By Fred Topel | Image property of Universal Pictures, TrailerAddict
Warren Ellis joins the ranks of comic book authors to see their stories acted out by Hollywood’s A-list. The movie of Ellis’s Red stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and more.
Warren Ellis Talks Red
“This is going back a long time for me,” Ellis recalled. “Seven years ago I read that [the movie was being made.] I don't know that whole process from there to here is a bit bizarre. When things got rolling, my agent was telling me who’d been signed and I asked if she was drunk. There has not been a comic book adaptation with a cast like this and frankly there’s not going to be a film this year with a cast this quality.”
Of course Willis and co. will do their own thing with Ellis’s characters. He wouldn’t have it any other way. “Right from the start I said it’s got to be an adaptation and not a translation. These are two different beasts. Nothing is served by trying to do a direct translation, besides the book is only 66 pages long. I always knew it had to be expanded.”
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Ellis had no temptation to be protective over his book. “I always knew it had to be an adaptation. If you go in with the mindset of, ‘I’ve got to protect my baby…’ You go have fun with this. The screenwriters I think did an astonishing job. They’ve added new characters, there are many new scenes but everything they’ve added speaks directly to the themes and original intent of the book. They never lose sight of that even when they lighten the tone. As the original author I couldn’t be happier.”
Red opens to theaters on October 15th.
For the trailers and more movie info, go to the Red Movie Page.
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