TMNT25.com has released some details about the events they will be hosting at Comic-Con, coming up in San Diego in two weeks, and by doing so has inadvertently disclosed some information not previously announced (to my knowledge).According to the TMNT25.com site, John Fusco will be writing the new movie, slated for release in 2011, and will be on a TMNT panel scheduled for Friday of the convention.
According to IMDB, Mr. Fusco's previous screenwriting credits include the Young Guns movies, The Babe, and Hidalgo. He is also writer of a novel, Paradise Salvage.
Unfortunately, I don't believe I've seen any of his credited films, so I really can't comment as to what this actually means for the upcoming TMNT film. It does seem that Mr. Fusco likes horses, though.
Ninja Pizza will be covering San Diego Comic-Con extensively leading up to, and during the show, so stay tuned for many more updates and details to come. Watch for information on TMNT-related programming and events coming up within the next few days.
It seems like he did a lot of martial arts films. I've seen The Forbidden Kingdom, which wasn't so bad, but felt more of a family movie. That's what I'll be expecting from the new TMNT movie.
ReplyDelete// Roth
One day I'm going to learn not to get my hopes up about this property anymore. Seriously, WTH.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Luckily, I have truly already learned that lesson.
ReplyDeleteAlex, you'll be at Comic-Con, right? We should swap contact info so we can meet up at some point.
Maybe someone from a different film background can bring something unique to the movie, just trying to stay optimistic.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the reactions of disappointment to this. Were you hoping for someone like Joss Whedon or Michael Chabon? Unless it had been someone from the Mirage stable, the screenwriter was always going to elicit a "Who?". The names of film writers most often retained are the fantastically good and the spectacularly bad. If I thought of the last ten movies I've seen I would recall by a wide margin more of the directors than writers.
ReplyDeleteScreenwriting can be especially anonymous work on a franchise film like TMNT that can have countless rewrites, additional writers and ghost writers. Who wrote the first TMNT movie? A sitcom writer and a writer on The Wonder Years. The first Spider-Man movie? The man who wrote the screenplays for both Jurassic Park and The Shadow. The first X-Men movie? A cartoon voice actor.
Interpreting John Fusco writing the movie as a bad thing seems premature when it's so far removed from the final film.
Kris,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure exactly what here prompts you to comment on our "disappointment" about Mr. Fusco. It is true that he doesn't make me jump for joy, but I haven't--and I haven't seen anyone else--written him off. And I think having someone from Mirage write the script would be the worst possible choice. I will have better judgment about Mr. Fusco after seeing him next week at Comic-Con, but it is true that right now my opinion is rather reserved, mostly because his experience doesn't speak to the kind of TMNT movie that I still have vague hopes that this can be.
But I am thrilled that it is a guy who has recognizable credits, because I was half expecting to see someone with an obscure background that I couldn't connect to at all be given the task.
It might interest you to follow further discussion on this topic at The Technodrome.
Roseangelo,
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really anything in your post. The closest it came to a harsh word about the man was saying that he hearts horses. And if that's a flaw, truly I am a monster. I was responding more to a couple of the comments here. I don't think it's unfair to characterize Alex's as disappointed, but it would've been rude for me to single someone out like that. Uh. Sorry, Alex.
I brought up the Mirage guys more because TMNT fandom would recognize them without an IMDB search rather than because I believe they'd be a particularly good choice. But I do think calling them the worst possible choice is an exaggeration. They understand the characters and some have experience writing outside of comics, even writing the Turtles in other mediums. That wouldn't be a bad starting point for a TMNT film.
Thanks for the response!