Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Recently, I had an opportunity to talk to someone close to the production about this movie, and I got an earful. This movie’s generated a fair amount of tabloid fodder (and, yes, the reports of Snipes attacking and choking his director onset are true, as are the reports of said director showing up with giant biker bodyguards for the rest of the shoot), but the thing that’s got me the most interested is the idea that this is essentially a franchise picture that is all about getting rid of the title character for the good of the franchise. Seems they’ve got a plan for how to extend this series, and they don’t involve Wesley.
For now, the best source of info about the film is this recent interview that was printed at the excellent Hollywood North Report, which covers everything shooting in Vancouver at any given time. Goyer’s very diplomatic in these interviews, but his enthusiasm for Ryan Reynolds was shared by everyone on the set. I hear he and Jessica Biehl both do amazing work in the movie, and I’m dying to get a peek. For now, check this out:
Vancouver Province Columnist Sorelle Saidman who has her own section on the HNR Forums called All Star Bulletin was able to chat with Blade: Trinity writer/director David Goyer getting to the bottom of some long standing rumors and questions about the production. Below is a good juicy part of the interview. To get the full read follow the above link.
"It was quite a long haul," says Goyer of the 18-week shoot, "but you know, I had a really great experience. I loved it, I'm quite missing Vancouver."
"I was just going to write and produce. Before (producer) Lynn Harris suggested that I direct, it never occurred to me," says Goyer. "But I immediately put on my director's hat and said, 'Well, let's see how the script turns out.'"
So. How did the script turn out?
As expected, there's a lot of action. "We had a lot of big stunts, more than the other films. We blew things up, smashed a lot of cars. We blew up, smashed and shattered $170,000 [US] in glass alone.
"The big surprise for me was that it turned out quite funny, it has quite a bit of comedy. That's why I decided to cast a lot of people that had improvisational backgrounds or comedic backgrounds."
In addition to Snipes, Kris Kristofferson returns as Blade mentor Whistler. Newbies include Jessica Biel (7th Heaven) as Whistler's daughter, Vancouver's Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) as a vampire hunter in cahoots with Blade, Parker Posey (Best in Show) as the head vampire and wrestler Triple H as her sidekick.
"I was really pleasantly surprised by Triple H," says Goyer. "(Others) were very keen on bringing him in but I wasn't a giant WWE fan. But he turned out to be completely professional, dedicated and humble, and very funny with great comedic timing. We ended up writing more scenes for him."
Snipes didn't surprise Goyer. He declined to detail the star's notoriously bad behaviour but stories about Snipes' partying, carousing, fights, tantrums and tardiness were legendary on the set.
"I am going to try and be as diplomatic as possible," says Goyer. "There has always been drama on the Blade films and this one was no different. We prepared for drama . . . and there it was."
Will he work with Snipes again?
Long pause.
"Yeah," says a resigned-sounding Goyer.
Will there be a Blade 4?
"Wesley told me when we did the second one that he thought he only had one more in him but you never know. We'll see. I always conceived of three films and there is a definite ending to this. I don't want to cheat (by opening it up again). On the other hand if it does $150 million, then . . . we're all whores."
"David Goyer, the writer of all three of the Blade movies and the director of the just-wrapped Blade: Trinity, says he bonded with stars Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel and may be may be spinning off their Vampire hunting characters into a new film.
Goyer, back in Los Angeles for the post-production process, is meeting with Vancouver native Reynolds about a number of projects. (Biel is in Australia working on Stealth).
“We have a shared soul,” says Goyer of Reynolds. “I could see us having one of those famous relationships where you’re going to do six movies together.”
A TV show is also under discussion. “We’re talking about doing a TV show that would be a prequel taking place when (Blade) is twenty years old and Whistler is in his forties,” confirms Goyer.
Goyer, who just completed a script for Batman: Intimidation (Batman 5), also just announced as the Director of the big screen adaptation of the graphic novel Unique (co-written by long-time Canadian resident and Juno-winning artist Dean Motter, known in these parts for his Loverboy album covers).
And he hints that another project he’s producing, called Alone, might be shot in Vancouver later this year. “It’s about a sixteen year old agoraphobic girl who is convinced there is a ghost in her house that’s trying to kill her. It’s actually a pretty scary script.”
Excellent work. Thanks for the heads-up on the interview. I had the opportunity to work with Goyer last year on a pitch that he wanted to produce, and I’m still bummed that it didn’t come together. I thought he was smart and passionate about the material, and he gave my writing partner and I great advice about how to shape the material we were working with. BLADE: TRINITY should give him a real boost in terms of the types of films he is able to direct, and I can’t wait to see how he makes his mark on this series, which has featured such strong visualists so far.
"Moriarty" out.
