Wanted and Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar has told Scottish TV network STV he is aiming big for his first directorial outing which will shoot later this year, taking his cues from the South African feature District 9.
In a video interview on the STV web site, the former 2000AD writer says he wants to create an epic Scottish superhero movie that will have a 21st-century Trainspotting vibe while being “as cool as X Men 2”, with plans to shoot this summer using a local cast and crew.
In first part of STV’s extensive interview with Millar about all his projects, he explained: “The plan with the Scottish movie was that I realised that everything I’d written, even though I’m a Scottish guy from Coatbridge, everything I’d written was set in New York or Los Angeles. I just thought that’s quite weird; normally people will do something that is a wee bit to do with where they came from, so I thought that it was quite odd that I’ve never done that.
“It’s a lazy shorthand to always set something in America that everybody understands.
The film will shoot this summer, Mark reveals.
“… My plan is to start directing [the film] in June, June and July,” he continues. “We’re prepping it just now. We want to do it with an entirely new cast, people nobody have seen before, young people from Glasgow and Edinburgh and work with local teams. Everyone that works on the movie we want to try and keep Scottish and just create a superhero movie with its own unique flavour.”
Millar is reconciled to the way his comics work has been adapted for the silver screen. “You compromise in film, it’s just the way it goes,” eh says. “Sometimes you write a black character that when it comes out in the movie it’s a white character and so on. It’s a collaborative process and everybody’s got an opinion, and if you do something in the studio system you have to defer sometimes.
• View the first interview here on the STV web site
• In the second part of the interview, Mark talks about how Kick-Ass’s independent status was preferable to the studio system behind the likes of Superman.
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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