Year: 2020

Black Adam: Logo Revealed Plus Justice Society of America Announced!

Black Adam: Logo Revealed Plus Justice Society of America Announced!

Black Adam: Logo Revealed Plus Justice Society of America Announced!

The official Black Adam logo was revealed during the movie’s DC FanDome panel, which featured star Dwayne Johnson and co-star Noah Centineo as they announced that the movie will be setting up the JSA (Justice Society of America) in the DCEU, which will include Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Centineo’s Atom Smasher!

Johnson also left a message for The Flash, Shazam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, saying: “Things will never be the same because the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.”

You can also check out the new concept art and teaser for Black Adam below:

RELATED: Dwayne Johnson Shares a First Look At Black Adam’s Costume

Dwayne Johnson has been working on Black Adam for 10 years. The character was originally supposed to appear in this year’s Shazam! but decided to save his highly-anticipated debut for a later film in order to let each character get some breathing room. However, despite not appearing in Shazam!, his character was teased with the wizard Shazam, played by Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy), telling his origin story to Billy Batson.

Based on the DC Comics character created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, Black Adam will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) with Johnson starring as the titular anti-hero and Adam Sztykiel having written the current script. Noah Centino will play Atom Smasher in the movie. The film will be the second collaboration between Collet-Serra and Johnson, who have also been working together on Disney’s forthcoming adventure film Jungle Cruise.

RELATED: New Line’s Black Adam Adds Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher!

The film will be produced by Johnson and FlynnPicturesCo’s Beau Flyn along with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions. Scott Sheldon will be overseeing the project for FlynnPictureCo.

Black Adam is slated to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.

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DC FanDome: Zack Snyder Says Justice League Will Be Four 1-Hour Parts

DC FanDome: Zack Snyder Says Justice League Will Be Four 1-Hour Parts

Zack Snyder stopped by DC FanDome to share a trailer to his cut of Justice League, but also revealed that his version will be broken up into four 1-hour parts that will also be released as one four-hour film.

“Maybe I should talk about how you guys are going to see the movie and in what format,” Snyder began, “it’s gonna be in four parts — one hour each. Four hours of Justice League is coming your way! We’re gonna work on a way to bundle it together at the end so you can watch it as a single film if that’s the way you want to experience it.”

RELATED: DC FanDome: Watch the New Trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League!

He also told people who cannot get HBO Max not to worry because they are working on a digital distribution plan.

“I promise you, you’re gonna get a chance to see it,” Snyder said.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will reportedly cost around $20-30 million in order to properly finish the editing and visual effects of the director’s original vision. The original post-production crew is also expected to return along with the cast members to record additional dialogue for the cut.

Fueled by the hero’s restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Justice League sees Bruce Wayne enlist the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League, which features a screenplay from Chris Terrio from a story by Snyder and Terrio, stars Affleck as Batman, Cavill as Superman, Gadot as Wonder Woman, Momoa as Aquaman, Miller as The Flash, Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

RELATED: Zack Snyder Opens Up About Wonder Woman’s Origin and His 5 Movie Plan

Released in November 2017, the film earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, praising the action and performances from Gadot and Miller while criticizing every other aspect of the film, namely the inconsistent tone that many fault Joss Whedon (The Avengers) for after taking over directorial duties from Snyder. With a large budget of $300 million and a break-even point of $750 million, the film is considered a box office bomb having grossed only $658 million.

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DC FanDome: Watch the New Trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League!

DC FanDome: Watch the New Trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League!

After what feels like an eternity of waiting — and, oh so many teases — Zack Snyder has finally unveiled the first full-length trailer to his cut of Justice League via DC FanDome, which debuts on HBO Max next year. The 2-minute plus trailer gives us our first good look at Darkseid, but also teases more black-suited Superman action and some truly astonishing visuals. Check out the trailer in the player below!

RELATED: Check Out Zack Snyder’s Justice League Teaser Ahead of DC FanDome!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League will reportedly cost around $20-30 million in order to properly finish the editing and visual effects of the director’s original vision. The original post-production crew is also expected to return along with the cast members to record additional dialogue for the cut.

