The idea of directing your first feature film must be a frightening one. At least it surely would be for us mere mortals, but apparently comic book writer and artist Todd McFarlane is a different breed. While speaking at Fan Expo Canada, McFarlane opened up about his directorial debut,Spawn, a task he is rather blasé about. Is he nervous about taking on his first feature?
“No. This is easy. Question number one, ‘Todd, are you nervous about being a first-time director?’ No. Should you, as a human being? Yes, of course I should, but I don’t. I’ve directed this movie a thousand times in my brain. If any of you saw this movie called A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper directed that. First-time director. You tell me if that movie looks like a first-time director. He was smart enough to surround himself with good people. I’m gonna be the least experienced person on that set, they’re gonna make me look good all day.”
Todd McFarlanequite rightly uses last year’s wonderfully devastatingA Star is Bornas a prime example of a directorial debut that went all the right ways, though one would assume that the comparisons between that film and theSpawnreboot pretty much end there.
Thelegendary comic book creatoralso cites the talent he plans to surround himself with to ease the burden of being a first time director. thankfully ,Spawnhas already amassed quite the cast, including such big names as Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx as the titular cursed anti-hero, as well as Hawkeye himself Jeremy Renner as the Twitch Williams, a homicide detective who crosses paths with our avenging angel. McFarlane has even claimed Greg Nicotero, the famedWalking Deadmake-up artist, for the special effects team. Needless to say, McFarlane is very excited about the team that has been out together for his debut.
“I’ve got Jamie Foxx, won an Academy Award. I’ve got Jeremy Renner, nominated for an Academy Award. I’ve got Nicotero, who’s won dozens of awards, I’ve got a couple of [directors of photography] that have won [awards]. Jason Blum, who has won multiple awards and been up for Academy Awards, everybody I’m surrounding myself with is a star. They’re just gonna carry me, they’re gonna make me look good. So don’t worry about it.”
McFarlane says ‘don’t worry about it’, and it sounds like we really don’t need to, so convinced is he that the cast and crew will provide the film with a quality that his virginal directing may perhaps lack.
However, despite having sucha star-studded cast, and with comic book movies still being the most popular genre of the hour, theSpawnreboot is still far from going into production. You don’t need to search for very long to find the problems that have plagued the film, namely the struggle to gain the support from a major studio or even secure funding. Of course, the breezy McFarlane is devoted to bringing his comic creation, and directorial debut, to the big screen come Hell or high water. This news arrives fromFanExpoCanada.com
