Geek Syndicate
of top unproduced screenplays in
town, and that helped bring in Mark
Wahlberg and David O. Russell, fresh
off The Fighter.
For whatever reason, Russell ultimately decided to do Silver Linings
Playbook instead, but I guess Mark
just really dug the project because
he became absolutely tenacious
with it. Everything’s about the package in Hollywood now, and nothing
helps kick a film project along like
having a renowned screenplay and
a hot bankable star. I don’t want to
slight anyone else, because an awful lot of people worked very hard to
get the movie done and out, but if I
were to have another child I’d probably name him after Mark. He did
so much to keep the film alive, and
there were a few dark days there as
is pretty common with movies, he
found financing when they needed
more, he brought in Denzel Washington, he brought in Baltasar, he
was just determined to be in 2 Guns.
He’s a steamroller. Then suddenly it
was premiere night.
GS: With the success of 2 Guns at the
box office, even debuting at #1 on opening weekend, is there a chance of the sequel series 3 Guns also finding its way to
the big screen?
SG: I’d guess relatively good odds.
You can never tell with Hollywood
math, and that’s what it comes down
to, but Mark has talked with both
Ross and me about it, Baltasar has
mentioned it in interviews. There’s
interest. People will be in a better
position to assess the situation after
I’m done with the comic. I have six
pages to go.
2 Guns is out now on Blu-Ray and
DVD and the original comic series
can be purchased from BOOM!
Studios.
Leo Johnson
It’s interesting to see Hollywood
from that perspective. People are always asking why Hollywood doesn’t
make better movies (I would say
they did, but of course I would) but
the real question is how any movies
ever get made at all. It’s such a process, paved with pitfalls.
GS: Great actors like Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg were attached to
2 Guns when it was adapted into a movie.
How happy were you with the end result
and how well it adapted the original
comic?
SG: When I finally saw the film, at
the screening, all I could say on my
way out was that I couldn’t think of
a thing I’d change. I still can’t. Like
I said, they changed the story a little but it kept my sensibilities completely intact. It has my fingerprints
all over it. Even if I’d had nothing to
do with it, it would’ve still been my
favourite film of the year. It was almost exactly what I wanted it to be.
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