Fueled by the hero’s restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Justice League sees Bruce Wayne enlist the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League, which features a screenplay from Chris Terrio from a story by Snyder and Terrio, stars Affleck as Batman, Cavill as Superman, Gadot as Wonder Woman, Momoa as Aquaman, Miller as The Flash, Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

RELATED: Zack Snyder Opens Up About Wonder Woman’s Origin and His 5 Movie Plan

Released in November 2017, the film earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, praising the action and performances from Gadot and Miller while criticizing every other aspect of the film, namely the inconsistent tone that many fault Joss Whedon (The Avengers) for after taking over directorial duties from Snyder. With a large budget of $300 million and a break-even point of $750 million, the film is considered a box office bomb having grossed only $658 million.

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DC FanDome: Live Action Static Shock Film in the Works!

DC FanDome: Live Action Static Shock Film in the Works!

During the surprise DC Comics panels during DC FanDome, during which Mark Bernardin discussed a revival of Milestone Comics with Denys Cowan, Jim Lee, Phil LaMarr, and Reginald Hudlin, it was revealed that not only are there new Static Shock comics coming in February 2021, but there have also been discussions revolving around a potential Static Shock live-action film.

The news was quite, er, shocking to fans and certainly a surprise even with LaMarr (the iconic voice of the Static Shock animated series) in the room.

“One of the things we’re really excited about is,” Reggie Hudland explained, “we really want to live up to the name of the company — Milestone Media — so when we spoke with Jim about reviving the Milestone line we said, ‘We all know this has been hit comic books and hit animated series, it’s time to expand into all of those areas and then some.’ And so, we are in serious conversations, as we’re launching a new comic book series, in developing a Static Shock movie. That’ll be a theatrical feature film. What we’re talking about is unbelievable!”

RELATED: Head of DC Says Studio is Exploring More Multiverse Movies

Lee then announced plans to digitize the Milestone library and make the classic stories available via Comixology, Amazon Kindle, and Apple, among others.

It was quite the announcement, and while nothing is as of yet set in stone, fans can rest assured they’ll be seeing Static Shock and his Milestone compatriots in a variety of forms in the near future.

The post DC FanDome: Live Action Static Shock Film in the Works! appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Dwayne Johnson Shares a First Look At Black Adam’s Costume

Dwayne Johnson Shares a First Look At Black Adam’s Costume

Dwayne Johnson Shares a First Look At Black Adam’s Costume

Ahead of today’s DC FanDome virtual event, Dwayne Johnson debuted a first look at Black Adam‘s costume, which he will wear in the upcoming film (via SuperHeroHype). Johnson also warned that “the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.”

Johnson’s not exaggerating. Black Adam’s strength and powers are on par with Superman and Shazam, but without their morality to hold them back.

RELATED: Noah Centineo Cast As Atom Smasher In Black Adam Movie

Black Adam was the wizard Shazam’s champion thousands of years before Billy Batson. However, he fell from the wizard’s favor and was banished for thousands of years. In the comics, Black Adam debuted as a villain. But over time, he became more of a sympathetic antihero. He may eventually face Billy Batson’s Shazam on the big screen. But for now, Black Adam is taking the spotlight.

What do you think about Johnson’s Black Adam teaser? Let us know in the comment section below!

Recommended Reading: Shazam! Vol. 1: The Seven Magic Lands Part 1

The post Dwayne Johnson Shares a First Look At Black Adam’s Costume appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Oscar-Winner John Ridley to Pen ‘Person of Color’ Batman Story!

John Ridley Confirmed to Pen First Black Batman Story!

Oscar-Winner John Ridley to pen ‘person of color’ Batman story!

Today’s Legacy of the Bat panel in DC FanDome’s Hall of Heroes contained great topics and panelists in a celebration of the Dark Knight’s heritage and the impact he’s had on his allies as they continue to do their part to protect Gotham City. In addition to lively discussions spotlighting Talent and creators from popular DC shows such as Batwoman and Titans, as well as from Warner Bros. Games Montréal, DC also ended months of speculation regarding Batman’s upcoming comic book adventures, confirming that award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Guerrilla, American Crime) and artist Nick Derington (Doom Patrol, Batman Universe, Mister Miracle) will team up for a four-issue miniseries scheduled for January 2021, featuring a version of the Caped Crusader different from what many fans know and existing alongside the current Batman run by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez.

RELATED: First The Suicide Squad Footage Promises a Wild Action Adventure!

