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Brett Ratner's Next Bad Movie - Harbinger

by Alex Billington
March 11, 2008
Source: Variety

After finishing off the X-Men trilogy and the Rush Hour trilogy, Brett Ratner will be tackling Valiant Comics' Harbinger next. Well, not exactly next (maybe thankfully?), but Ratner is in talks to eventually direct Harbinger for Paramount Pictures. A script is still being written by an unannounced writer and as that comes together, Ratner will continue working on his other projects, which could move into production before this. Do I really need to ask - is anyone a fan of Brett Ratner or is anyone excited for this?

The comic book series was first published in the 1990s and created by Jim Shooter. Harbingers are humans with powers that can be unlocked by "omega" harbingers. Teenager Pete Stanchek finds himself on a collision course with an older "omega" who used his gifts to become an evil industrialist. Producer Alexandra Milchan explains, "the movie is in the vein of a young 'Blade Runner,' as this 17-year-old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains."

To be completely honest, I didn't really dislike X-Men 3, I actually liked it quite a bit. However, I love jumping on the Ratner hating bandwagon just for fun because there are many of you out there who do hate him for "butchering" that film. I'm curious to see whether Harbinger will be anything unique or just another big-budget teenaged sci-fi film like Jumper that may have a good concept and idea, but fails in its execution - as is typically the case with Ratner. Thoughts?

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Alfonso Alverez

This is pretty cool. I loved valiant and remember harbinger being a great comic. I could see this as a big franchise and am excited for the movie (despite ratner). Alot of the other valiant comics would be just as good, some better (xo, rai, ninjak, bloodshot) as movies
Matt Suhu

Ratner is a terrible director, period. Valiant had awesome stories with great character development. Harbinger is too plain to make as a movie (people with special powers). XO is too much like an Iron-Man. I don't think there's a market for a martial arts Rai or Ninjak movie. Bloodshot may be interesting, but his powers of nano computers in his blood is a bit boring. Instead Magnus would be great for a major motion picture because of its futuristic setting and the presence of robots.
Djoser

Harbinger and Valiant in general are proof that premise alone can't make for good comics. I've only known one person in my whole life who liked these comics, and he's a very likable... how do put this lightly?... loser. Good luck trying to market THIS one! Especially after the X-bomb... Go back to Barberhouse/shop/whatever... Did you ever make a good movie? Maybe you should start there.
jason_md2020

--Producer Alexandra Milchan explains, "the movie is in the vein of a young 'Blade Runner,' as this 17-year-old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains."-- How do kids with super powers have anything to do with arguably the most influential sci-fi film of all time? Has she even seen Blade Runner? Sorry, not interested. Why pay $8-$10 to see this crapstorm at a theater, when I can stay home & watch Heroes (which is probably better directed, acted & written) for free.
carg0

i don't understand how this worthless hack of a "director" continues to find work. he's a shining testament to the phrase, "what you know isn't always as important as who you know"...
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=198637302 Graham

Maybe we should give Ratner a chance before we condemn him to Director purgatory. Maybe he will impress us with a change. I for one am happy as hell anyone is considering to do a Valiant Comic Based Movie. People bitch too much. Would you rather Directors make a bunch of really horrid small town love stories that bore the ideology of lame? I really think Magnus the Robot Fighter as someone above mentioned would be a KILLER box office smash. But perhaps in an Animated way. Not ANIME. But animated like CLone Wars, but a little more detailed. I think it would be an exceptional movie. Harbinger might be really good if the story line is written well on the script. Sometimes it's not just about the Director, it's about the script as well as the actors they choose and the budget. I will pray for this to be a good movie. I'm counting on Ratner to do a good job. And so what on these other remakes like Conan. If people don't like it, don't go see it. I for one am always happy to see something new done on titles of movies I like such as Conan. I simply wait for DVD to rent it. If it's good, I buy it. If it's bad, I have seen it and I don't need to buy it. It's far easier in our society to hate and to be cynical than it is to love and to give things a chance. If I was wrong, we would have an Economy that is strong and a Nation that is United. Everyone falls to Cynical notations that something can always be better. Maybe they are right, but your not the one who has taken flight to make the change. You aren't the one who went out there and made a name for yourself so you could make the films you love. So all opinions roll high and everyone has got one. At least give things a chance before you bash it.
http://www.briancparks.com Brian Parks

I recently finished the first draft of my Harbinger screenplay (it'd be interesting to see if any other fans have one going out there) and am in the editing stages now. Seeking representation from an agency is a pain in the ass! Anyway, I've always wanted to see Harbinger up on the big screen, so I finally got off my butt and ended up writing the version that I'd like to see. Now I can die happy. Unless anyone out there reading this is an agent. In that case, I'd very much like to go on living having sold my screenplay. Cheers!