbender for the part, but that Fassbender’s reps had sought such an outrageous amount of money for their client that they — forgive the pun — alienated Scott. Of course, there’s still a chance that Fassbender’s reps may salvage the talks, but things haven’t been going so well.
We also hear that Scott hopes to give the part of “Vickers” — a fortysomething, tough-but-sexy woman — to crouching tigress Michelle Yeoh.
There are other interesting roles, including an older businessman along for the ride, but we’re most curious about the part of Engineer 1, who we’re told is to be “played” by a six-foot-five-inch actor, but will actually be entirely CGI, à la Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films.”
What say you?
I was never against Sony’s initial idea to produce solo movies based on Spider-Man’s most memorable supervillains. After all, a hero is only as good as his Rogues’ Gallery is intimidating, so it stands to reason that there were plenty of dark stories to tell here.
While rushed productions like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped, it’s a relief to see James Gunn and the DC Extended Universe learn the right lessons from Marvel’s flops by investing in supervillain stories that aren’t afraid to step into the horror genre.
The new trailer for James Watkins’ upcoming Clayface movie is a great example of this, as the new footage confirms our suspicions that the movie is set to be a full-on piece of body horror focusing more on telling a standalone scary story than setting up a brand.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer in order to find out what we can expect from this highly anticipated comic-book adaptation from hell.
So without further ado, here are four things we learned from the new Clayface trailer!
4. Matt Hagen is a Club Vesuvius Regular
A seedy nightclub owned by “former” mobster Johnny Sabatino, the comic books have established Club Vesuvius as a hotspot for criminal activity and metahuman action since 2009. Throughout the years, the club has seen everything from an attempted arson by Firefly to magical acts performed by Zatanna herself.
The trailer for Clayface appears to suggest that Vesuvius will feature prominently in this story as well, as the footage shows us several shots of Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) casually attending the club as well as a couple of more concerning moments where Gotham City Police roll up to the establishment to deal with some kind of emergency.
3. The Movie Will Not Adapt Any Single Specific Comic
As I mentioned before in my Clayface primer for horror fans who aren’t all that familiar with the character, the initial teaser for the film had me convinced that the project would be more of an adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series’ two-part episode Feat of Clay rather than any specific comic-book.
This latest trailer has only confirmed my suspicions, with Hagen’s predicament here feeling much more in line with Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves’ sympathetic vision of the character than the more traditional criminal that we usually see in the comics. That being said, I’m curious to see how the filmmakers intend to connect this tragic version of Clayface to the more unpleasant monster we saw in Creature Commandos now that it’s been confirmed that these are indeed the same person.
2. James Watkins is Combining Practical and Digital Effects
I’ll always prefer a well-executed practical effect over CGI simply because the former is closer to the stage magic that inspired early moviemaking. That being said, there’s an undeniable artistry to well-crafted visual effects, and I’d argue that a character like Clayface requires the best of both worlds in order to be convincingly brought to life on the big screen.
I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so, as the trailer has shown us that Watkins is combining digital imagery with prosthetics and plenty of flesh-colored goop to depict Hagen’s unique brand of monstrous body horror. James Gunn had already promised us that the film would feature plenty of old-school practical effects wizardry, so it’s exciting to see that this approach in action.
1. Hagen Will Eventually Transform into Clayface’s Iconic True Form
In the comics, whenever Clayface isn’t pretending to be someone else, the character spends most of his time in his “natural” form resembling a gigantic golem-like monster. This look has certainly evolved over the years, but, at this point, most artists have settled on a vaguely humanoid shape accompanied by a gaping maw (though the villain’s terrifying re-imagining in DC’s Absolute Universe is a bit more complicated than that).
While fans were initially skeptical regarding whether or not the upcoming adaptation would even feature this admittedly outlandish design, the trailer has basically confirmed that Hagen’s condition will get progressively worse until he finally resembles the hulking monstrosity from the comics!
Be sure to comment below if you think we overlooked any interesting details in the trailer, and keep in mind that Clayface will be hitting theaters on October 23.
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