During his conversation with DC Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee, Ridley revealed a breathtaking piece of key art for his version of Batman by artist LADRÖNN. The writer also provided further credence to fan speculation that this Batman definitely will not be Bruce Wayne:

“I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I’m writing Batman, it’s probably a little better than a 47% chance he’s going to be a person of color,” said Ridley.

In addition, Ridley raised additional curiosity when he revealed his series will focus on the family of Lucius Fox, head of Wayne Enterprises. “But he [Fox] has a family and this is a family that has secrets, has kept secrets from one another,” said Ridley. “It’s a little bit different dynamic than the Batman that we’ve always seen.”

RELATED: DC FanDome: New Flash Costume & Keaton Batman Revealed!

While this will be the first time Ridley has written a series featuring Batman, he’s no stranger to comic book writing, nor to DC. In 2004, he wrote The Authority: Human on the Inside (with artist Ben Oliver) and contributed an arc to the 2005 series, The Razor’s Edge: Warblade (with legendary artist Simon Bisley). Most recently, Ridley also collaborated with artist Georges Jeanty on the groundbreaking limited series The American Way (2006) and its sequel, The American Way: Those Above and Those Below (2017).

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DC FanDome: The Suicide Squad Gets Explosive First Posters!

DC FanDome: The Suicide Squad Gets Explosive First Posters!

The Suicide Squad Gets an Explosive First Poster!

As an encore to The Suicide Squad panel during DC Fandome, James Gunn unveiled the first official poster to the film — actually, check that! Two official posters for the film designed in the spirit of those awesome action/exploitation films from the 1970s. You can check out both posters in the gallery below!

Gunn also Tweeted: “Again, thanks to all of you for checking out #TheSuicideSquadpanel today at #DCFanDome. If you missed it, don’t worry, there will be encores. But for now here’s a final treat, a special @SuicideSquadWB DC FanDome Fan Poster we’ve been working on! I love it, how about you?”

RELATED: First The Suicide Squad Footage Promises a Wild Action Adventure!

The Suicide Squad cast includes: John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joaquín Cosío, Joel Kinnaman, Maylin Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Deigo Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Brage, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Margot Robbie.

As we already know, Davis, Robbie, Courtney, and Kinnaman will all play the same roles they had in the 2016 film, reprising as Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flag, respectively. Michael Rooker will play Savant, Flula Borg will play Javelin, David Dastmalchian will play Polka Dot Man, Daniela Melchior will play Ratcatcher 2, Idris Elba will play Bloodsport, Mayling NG will play Mongal, Peter Capaldi will play Thinker, Alice Braga will play Solsoria, Pete Davidson will play Blackguard, Natha Fillion will play TDK, Sean Gunn will play Weasel, John Cena will play Peace Maker and Steve Agee will play King Shark.

RELATED: Wonder Woman 1984 DC FanDome Trailer Reveals Cheetah!

The movie is written and directed by Gunn. Charles Roven and Peter Safran will serve as producers. Nik Korda is executive producing the movie.

The Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 6, 2021.

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First The Suicide Squad Footage Promises a Wild Action Adventure!

First The Suicide Squad footage promises a wild action adventure!

During DC Fandome, James Gunn showed off some stunning new footage from The Suicide Squad and it actually looks quite awesome! You can check out the footage below!

RELATED: DC FanDome: James Gunn Rolls Out Who’s Who in The Suicide Squad!

The Suicide Squad cast includes: John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joaquín Cosío, Joel Kinnaman, Maylin Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Deigo Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Brage, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Margot Robbie.

As we already know, Davis, Robbie, Courtney, and Kinnaman will all play the same roles they had in the 2016 film, reprising as Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flag, respectively. Michael Rooker will play Savant, Flula Borg will play Javelin, David Dastmalchian will play Polka Dot Man, Daniela Melchior will play Ratcatcher 2, Idris Elba will play Bloodsport, Mayling NG will play Mongal, Peter Capaldi will play Thinker, Alice Braga will play Solsoria, Pete Davidson will play Blackguard, Natha Fillion will play TDK, Sean Gunn will play Weasel, John Cena will play Peace Maker and Steve Agee will play King Shark.

The movie is written and directed by Gunn. Charles Roven and Peter Safran will serve as producers. Nik Korda is executive producing the movie.

