Producer Neal Moritz Talks Escape from New York, Preacher, and Man-Witch
Steve Barton
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Sometimes movies we’re really looking forward to end up being tied up for what feels like forever. Three projects that have been floating around for a while now coming from producer Neal Moritz – the Escape from New York remake, the comic adaptation Preacher, and the horror comedy Man-Witch – are perfect examples of the unfortunate agonizing waits that we as fans must endure. Thankfully Moritz has offered an update on all of them.
Collider caught up with Neal recently and got the scoop on these flicks as well as The Boys, The 8th Voyage of Sinbad, and even S.W.A.T. 2.
Pertaining to Escape from New York:
“We have a script. We’re out to directors right now,” Moritz tells Collider. “We’ve had quite a few meetings with directors and there’s a couple of actors that are really interested in playing Snake and we’ll see what happens.”
“Gerard [Butler] was really interested in playing it. He hasn’t read the new script yet, so we’ll probably have a conversation with him once we get a director on board.”
Moritz also mentions that there are elements in the film that are definitely R-rated. Amen.
Pertaining to Preacher:
“We now have a terrific script that John August wrote. We were originally talking with Sam Mendes about doing the movie. Sam Mendes is going to go off and do the Bond movie, so there’s another director that we’re talking to right now.”
For those of you familiar with this comic, you know how complex it is. Moritz is aware, too, and he has no problem thinking franchise as a means to tell the whole thing.
“The hardest thing was with all the books – the Preacher books – was how to distill it down. And what he [August] made the smart decision instead of trying to cram everything into one, there’s plenty of room for 2 or 3 movies. So that’s what he’s done and he’s done a really faithful adaption but made it probably more accessible to a broader audience right now,” he explains, adding that he’s certain this puppy will be R-rated. “That movie’s definitely R-rated and it’s an amazing central character. With the goal of hunting down God to make him pay for abandoning his creation, I’m not sure how it wouldn’t be R.”
Pertaining to Man-Witch:
“We have a script. We’re hiring another director on it right now. That’s a movie that’s come together, fallen apart many different times. I think we’re finally on the right track right now. We have a very good director who’s interested in doing it. The hardest part of the movie is going to be who can play that role,” he explains adding that the Zach Galifianakis rumor was old news. “When Todd Phillips was going to direct it, it was going to be Zach. It was going to be Jack Black at one point when Todd was going to direct it, so it’s been through a couple of different combinations right now and I think either of them would be really good for the part.”
Click on the above link for the full scoopage on each and more!
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