Truth in Journalism
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| Eddie Brock!? |
From Fandango:
To celebrate the new short, called Truth in Journalism (a unique combination of the character Venom and the '92 Belgian crime mockumentary Man Bites Dog), we're happy to debut a few exclusive behind-the-scenes images from the production, plus a Q&A with director Joe Lynch. Enjoy!
1. Why choose the character Venom as the basis for the short film?
I distinctly remember turning the page on Amazing Spider Man issue 299 and being Terrified by Mcfarlane's Venom creation. He was much more simple then, not the drooling, hulking mass that Venom has morphed into by now, but it was still a striking image. I couldn't wait for #300 to come out and that character has always been one of my favorite villains. When I met with Adi Shankar, we ended up talking more about our favorite comics and Venom kept coming up as well as our affinity for dark comedies, like MAN BITES DOG, which is one of my all-time favorite movies (which likely says a lot about my twisted sensibilities). Little did I know he had something up his sleeve for another one of his short films, like the Dirty Laundry short, which I LOVED. So when he asked me if I would be interested in doing the next short for Comic-Con…inspiration struck.
2. How is this Venom different from what we've seen before in the comics or in Spider-Man3?
I'll be honest…and this is with ALL due respect for Raimi since he's a hero of mine…I didn't care for that version of Venom at all. I wanted him to be this terrifying presence, even if he was changing from Topher Grace, an actor I admire. It just didn't mesh to me, you know? So when the opportunity arose, I was like "I want to do this the way I always wanted to see it." Of course, we didn't have the budget that they did on SM3, but necessity breeds invention and in talking with my good friend and VFX genius Sam Balcomb of Rainfall Films, we devised a plan that could actually work. Knowing his work, I knew we could pull it off.
3. Did you make this short with the intentions of getting to make a solo Venom movie with Ryan in the lead role?
No, this was one from the geeky heart. Would I love to do a Venom movie with Ryan as Eddie Brock? Absolutely! I know some will say that Kwanten is not their first idea as Eddie, and for a time I always thought Kenny Johnson from THE SHIELD and SONS OF ANARCHY was a great look but that was the classic McFarlane version. I wanted the best actor who could not only embody Eddie Brock's complex mentality but ALSO that of Benoit, the serial killer in MAN BITES DOG, which is the other spiritual ancestor to this film. Ryan had a lot of voices to carry with this and he did it amazingly well. I was so impressed.
5. Is this short tied at all to the existing Spider-Man movies?
It's not tied to the movies at all. The short actually exists in the Marvel Comics universe, mixed with the visual aesthetic of MAN BITES DOG (16mm, B&W) and set in May of 1988, which is when Amazing Spider Man 300 was published. The timeline of the short actually merges with plot points in the comic, even down to filling in the gaps when we don't see Eddie Brock in that storyline, like when he sneaks into Mary Jane's apartment to terrify her. When you hear Eddie in this say 'I gotta go meet a [girlfriend] of a….colleague", he's GOING to her apartment! That was very important to me, as I was trying, even on a minuscule budget, to create NYC in 1988. If you look closely in one walk and talk, you actually see the World Trade Center in the background! We tried very hard with music, fashion and dialogue to immerse the audience in that time and place, even if it was shot in 2013 in Downtown Los Angeles, including the most disgusting alley in the US, complete with human feces and heroin needles. We barely made it out of there alive. Viva cinema, huh?
The more I think about it, the more I absolutely LOVE this idea! We may finally get the Venom we deserve on the big screen. Granted it won't be in a summer blockbuster, but from what it sounds like at least they will do the character justice.
What are your initial feelings on Truth in Journalism?
[Thanks to ZacharyShore1 for the tip]