Exclusive: Alice Braga on The Suicide Squad & Going from Marvel to DC!

The Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 6, 2021.

The post First The Suicide Squad Footage Promises a Wild Action Adventure! appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Head of DC Says Studio is Exploring More Multiverse Movies

Head of DC Says Studio is Exploring More Multiverse Movies

During DC Fandome, DC film boss Walter Hamada revealed that the studio is actively exploring more multiverse films, but also revealed that 1) Superman: Red Son is not among their ideas and 2) Matt Reeves’ The Batman will not connect to any other films and will serve as a standalone story. We’ve know that second point for quite a while, but Hamada explained why this is an important decision.

RELATED: DC FanDome: New Flash Costume & Keaton Batman Revealed!

“Matt Reeves can continue to build out his Gotham,” Hamada said. “Those are things that we can do because we don’t have to worry about how that would impact ‘Aquaman 2’ or ‘The Flash,’ because it’s all just part of the multiverse… There’s one earth of this beginning Justice League, and there’s another Earth where there’s this growing Year Two Batman…”

RELATED: DC FanDome: James Gunn Rolls Out Who’s Who in The Suicide Squad!

He also confirmed that we can expect more DC Elseworlds movies like Todd Phillips’ Joker. It’s definitely an exciting time to be a DC comics fan!

The post Head of DC Says Studio is Exploring More Multiverse Movies appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Interview: Co-Writer/Director Aaron B. Koontz on The Pale Door

CS Interview: Co-Writer/Director Aaron B. Koontz on The Pale Door

CS Interview: Co-writer/director Aaron B. Koontz on The Pale Door

ComingSoon.net got the opportunity to chat with co-writer and director Aaron B. Koontz (Scare Package) to discuss his ensemble indie western horror pic The Pale Door, which is now available in select theaters and on digital platforms! Click here to rent or purchase The Pale Door!

RELATED: CS Interview: Noah Segan on Western Horror The Pale Door

Looking back at the conception of the story for the film, Koontz explained that it spawned from his desire to “make a really violent, kind of dark and broody Western,” given his love for the genre, and that after first trying seven or eight years ago with one that he jokes “was really bad,” the pieces began to fall into place for the current project after being approached by Universal Pictures.

“I sent it to Noah [Segan], and Noah and I were working on other stuff and it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” Koontz recalled. “Then, after my first feature, I was asked by Universal to pitch on a witch movie, after the success of [Robert] Eggers’ film. So I was like, okay, I’ll come up with an idea. I was like, wait a second, this could be a way to fix this Western, and because there were pieces of the Western I really liked, but the second half kind of fell apart, but I really liked kind of the character building and some of the stuff that was there. So we just kind of put these two ideas together and decided to make this witch Western. Once that happened, it just kind of all clicked. When we pitched that to Universal, they wanted nothing to do with it. They just wanted a normal witch movie. So they’re like, ‘Nope, that’s not there’ [laughs]. So I had this concept that I thought was really cool, I never fully developed it, and then I actually was on a panel, a screenwriting panel with Joe and Keith Lansdale, we happened to both be Texas-based filmmakers and writers. So we were talking about writing screenplays and we kind of hit it off, and during that panel, I told the story about pitching to Universal. And Joe literally turns to me and says, ‘That’s a damn good idea. You should do that.’ The next thing you know, we’re out to dinner and then, they’re helping us develop it. And then we wrote The Pale Door.”

Though bringing these two different concepts may seem like a challenge of balancing the two tones to some, Koontz expressed that he “didn’t find it that difficult” as the way he and co-writers Cameron Burns and Keith Lansdale approached the characters and their journey lent these “these natural sensibilities” to the story.

“These men are kind of like, in hiding, and they kind of have their own rules that they kind of live by, and then, they’re brought out of their element, and that’s what I like to do,” Koontz explained. “I like the fish out of water stories, the people that are out of their comfort zones and having to do that. So once you’ve established and grounded those characters, it then was about them reacting to the horror. Then, once they’re there and you’ve kind of established who kind of fits what motif within the gang, then the horror can just accentuate these sensibilities that exist with them, you know? So if somebody’s more violent or somebody’s more reasoning or somebody’s more logical, then they’re the people that are dealing with the horror in those ways.

