Joe Johnston, who has just wrapped the high profile remake of THE WOLF MAN for Universal has landed another huge project, probably the biggest film he has ever been hired to make.
He has been chosen by Marvel Studio’s to direct FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA, his first comic book adaptation since he directed THE ROCKETEER back in the early 90’s.
Johnston’s other works include JURASSIC PARK III, HIDALGO, OCTOBER SKY, JUMANJI and HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS.
Marvel’s President Kevin Feige said…
“This is a guy who designed the vehicles for ‘Star Wars,’ who storyboarded the convoy action sequence for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ ” Feige said. “From ‘Rocketeer’ to ‘October Sky’ to ‘The Wolfman,’ you can look at pieces of his movies and see how they lead to this one.”
Johnston famously came up with the final concept designs for Yoda and Boba Fett in the STAR WARS franchise and won an Oscar for his special effects work on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
The Hollywood Reporter suggest the project isn’t as far along as we previously thought. They currently have no script and they are on the lookout for writers, actively seeking pitches from anyone with a good idea… much like what WB have advertised with their SUPERMAN reboot.
Though the basic plot is already structured out. The movie will be set in World War II ending with Captain America being frozen to be revived in the future by Tony Stark and THE AVENGERS in the modern day.
FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA opens on May 6th 2011 and THE AVENGERS will be released two months later on July 15th 2011.
It’s said Johnston first met with Marvel for the project two years ago but couldn’t commit, however his early suggestions and resulting talks influenced heavily the direction Marvel took with the character over the next year’s of development for the movie.
In truth, not the kind of choice that makes you jump out of your seat with anticipation, he has yet to make that KNOCK OUT MOVIE but I do like Johnston as a filmmaker, I’ve never hated one of his films, they always have something I enjoy in them. His visual designs are perfect actually for comic book material and although I was kinda looking forward to seeing a dramatic adaptation from Nick Cassavetes (THE NOTEBOOK, ALPHA DOG), Johnston is a firm choice and you will get no complaints from me.
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6 Comments
Seems good to me.
He’s as good as anyone! I always thought the rocketeers was a great little film, i still love watching it today.
I think he’ll do a good job on this.
I really like his earlier work, Honey I Shrunk the Kids and The Rocketeer were both great films. Not so big on his latest projects. Hopefully he can do Cap justice.
I think the real question here is whether a Captain America movie SHOULD be made at the moment. Maybe they should wait a few hundred years until the USA becomes popular again (no offence to any Americans that may read this) – People will simply be put of by the title alone because of how unpopular America is at the moment!
While I don’t think this project will be as difficult to pull off as say Wonder Women, it still won’t be easy. I believe the reason The Dark Knight worked so well is its much more believable as applied to the real world. Many comic characters probably work better on a written page of a comic book than they would on the silver screen. Could Captain America just be a dated character? Maybe, maybe not. Will a mass audience care? Certainly not as much as Batman. Having said that I think Johnston is a fine choice! We’ll know when this genre has topped out when they announce a wonder twins movie which I have a feeling is right around the corner!
Chuck
I think he’s a good choice. The Rocketeer is a great little film. Same with October Sky. The only major flub I’ve seen of his was Jurassic Park III, but that may have had more to do with the script.
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[...] Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley have been hired to write CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, Marvel’s 2011 Summer tentpole which 10 days ago found Joe Johnston hired to direct. [...]