This could prove interesting. Haven’t seen The Old Guard yet, but I’m always up for them taking another crack at a new spy franchise. Gal Gadot is fantastic in Wonder Woman, so I think she’s a good choice for something like this. Looking forward to hearing more about this.
1 Like
The only thing I would immediately think of was Queen & Country - but I wouldn’t have thought of Gadot for Tara Chace. This is supposedly an original story more in line with MI and Bond.
Phew…
I have a lot of faith in Rucka’s ideas. But was the world really waiting for another female superspy? Is the genre not already a bit crowded?
It is crowded, but have any of these films really broken through? I think that there is room for a Mission: Impossible-style or a Bond type of franchise led by a female character, but none of the ones that have come along to this point have hit the marks needed to get them to that status. I think a large part of the “problem” for these films is that the stakes in each of them have been relatively small. Atomic Blonde, The Rhythm Section, Red Sparrow and other such films usually contain fairly small, more personal stakes, whereas M:I and Bond are more global in terms of what is at stake. If they put a rising superstar like Gadot in a film that has as much at stake as an M:I or Bond film, the results could be there for them to finally launch a truly competitive female-driven spy franchise.
2 Likes
Yes, Gadot is not a good choice for Tara, though I like her considerably as an actress. That said, I would LOVE to see Queen & Country get a faithful adaptation, either of the source comics or the excellent book trilogy. I always thought Emily Blunt would make a good Tara Chace.
1 Like
One thing I am always let down by those female spy films: the protagonists have to behave like macho males, showing off in endless fight scenes. I would prefer the same thing I prefer in male spy film protagonists: intellect, cunning, wit. Someone who does not punch his way towards solving a problem but actually outwits the opponent.
3 Likes
I will admit to being one of those that does enjoy seeing the fight scenes in these films. Heck, they took that simple concept and turned it into Haywire with Gina Carano and made, arguably, the best of the female-centered spy films with it. But it is relied on too much and viewed as one of the only traits that they try to carry over from M:I and Bond. The aim should be to craft a great character and then just cast a woman to play her rather than making gender the central focus of the character in terms of the story that they are trying to tell.
A good example of this is Salt, which was originally written for Tom Cruise. He backs out and they replace him with Angelina Jolie. The character herself works just fine. It’s the rest of the film that doesn’t quite work, but I think that they got the idea right with the lead character. Write a good character and then do the casting.
2 Likes
Even the CW is now getting in on the Stephen King Renaissance
2 Likes
Of all the upcoming Stephen King adaptations The Stand is the one I’m most interested in. Admittedly this is because I’ve just finished the Audible version. I’m not sure how many authors could keep me engaged for 47 hours so kudos to King.
It would be unthinkable to cut it down to a movie so I hope they can do it justice in a 10 episode series. Giving some thought to checking out the old 90’s adaptation too.
The only thing that comes to mind about the 90s miniseries is ‘small’ - I remember hardly anything apart from that I was disappointed. The Stand needs a certain sense of the enormity of what it means that 98 percent of mankind are wiped out in weeks. I didn’t get that feeling at all from the 90s effort. But a modern tv series could probably capture this atmosphere much better with the experiences of Walking Dead and other such productions.
1 Like
Depending on exactly when The Stand is set to be released, I wonder how it will go down with audiences. Might hit a bit too close to home at the moment.
2 Likes
There is certainly a tragic irony in the production of the Stand being delayed by a real life pandemic. At this point it’s impossible to say to say how people will react but for my part I was still able to enjoy the story despite what was going on in the world outside.
I may still look at the 90’s version. For me it’s more important that they nail the characters than the scope. And I’m not obligated to go more than one episode if it’s not working
I’m certain that I’ll be able to enjoy it as well. It’s a fantastic story, and I very much liked the TV series as well. Not sure that it’s something that I particularly want to watch right now, but when it’s released, I’ll certainly make time for it.
As good as it’s looking so far, I do have to admit to being a touch disappointed that it’s not getting the feature treatment with Ben Affleck at the helm. That’s now two Affleck-directed films that I was looking forward to (The Stand and The Batman) that have fallen through in recent years.
I’ve always wanted to see that film. An ex-gf into karate introduced me to Gina Carano. She was also awesome in The Mandalorian!
1 Like
I think it’s for the best The Stand is coming to TV rather than cinemas. It’s a huge book and you’d have to cut huge huge chunks or find a way to split the story across multiple films (where the book lacks any obvious place to put a break) . A 10 episode TV series on the other hand gives the story more time to breathe.
As long as they story is I’m actually hoping they take the time to expand on some characters. For example Lloyd is set up as a POV character early on yet disappears for a huge chunk of the book. Or characters like Dayna Jurgens or Ralph Brentner become quite pivotal even though we don’t spend any real time with them at the front half of the story.
1 Like
The points you mention are quite important.
When I first read The Stand many years ago I fell head over heels in love with the book. The sheer scope and impact of it all, the typical King characters that were at once ordinary and yet heroes of their lives and the story. What a wonderful huge book, particularly in the expanded version we got later!
Revisiting it over 30 years later however I can’t help but notice the many many issues the book has. Too many characters, some of which are killed midway into the book for no other reason than King having no use for them any more. Too big changes for some of the individual characters (Harold turning from overweight to hawk within a few weeks, Lloyd turning from borderline imbecile crackhead to Flagg’s second-in-command to name only two). The actual motives and actions of the Vegas community not being clear or logical - which also holds true for Flagg and seems a weak point of most of King’s bad guys (or a central motive of his work, the stupidity and pointlessness of evil).
The book as a whole, much as I still love it, shows that it was written on one long bender and not really edited with a mind to improve the problems, merely cut down somewhat.
Both Under the Dome and Sleeping Beauties, which pick up some of the themes of The Stand, have their own issues and feel flawed to me. But they seem to handle their own stories with more confidence and focus.
Watching this made me realise why they were all keen to return for Ghostbusters: Afterlife - it wasn’t how good Jason Reitman is as a director (Which he is), it was they remembered the six year old who was always around when they made the first one.
4 Likes
Had a great time watching the Ghostbusters Reunited Apart a few weeks ago (I think, not even sure what day it is anymore 
). Can’t even begin to express how disappointing it’s been to have the new film pushed back into next year.
2 Likes
While I enjoyed Captain Marvel it was definitely one of the weaker MCU entries. They needed a bolder direction for the sequel and hopefully Nia DaCosta can deliver that. Her Candyman wasn’t really on my radar (I’ve not seen the original) but I have to admit it does have some strong talent behind it and is positioning itself as more of a sequel.
How very optimistic of them…