“So Dodd, for example, Bill Sage’s character, we establish as a bit of a savage and some of the stuff, what’s he doing, but we wanted to hint that there’s more with all the characters we wrote, there’s more than the surface and there’s more about what they’re trying to say and do,” Koontz continued. “But then, once kind of the shit hits the fan, to sort of say, he’s one of the ones that’s like, ‘All right, I’m going to go out there and go out on my own terms, then. I’m going to go take them with me.’ Then Wylie’s more logical and like, ‘Let’s talk about this, let’s think about this.’ Lester’s more, you know, ‘I just want to protect the kid. Let’s just get out of here, I don’t want to have anything to do with this.’ If you establish those personalities earlier, then it allows you to react to the horror in a different way. So it kind of fell together relatively nicely. I will say that Joe and Keith, Keith in particular, really, really helped with getting those voices to those characters in really unique ways so that we could accentuate it appropriately.”

Aside from the production of the film itself, which Koontz described was “complete hell” as they went against hail, lightning, flooding and category five tornadoes, the co-writer/director found his biggest challenge in bringing the film to life was finding a way to highlight the “brother-centric story that had a lot of heart at its core” while still tapping into the “absurdity” of the story.

“At the time, I’d done a lot of research on like, the Salem Witch Trials and there’s a lot of things I was fascinated about, that whole background,” Koontz noted. “And then, you know, loving Westerns as I had, they’re all criminals, all their friends are dying all the time. It’s kind of crazy, when you think about what that world was like, and when I started to merge these together, I tried to find a throughline and that was tough. It was tough to massage that because I wanted there to be an opportunity to parallel—I didn’t want this to be a black and white thing, where like, cowboys good, witches bad. I wanted to talk about their backgrounds, how people become the people that they are, and the opportunities for us to change as individuals, and the opportunities for us to say that hate and violence is—hate’s a learned thing and violence begets more violence. If there’s a way to explore that and parallel, maybe Maria, the witch’s background to the cowboys’ background and the gangs’ background, that it humanizes them in unique ways so that the ending, there is something there that might feel hopefully a little more poignant. And just to have that sentimental ending within this bigger thing was a really hard thing to manage for an absurd portion. Although the crazy things that happened before that, to try and have that land was definitely hard to balance.”

The cast for the film is composed of an ensemble roster of indie horror talent and when it came to building his crew, Koontz joked with his casting director, David Guglielmo, that he wanted his cast to be the “Avengers of indie genre actors,” which included a few of his longtime friends and frequent collaborators along with talent he’s been longing to work with.

“I’ve known Pat for a long time, I was a producer on Starry Eyes, that’s where I first met Pat and Noah, so I knew I wanted them in something,” Koontz explained. “We Are What We Are was one of my favorite films, I thought Bill Sage was just—he’s so good in everything he does. Even Zachary Knighton, I loved his performance in The Hitcher remake, I loved Happy Endings, as a complete aside. I just thought he was an actor that I knew had opportunities to do something more unique and kind of go there in different ways. So it was fun to kind of challenge him with that and he just knocked it out of the park. You know, Devin Druid, Devin Druid was the one that was the kind of—we had the catalyst for everything. We had to find our perfect Jake, and we searched forever to find Jake. Someone told me to watch—there’s a bunch of really good young kids on 13 Reasons Why, and this was for another film, not even for this one. We were looking at it for another project, and I watched it and I circled him immediately. I was like, whoa, this kid is good, like, this kid’s really good. We had some amazing people that kind of read for us, but Devin Druid blew me away. And then, I saw him and Zachary Knighton looked alike, and I wanted Zach in this. So then we kind of paired them off as brothers and sort of kind of piecemeal from there. But even Stan Shaw, Stan’s such a veteran. He’s been around for so long. That guy has more movie stories than anybody I’ve ever met in my entire life.

“It was just so amazing kind of piecing the gang in that unique way,” Koontz continued “Tina Parker from Better Call Saul, I mean, it’s just, again and again, once you get a few dominoes, they all start to kind of fall into place. And we were just giddy. I was like, ‘Whoa, it looks like we’re getting another one, another one.’ I’m unbelievably proud of what that became, and then the other core piece was Melora Walters, who was like, my first choice, was who I wanted for Maria from the get-go. I’m a diehard Paul Thomas Anderson fan, and Magnolia is actually the reason why I went to film school, like quite literally the reason. So bringing her in and have her be the Madame of these witches was like, everything to me. And that kind of became the glue that kind of countered off the rest of these characters. But I’m so proud of the cast. I thought David did an amazing job and I am really, really lucky to get the people that I did.”

