Jason Statham: 'I want to be Daredevil.'
Here's one more Comic-Con International 2008 anecdote as I clean out my notebook from the long weekend:
Could a British actor wear the red horns of the Man Without Fear? Jason Statham says, "Absolutely, just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil."
Statham was in San Diego to promote "Death Race," his upcoming high-octane film, but after a long day "The Transporter" star was taking it easy with a beer downstairs at the Hard Rock Hotel. Also sitting at the table was filmmaker and comics icon Frank Miller, whose solo directorial debut "The Spirit" arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. Fans of comics know that Miller became a superstar for Marvel Comics with his work on "Daredevil" beginning in 1979 and many of his creations and innovations (not least among them, the character Elektra) added new depth to a character that had largely been an also-ran for Marvel since his title started in 1964. Miller got a twinkle in his eye when the topic turned to a Daredevil movie.
Daredevil made to the screen in 2003, of course, with Ben Affleck in the red suit, filmmaker Mark Steven Johnson writing and directing and much of Miller's mythology as its foundation. The movie arrived on Valentine's Day but not everybody loved it--some notable critics despised it, in fact, and on Rotten Tomatoes it got 43% positive reviews, which may be the definition of lukewarm. (I myself thought the movie was underrated, although when I think about it I probably respected it more than I actually liked it.)
Sitting with Statham and Miller, it was easy to get excited about the idea of another "Daredevil" movie, one that was not a remake as much as it was a new installment. Hey Miller is the man who wrote the "Born Again" story arc in "Daredevil" -- there's plenty he could do with the character in a new movie. Statham said he is eager to work with Miller at some point and that he adores the Daredevil character. I made the mistake of asking Statham if might not make a better Bullseye than Matt Murdock and I thought he might hit me with his pint glass. "Forget Bullseye, I want to be Daredevil!" Miller nodded. "I think he should be Daredevil too."
Bonus: I wrote a long feature on Statham in August last year, you can find it after the jump.