Commenting on the deal, Lions Gate Films president Peter Block said, “Steve Niles’ graphic novels are horrific and visionary, and are ripe for adapting into atmospheric, terrifying feature films. We are very excited to be in business with Niles and the talented actor/writer Thomas Jane and are looking forward to working with them to bring these properties to the screen and to the large number of fans eager to see them realized on film.”
After satisfying a long line of fans who had patiently waited in line to get their autographs at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con, I had the chance to talk to Jane and Niles about the deal and what we can expect from their comic book-inspired films:
Thomas Jane on the Choice of Lions Gate Films: “Lions Gate’s the leader and they just kick-ass in making cutting edge movies that are a little bit left of center. They take risks that other studios won’t take making these movies, mid-size releases. We want to be able to have the freedom to break some boundaries and to do things that other studios wouldn’t let us do so when we were shopping this sucker around, Lions Gate just gave us the best offer. They gave us the most amount of freedom and they gave us the most support as far as doing the kind of uncompromising movies that are kind of like boundary-breaking movies that we want to do. They’re just the best at that.”
Steve Niles on Partnering with Lions Gate: “They’re the perfect company for independent horror. They don’t flinch at the content and most of the stuff I write is horror. And I’ve had a lot of experience where you sell stuff to studios and they want to tone it down.”
Niles on When We Can Expect Their First Movie: “I’m writing it right now and we’re just getting everything moving. A lot of them we’re developing at the same time I’m writing the comics.”
Did Lions Gate Place Any Limitations on Thomas Jane and Steve Niles?: “Just the budget. These will be 5-12 million dollar movies. In today’s world you can get quite a lot done for that amount of money,” said Jane.
Thomas Jane on His Attraction to Steve Niles’ Work: “It’s a couple of different things. I’ve always been a horror and sci-fi fan, so for my money Steve is kind of the best there is out there in that genre. And also it happens that we’re both from the punk rock scene in Washington DC. I used to buy Steve’s albums. He was in a band called Grey Matter and I used to buy his records. We just come from the same backgrounds.”
On Collaborating with Steve Niles: “It’s very collaborative. You know, they’re Steve’s stories and my passion’s going to help get these done. My job’s just to make sure that the transition from book to film is – we don’t lose the movie in the process – that it stays pure to Steve’s vision, his work,” explained Jane.
Thomas Jane on Possible Changes to Niles’ Work from Comic Book to Screen: “It’s got to adapt and change and that’s just where we come in. It’s a matter of surrounding yourselves with the best artists and being willing to play with those artists in the way that gives everybody creative freedom to come up with something that’s ultimately true to the vision - the original vision - and at the same time expands on the original stories because a lot of this format doesn’t allow the room for the character development and really getting into the good stuff.”
Thomas Jane on His Attraction to Darker Projects: “It’s the way I was built. I don’t know. I like characters that live on the outside of conventional society. Usually though, those stories deal with the darker side of human nature. Stories of redemption and stuff usually deal with people screwing up big time in some form or another and then having to redeem themselves.”
Page 2: Darker Projects and "Punisher 2"
