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[TOP COW SPOTLIGHT] MARC SILVESTRI TALKS 'WITCHBLADE' MOVIE | | Read the FIRST interview with the Top Cow CEO regarding the recent announcement of the Witchblade movie heading into production! | | | By Kevin Mahadeo | | Posted 5/14/08 | |  | | ![[TOP COW SPOTLIGHT] MARC SILVESTRI TALKS 'WITCHBLADE' MOVIE](http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/wizarduniverse_2062_68968343)
With the RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT of the "Witchblade" movie heading into production, Wizard called up Witchblade co-creator and Top Cow CEO Marc Silvestri and nabbed the FIRST interview with the creator about finally bringing the silver gauntlet to the silver screen, his involvement in the project and the possibility of more Top Cow properties bursting their way off the printed page.
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WIZARD UNIVERSE: Obvious question to start off with, how did all this come about?
MARC SILVESTRI: Well, we've got partners in Platinum Entertainment that we've been doing business with for the past few years, and Witchblade is one of those properties that has just been sitting there waiting to happen into yet another bit of media—you had the television show a few years ago and then the anime, which did really, really well. Feature film seemed to be the next logical step for us. When our partners came to us with a package that we, quite frankly, couldn't resist, we were like, "Okay. Let's do it. Let's pull the trigger on this thing. Let's make it happen." It was a couple years in the making, but I think we got to the point where I think the audience is really for a female lead in a movie like this.
Going off on that, what about Sara makes her an ideal choice for the breakout female lead character?
Well, I think Hollywood is a little sketchy about a female lead in an action movie. They've had a couple of misfires that we all know about. [Laughs] I won't mention by name. But with typical Hollywood mentality, that puts the ice on any project that might have a female lead in it, no matter who that person is. People just get cold feet. So, we had to wait that out while we were in development for "Witchblade," and kind of wait for things to happen like "Iron Man," for example, and movies before that to show that regardless of comic book genre, it still has potential no matter who is in the lead or what the subject matter is to strike it big. Some of those cold feet are getting a bit warmer. And again, we've got a package that we think would make it what it needs to be. So, we're excited. It's all about timing, and I think the timing is right for this. We're looking for a 2009 release and I think we'll be ready for it.
Now, there's no word on casting or a director or anything yet?
Not that we can discuss. [Laughs] That's why I'm going to be a little cagey with you today. There is someone that we are deeply involved with and it looks like we'll make that announcement real soon. So, I'm going to hold off until I can officially say something. But we're excited about it, and this person believes in the project and has a great vision for it. Witchblade for us is like one of those evergreen properties kind of like Batman and Superman are for DC. It's one of our iconic characters and we feel there's going to be life in that character forever in various incarnations—movies, more anime hopefully, and whatever. We're excited about this one.
You co-created this character about 15 years ago. Do you remember what it was like when you came up with the Witchblade?
Yeah. It was a time when the market place for comics was really welcoming that genre or that subject matter with female leads. Suddenly, with Billy Tucci and Shi coming out and making some waves, there was some "bad girl" stuff out there, which is what it was labeled—an unfortunate label I thought, but that's what it was labeled. And there were some rumblings of, "You know what? That's maybe the next big thing." We all got in room and I remember Brian Haberlin had the idea to do something with the Arthurian legends and the whole Spear of Destiny and such. I said, "Okay. Well, why don't we put that into a female character because that's what the market looks like it's looking for." Mike Turner was just starting to make waves in comics. He had just done the Ballistic miniseries for us, and he obviously showed us his talents with that. We said, "You know what? Let's put this whole thing together with Mike doing art chores." We were all in the room and just kind of hemmed it out and went from there.
I know you and Matt Hawkins will be executive producers on the project, but how involved will you guys be?
Very, actually. That's the thing we're most excited about. The fact that we're partners with Platinum on this, they understand that we want to be heavily involved. And heavily meaning exactly that, not just "We would kind of like to see this. Thank you very much. Now go ahead and do what you want to do." We're going to be working closely with the director, with the writers, and making a movie really the way we want it to be. This is feature film land. You get one shot, and you don't want to shoot the franchise in the foot on the first time out. So, we're going to be careful. We're going to stick to the core concept of what Witchblade is—because we believe that it's strong and people will respond to it—and just come up with the best story we possibly can. So, yeah. We're going to be heavily involved, which is a good thing as far as we're concerned.
Concerning that, what do you think about movie studios now accepting the creators into the creative process, whereas before they were much more shut out?
Well, I think that Hollywood is finally realized that the creative community in comic book is something that is to be respected. I think a few years back, not really all that long ago, probably to the first Spider-Man movie, where they thought, "You know what? These guys creating who are creating characters for comics kind of have their fingers on the pulse of pop culture." And technology finally caught up with it, which doesn't hurt. And you have a bunch of directors and writers in Hollywood that grew up on this superheroes, and they want to bring them to the big screen, which is a great thing for us. I think it's a great thing for everyone who is a fan of comics. We go into these meeting with executives and these guys grew up on us. That's awesome. They want us to be involved because they believe in what we did as creators. And I don't think it's going to go away any time soon. I think you'll see a saturation of this stuff and there'll be a weeding out of the good and the bad, but I think you'll always have this genre hitting the big screen, which I think [us creators and fans] should be thankful for.
As a final question, what movie personally do you most look forward to making?
I think the Darkness is a natural. [Laughs] That's the one we actually get the most questions about. "When is our Darkness movie?" In fact, when we made the Witchblade announcement that was question number one. It's like, "That's awesome, but what about Darkness?" The video game did really well for us and raised profile of that character hugely in Hollywood. We're getting a lot of calls, and we're fielding those calls and having a lot of conversation. Again, it's one of those things where you don't want to shoot the franchise in the foot. You got to choose the people you want to work with and make sure they understand that this is your baby and you want to be completely involved. The Darkness, for me personally, is the one I want to see coming up next. It's a much bigger movie, so obviously it's one that requires a little more planning and thought. Witchblade we're planning for a 2009 release, which is very possible. We're looking to start filming in the fall of this year. But the Darkness is another year off. Even if we pull the trigger today, just the process would require that. And it's also tricky material. Witchblade is tricky material to pull off right. The Darkness is as well simply because he's such an antihero, and his world is, well, dark. You got to make him likeable and you got to make the ride fun. So, that's one I'm personally working on—very personally working on, let's put it that way. I can't get much further into that. I think Hunter/Killer would be a great choice as well. I think the timing would be great for that simply because of the subject matter. I think we should have some fun because you've got heroes hunting down heroes. A lot of cool stuff going on. I'm excited about all of it. And I think everyone in comics should be excited that Hollywood is finally taking notice of all of us—fans and pros alike. This is a great time for us. This is a Golden Age for us, and I think we need to take advantage of it and enjoy it. | | | | | | | |
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