Speaking
with Shortlist, writer/producer/director/actor Jon Favreau addressed the now
solved Edgar Wright/Ant-Man problem, getting Iron Man made, and is upcoming
Jungle Book adaptation.
As someone who’s
involved with Marvel, what’s your take on Edgar Wright leaving Ant-Man?
Edgar’s a dear friend of mine – I was so looking
forward to his version of Ant-Man. All Edgar’s films
have been studio films, it’s not like he’s never made one before. I think he’s
been used to a situation where he can have tremendous creative say around his
story and casting, and Marvel has built an entire franchise around their style
of telling stories. I know both parties well, and I respect his decision to see
that he wasn’t going to be fulfilled in the process. That’s all I can really
say.
Looking back, there was no guarantee that Iron Man
would launch the Marvel franchise like it has. Did
it feel like a gamble at the time?
The model was the Fantastic Four films with Fox. You
were expected to spend a certain amount of money that would make you a certain
amount of money back as long as the effects are good. They wanted to figure out
a way to get the movie to audiences for a price. I think by casting Iron
Man the way we did,
it classed the brand up. It allowed us to bring a certain humorous tone that
had been lost from, say, the Bond franchise. With Daniel Craig, those movies
gained a harder edge, meaning there was definitely room for a new humorous cad
adventurer. That archetype had not been filled in a long time. Through Iron
Man, Marvel found its tone and voice, but nothing was expected of
it. And then the success came, and then there was pressure to continue that
brand, and that’s where it becomes more challenging.
You’re set to do a new version of The Jungle Book –
will you be taking inspiration from the original Rudyard Kipling story, or the
Sixties Disney film?
Kipling is the basis, because he nailed the mythology
– getting back to the ancient myths that we see everywhere – like in Star Wars.
But the ’67 animated film has wonderful tone and characters that we can
hopefully recombine with Kipling, so it has a Disney feel to it. It’s a great
way to use technology to tell the story in a way that hasn’t been done before.
We can use computer graphics to tell a story that will go around the world. You
can give a personal flavour to something that’s big, as long as you don’t
jeopardise people’s ability to make money from it.
Source - ShortList
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