Month: March 2003

They seem to be having trouble casting a lead actor in “Superman.” I’m not surprised. The problem with casting a known actor is that you don’t think of him as Superman. You think of him as so-and-so wearing a Superman costume.

So what they want is someone with some degree of recognizability, but without a rep as an actor so he could possibly make the character his own.

Perhaps they should screen test Evan Marriott. You know: Joe Millionaire.

Seriously. Look at the guy. Big. Tall. Hunky. Ready smile. Charming. Kind of looks like Superman already if you smooth out his hair. Lots of experience lying to women, so that works for the Clark/Lois thing. Could he pull off Superman and Clark as two different people with the believability that Chris Reeve did? Unlikely. Then again, George Reeves put almost no effort into distinguishing the two, and that worked.

Joe Superman. Works for me. Work in a cameo for Zora and you’re all set.

Either that or cast him as Batman with Paul as faithful butler Alfred.

PAD

Although everyone agreed that the Mike Kaluta cover for “Fallen Angel #1” (the B&W sketch for which I showed you folks some time ago) was beautifully moody, the feeling at DC was that the first issue cover should practically leap off the stands visually, especially with so many titles out there vying for the reader’s eye. So Brian Stelfreze (man, I hope I spelled his name right) was brought in to do a new cover for the first issue, and the Kaluta painting will be saved for a few issues down the line when the book’s established.

So here’s what you’ll be seeing on the newsstands in July for “Fallen Angel’s” debut.

PAD

…I keep returning to one simple conclusion. If 9/11 had never occurred, and George W. Bush was doing exactly the same thing he’s doing now–actions motivated supposedly because of Saddam’s breaking of UN resolutions–then we would be seeing calls for impeachment from everywhere. He would be viewed as a war-mongering madman by everyone, including the Brits. Hëll, it wouldn’t have been allowed to get this far.

But the destruction of the Twin Towers, an event which–as far as we can tell, had nothing to do with Iraq–has given license to unprecedented aggression. Why? Because, in my opinion, the administration does not want to risk looking impotent in the face of terrorism.

I’m thinking that this will go down as the most spectacular incident of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in all of recorded history.

PAD

Took Caroline to see her first movie yesterday: “Chicago.” Actually, I’d already seen it, but Kathleen and Ariel hadn’t. So we all went with the understanding that, if the baby started to fuss, I’d take her out. As it happened, she fell asleep ten minutes in and napped through the whole thing.

I come away from seeing it a second time with my opinion even more solidified than ever. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rene Zellwegger act the roles great, but the success of their dancing is a tribute to direction and editing rather than talent. They move very well…but there’s a difference between being a great mover and a great dancer. I’m not sure what it is. A confidence, a sharpness, a focus. Any or all of those. All I know is that Bebe Neuwirth as Velma on film would have amazing. On the other hand, she would have left Zellwegger so far in the dust that you would’ve had to use someone else for Roxie as well.

On the other hand, perhaps it’s appropriate to the film to have used two women whose singing and dancing was good, but not great. It plays to the notion that their success stems from their notoriety rather than their talent.

PAD

Beacon Pictures, the producers of such films as “Air Force 1” and “The Commitments,” has signed a six figure deal to option my novel “HOWLING MAD.” A screenplay written by Steven Kriozere is already well underway. The deal was negotiated by my agent, Frank Balkin, of the Paradigm Agency in Los Angeles.

“HOWLING MAD,” originally published by Ace Books in 1989, is an inversion of the werewolf legend. Rather than a human being bitten by a werewolf and transformed into the beast, “HOWLING MAD” tells the story of a wolf–eventually known as Josh–who is bitten by a werewolf and transformed into a human being. It’s been optioned before, but never by a company of the size and reputation of Beacon. And no, I’m not at all disappointed that I’m not writing the screenplay. Kriozere is the one who got Beacon interested in the project in the first place and a huge fan of the book, so more power to him. He and the fine folks at Beacon are determined to produce a movie as true to the characters, story and spirit of the original as possible, and I have every confidence in them.

There’s many steps and many pitfalls from option to actual film, but I consider this a very positive and exciting start.

PAD