By Fred Topel | Image property of Universal Pictures
Bruce Willis came to Comic Con to show off his newest badass action heroics in Red. Based on the comic book, the title stands for Retired, Extremely Dangerous. Willis plays a retired agent back in action. It turns out he’s a big comic book fan.
Bruce Willis Talks Red
“I don’t collect them but I’ve done a couple movies that are based on them,” Willis said. “They all turn out to be really fun projects. Fun to do and there’s just more character in it. There’s just more stuff that’s already there that you can go to. For the most part, people would expect actors to fill in blanks anyway, but the blanks are not blanks anymore. Things you’re upset about, what is your beef, what is my beef in this film, it’s always a lot easier.”
Red exceeded even Willis’s expectations when it attracted costars like Helen Merren and Morgan Freeman. “There was never any way I could ever have imagined the richness of what a film could be that has a huge cast of characters in it when all those characters are played by actors you already know and I was already a fan of for a long time. I was excited all the time. ‘What? Who’s? Oh…’ Just excited. I think we’re just starting to talk about it now. We’re starting to talk about it and get a response but one thing that’s going to be talked about a lot more is just the phenomenon of having this many actors and this many movie stars in a film being told a good story and telling an ambitious story that’s fun and funny and has action in it. I think we all try to live up to the storyline and I would rather have you ask the guys that came up with the idea, did we live up to what that story was? Did we live up to taking that material and a piece of art in one genre, translating it to another?”
Red
Willis proved he could still handle a gun and some one-liners in Live Free or Die Hard. He’s been going strong ever since. Red actually addresses the age issue head on. “The word is certainly used and used in the title of the film. Retired, extremely dangerous. It’s commented on a couple times but when you see the film it’s right now. It’s hip. Karl Urban and I went at it in one of the toughest fights I’ve ever had in my life. It was deliberately crafted along the lines of mixed martial arts and how violent that is. We were throwing each other around, literally throwing each other around. The fact that you see anyone who is reported to be retired in the film, they’re doing stuff that is sexy and hot and romantic and funny.”
Action, comedy and romance are all things Willis has done before, but you get an all in one package with Red. “This film was always ambitious right from the very start. It could have just been defined as an action movie or a comedy or a romantic comedy. The studio and the story was always about that and stayed there. It always felt ambitious. Depending on who you talk to, young guys will tell you it’s an action movie. some people tell you it’s a comedy or it’s a romantic comedy but it weaves all these things together. It doesn’t move you off of liking the action or liking the comedy or liking the romance. I have a romance in this film! And a romantic comedy. It seems great and I really am pleased with this choice.”
Red opens to theaters on October 15th.
For the trailers, posters and more movie info, go to the Red Movie Page.
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