Writer says new Punisher is shooting blanks

By George 'El Guapo' Roush on February 19, 2008

On the 14th writer Kurt Sutter blogs about how he removed his name from credit arbitration on the upcoming Punisher sequel. In subsequent updates, he sort of flip-flops back and forth between saying its shit and saying it will be a good, yet formulamatic movie.

Just a bit from his blog:

So I've officially removed my name from credit arbitration for Punisher: Warzone. That's the process where the producers of the movie submit all the drafts and the names of the writers they feel should get credit. Then the WGA decides what writers contributed most and who deserves credit (and the cash bonuses that come with the credit).

I took my name off the movie for a few reasons. The obvious reason is because I didn't deserve credit. There was very little of my draft that stayed in the shooting script. The one big one they kept, was the set piece where we see how Russo becomes Jigsaw. It's pretty brutal. Glad they kept that.

The other reason I removed my name is because I didn't want credit. My pitch, my vision, for the Punisher franchise was something much different. I tried to rip Frank Castle from the comic book world and place him in the real streets of NYC. Castle is the only superhero without powers. He's a tortured, highly skilled soldier with a really bad anger problem. I always felt we should see Frank in some place uber-real and gritty. I threw away the first draft written by Nick Santora and did a page one rewrite. I changed the locations, the characters, the story. I dropped Frank in a real New York City with real villians, real cops, real relationships. To me, the Punisher deserved more than the usual comic book redress. It shouldn't just follow the feature superhero formula.

The next day he writes:

Let me say, also for the record, the Punisher: Warzone script is not a bad script, in fact, I think it's a very tight script. My beef, my frustration, was not about the script being good or bad, it was about creative choices. The comic book formula I referenced makes for fantastic movies. The last Batman, the Spiderman franchise, these were all fun, well-written movies. I had hoped The Punisher could be something more unique. Again, I'm not saying this movie will not be unique. I hear very good things about Lexi's lead. The fact that it went the way it did was the decision of some very talented producers who know a lot more than I do.

And on today's update he writes the following:

I will conclude with this. I am not apologizing for removing my name from this project. I do not want to be associated with this movie. I am not apologizing for my comments on the script. They are my opinion, my truth. I apologized for the disrespect to my fellow scribes that my blog implied. That was not my intention.

I'm not a guy who says something and backs down. I enjoy confrontation and a good fight gets my competitive and creative juices flowing. I embrace the haters. I don't give a shit who I piss off as long as if I'm sharing honest and truthful information.

God bless.

Ya, I don't think anyone is questioning your opinion Kurt. But I'm questioning your flip-flopping on whether or not you actually think the movie itself will be good. How much more unique can the Punisher character possibly be? He shoots people and is angry. Kind of like Mackey in The Shield. So because your ideas were abandoned, does that mean the movie itself is going to suck balls? Who knows. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But there's no need to shit all over it before it's even released. Now, if it's a Michael Bay movie, then you can go to town all you want to.

Believe me Kurt, if the movie is even half as bad as the Thomas Jane one, the fans will certainly let the studio know about it. We've had it up to here with bad Punisher movies. Is your version the one we should be getting? I think you're a very talented writer so it probably is. But don't crush our hopes on this sequel so soon. Let the fans and critics decide on opening day.

CLICK TO READ HIS ENTIRE BLOG.

I punished your mom last night. AW SNAP! Mom insults can be sent to: george@latinoreview.com

Source:Kurt Sutter

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