Interview with Joe @ CBR

[Chris Nolan.ca]

Comic Book Resources has a new interview with Joe entitled

REFLECTIONS: J. Michael Straczynski, Part I

J. Michael Straczynski talks about “Changeling,” his new film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, "Thor," "One More Day," and tells us the highs and lows of his prolific career in comics, television and now film.

....In this week’s REFLECTIONS, Straczynski talks about all that and more, including updates on his work with the Wachowski Brothers and his adaptation of “World War Z.”

[Jan]

Thanks for posting that, Chris. It's a good one.

Jan

[NotSoWize]

Yes, thanks for posting. That's a nice big interview with a second half coming next week. Good stuff.

[Jan]

Here's part two of the interview:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17059

Jan

[DeMonk]

Since I read about Thor here I kept a watch out for it when I went shopping. Yesterday... bingo ... I actually found a new comics shop. They didn't have the book of lost souls but I did find (and buy of course) Thor.
We're catching up on "culture"!

[Chris Nolan.ca]

The closing quotation:

At conventions and seminars and speeches, I hear from people who want to do something with their lives. They want to be an artist. And then they chicken out. They listen to the tyranny of reasonable voices, and those want only to help to protect them from failure, and therefore do not try, which is the worst possible kind of failure.

IÆve always been one to embrace the possibility of failure. IÆve succeeded tremendously and I have failed breathtakingly at times. But IÆve tried.

If there is any message implicit in this conversation to those reading, it is to try. You donÆt want to be 90 and look back at your life as a catalogue of missed opportunities. If you try and fail, at least you took your shot. IÆve always felt all the way down to my socks that if you believe in something and youÆre passion about it and at least try, the odds are that you are going to make a living at it. And it will work more than it doesnÆt. Take a chance. Risk Something.

I follow my passions and my dreams, and I try. Sometimes I fail. Sometimes I succeed. But either way, itÆs a hell of a ride and I wouldnÆt trade that for the world.

[Karachi Vyce]

Oh christ, HE's adapating World War Z?

[Joe Nazzaro]

Karachi, his adaptation is pretty damn good. If you like the book, you'll like the film- assuming the director doesn't screw it up along the way.

[Jan]

I agree, Joe. Word from JMS at his spotlight today was that they're looking for a director now.

Jan

[frulad]

Also chiming in to state that the script is incredibly strong, one of the best unproduced screenplays that I've ever read.

[Karachi Vyce]

Karachi, his adaptation is pretty damn good. If you like the book, you'll like the film- assuming the director doesn't screw it up along the way.

How much did JMS focus on the "government failing the people" aspect of this, even though that was about 1/100th of the actual book.

[Jan]

How much did JMS focus on the "government failing the people" aspect of this, even though that was about 1/100th of the actual book.

You must've read a whole different book than I did, then.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

I have to agree, one of the underlying points of the book is that the various world governments, whether it was the US, China and whatever, really didn't to anything to stop the Z-outbreaks. What JMS does with his screenplay is bring it all around full circle by way of the report, which essentially gets swept under the rug. There is nothing I can see that runs contrary to what Brooks had in mind.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Not to mention, of course, that Brooks himself is very excited that JMS wrote the screenplay and seems pretty chuffed with the end result.

[mandragora]

Just a small reminder, this was posted by JMS in April to IMDB boards, on the topic of discussion the WWZ script:

by straczynski (Mon Apr 14 2008 21:48:09)

Guys, here's a simple question.

Do you want to see this film made, or just talk about the script?

Studios get very nervous when drafts leak out, and they get even more nervous when people start taking it apart, good or bad, online...it can make them think too many people have seen it, start reconsidering their opinions, and the next thing you know it's back in development hell or gone. I've seen several projects at this sensitive stage literally scuttled by such things.

If all you want is to talk about the script, then great...but if you want to see Max Brooks' novel brought to film, brought to life, and maybe make one of the best zombie movies in a long time, can we declare a moratorium on both analyses and passing around my script (which people shouldn't have in any event) until AFTER the film gets made?

Thanks.

JMS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/board/thread/103284316