Prison Prism

The story is all over the place...The comic book movie genre is about to get turned on its ear---and I for one--think it's a great idea

Pamela McClintock of Variety kicks things off...

Warner Bros. has locked up a fresh take on the superhero canon.

David Goyer who helped return Batman to the big screen, will produce "Super Max," a tale that finds DC Comics' superhero the Green Arrow incarcerated in a special prison and stripped of his powers.

Story is based on an original idea by Justin Marks, who is set to pen the script. Goyer is producing with partner Jessika Borsiczky.

"Super Max" begins with a traditional comic book hero, but the storyline takes a turn as Green Arrow's true identity is revealed and he's forced to band together on an escape attempt with the very villains he's previously imprisoned.

A fixture in adapting comic books to the big screen, Goyer hatched the story for "Batman Begins" and co-wrote the script with helmer Christopher Nolan He also helped come up with the story for follow-up "The Dark Knight," which Nolan is set to begin lensing this summer from a script by his brother, [Jonathan Nolan].

...Marks has set up a number of projects around town, including penning "Voltron" for producer Mark Gordon and adapting vidgame "Street Fighter" for Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment He's also working on an untitled thriller for producer Kevin Mischer and Paramount

The whole Variety article can be found here...

Meanwhile, WizardUniverse.com has more...

"He's Green Arrow for the first 10 minutes of the movie, and then he's arrested and his secret identity is revealed," Goyer tells the site.

"They shave his goatee and they take his costume and send him to prison for life, and he has to escape. It's like 'Alcatraz,' and he has to team up with, in some cases, some of the very same villains he is responsible for incarcerating in order to get out and clear his name. Of course, tons of people try to kill him while he's in there. We've populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe.

For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they're all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that."

What a great premise! Green Arrow has always been a favorite of mine. The whole idea of jumping right into the story--skipping the usual origin narrative--is fine here. Having our hero lose his powers almost out of the gate means it sustains the tension and puts him in real jeopardy like few films of the genre have before. Making "Max" much more exciting to watch...

In an extensive report on the project--the IGN staff has even "started" the casting process...



Justin Hartley, (pictured) played the Arrow for a handful of episodes during the current season of Smallville and in my opinion, did a fine job in the part. He gets my vote to play Arrow in the film...