Though he had his wishlist and hopes for building his cast, Koontz stated he mostly didn’t write the characters with any specific person in mind for each role, instead loosely basing them on the real life Dalton Gang while “creating these unique voices,” but also noting there was one person he did have in mind for a particular role.

“I knew that Noah was going to play Truman, I will say that, I did know that Noah was going to play Truman,” Koontz revealed. “I love his dad jokes, that he’s kind of done, now that he’s a father and where he’s moved in his life, I want him to play a little goofier character, maybe a little closer to the Kid Blue in Looper. So we had a little fun with that, because I needed that character to kind of counterbalance like the solemness of Chief, played by James Whitecloud, and Duncan and all of them, just to find the right ways to balance those people, I thought to be a lot of fun.

“We wanted everybody to have kind of a different style and dialect,” he added. “I mean, Pat Healy in particular created an entire dialect for his character. He’s a meticulous character in Wylie, so he dresses meticulously, he talks meticulously, he walks differently. He’s just got like, a different kind of aura to him than say, you know, Sam Shaw’s character in Lester, you know, or Dodd, in how they balance. So once we kind of had ideas, and I loved that all these different gang members existed from the Dalton Gang, and it was a brother gang in Oklahoma in the same time period. And once we kind of had that, it was like, well, how do you make them unique? So then we were just trying to kind of find unique aspects.”

One thing in particular that he spent a lot of time curating was the “very specific film grain” he and director of photography Andrew Scott Baird placed on to film after their original plan to shoot on film fell through, which resulted in giving it a specific texture that he felt helped capture the tone and period of the piece.

“We looked a lot at probably The Assassination of Jesse James, was probably the one that we referenced the most, like the train robbery in that is perfect and it was a night train robbery,” Koontz excitedly described. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, like what did Roger Deakins do? Because whatever Roger Deakins did, let’s learn from that the best that we can.’ I will say I loved the 3:10 to Yuma remake I thought from James Mangold was also one that just, the way that they captured the action, the way that the kinetic nature of the camera, of the close-ups I thought were really great, and so we referenced theirs. To kind of mix that where once the film goes to night, it stays night, you know, basically other than one kind of flashback sequence. We were lucky to be in this contained town in Guthrie, Oklahoma. We had one massive moon light that we kind of used to really kind of accent this, and I thought Andrew just did a wonderful job, you know, within the team like, lighting this, especially on an indie like this on the scope that we had to pull that off. There’s certain places in the film where you have to move fast, and you’re just like, ‘Look, let’s just kind of get this scene.’ But then there’s so many others where like, ‘Let’s take the time to really kind of showcase the cinematography. Let’s really kind of showcase.’ I mean, even the lighting and the church, where it’s like upside down and stuff, we have the lights going up and angling differently and all of this stuff, there are so many little things, little touches that we put in there that I was really proud of what we were able to pull off.”

RELATED: The Pale Door Review: Slow Start Followed by Thrilling Genre Blend

The Dalton gang finds shelter in a seemingly uninhabited ghost town after a train robbery goes south. Seeking help for their wounded leader, they are surprised to stumble upon a welcoming brothel in the town’s square. But the beautiful women who greet them are actually a coven of witches with very sinister plans for the unsuspecting outlaws-and the battle between good and evil is just beginning.

The horror western pic features an ensemble cast that includes Devin Druid (13 Reasons Why, Greyhound), Zachary Knighton (Happy Endings, Magnum P.I.), Melora Walters (Big Love, Venom), Bill Sage (Power, Hap and Leonard), Noah Segan (Knives Out, Scare Package), Pat Healy (The Innkeepers, Bad Education), Stan Shaw (The Monster Squad, Jeepers Creepers 3), Natasha Bassett (Hail, Caesar!) and Tina Parker (To The Stars, Better Call Saul).

The film is co-written by Koontz, Burns, and Keith Lansdale and directed by Koontz. The Pale Door is now in select theaters and on digital platforms and VOD!

The post CS Interview: Co-Writer/Director Aaron B. Koontz on The Pale Door appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

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