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Like Battlestar Galactica? You'll Love the Witchblade Movie!

by Alex Billington
July 22, 2008

The previously announced Witchblade movie, adapted from the Top Cow comic, finally has its director. "Battlestar Galactica" regular Michael Rymer will direct and co-produce the film with a script written by long-time television writer Everett De Roche. Given I'm not personally familiar with "Battlestar Galactica", I can't say this makes me any more interested, but considering Rymer has directed 20 episodes and is filming the series finale, this should be a pretty good sign of the direction that Witchblade is going in. I know Witchblade, about a gauntlet with special powers that a chosen female wears, doesn't have much in common with "Battlestar Galactica", but I still think Rymer should be a good fit. Hopefully this doesn't turn out like a long television show episode, because I actually would like to possibly enjoy it.

My concern is that the film will feel more like a two-hour SciFi Channel movie than an actual theatrical feature. Rymer's last feature film was Queen of the Damned, a notably poor feature that doesn't instill any more confidence. I was quite hesitant about this from the start, but now I'm even more hesitant. But maybe it's just being made for those "Battlestar Galactica" and SciFi Channel fans and no one else. If you haven't already seen it, you can check out a sexy teaser poster for the film that was released before even Rymer or De Roche were announced. As for a more specific story in the film, no one really knows yet, but we can expect to hear more within the next few months before it begins filming. Who would be the best actress to play a lead in Witchblade? And can Michael Rymer pull off an actual feature film?

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Jess

Wow, Michael Rymer will hopefully do a great job with Witchblade. He is a great director and it'll be interesting to see which actors will sign up for this film.
Robert

This is going to kick The Dark Knight's ass at the box office - MARK MY WORDS! *doesn't shut up about it for the next 8 months*
Omega728

I use to read the comics when Michael Turner was still illustrating them but I stopped after he left, so I'm basing my opinion from the issues that I've read. The first two names that popped to my head are Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie. Just because they fit the role perfectly, look wise. But of course they've been overdone and played in so many other comic movies that it's probably best to go with someone newer to the genre. So maybe Rhona Mitra? Not a fan of Battlestar Galactica, so don't really have an opinion about the director. As you mentioned Alex, hope this doesn't turn into a made for TV special.
http://www.fangrrlmagnet.com ProgGrrl

I have to say, I find it fascinating that you can start out your assumption of badness with "Given I'm not personally familiar with 'Battlestar Galactica'"...but. Hey. We all have our opinions. My main concern, from the BSG fan perspective, would be that this material isn't quite as fascinating as BSG...but I'll give it a try. (I liked QUEEN OF THE DAMNED too, for its sexy ambiance and modernism...so sue me!)
Spider

Thanks to "The Dark Knight's" success, more and more filmmakers will take a more meticulous and careful approach(I'm sure comic book geeks will see to that) to comic book properties. having said that, I believe Michael Rymer will do great. I do like his work on "Battlestar: Galactica" and he may very well be a perfect fit for the source material as Nolan was to "The Dark Knight" and Favreau to "Iron Man". As far as casting, Angelina Jolie will probably top the producers list, but to get it right they may want to consider Erica Durance, who plays Lois Lane in "Smallville". She's not a big name, yet she has the look, is smokin' hot and has the acting chops to pull it off. She also knows a thing or two about playing a comic book character too. Who knows, if this "Witchblade" succeeds, we may get to see a "Wonder Woman" flick and maybe an "Elektra" reboot!
http://www.feoamante.com Feo Amante

The comic, which started off like a cool supernatural detective story, fell apart after the first year. The first Witchblade live-action series was pretty good (too bad about Yancy), then turned into soft-core porn anime, mind-bogglingly stupid heroines, and near hentai went it went overseas to Japan. Top Cow has a long history of butchering Witchblade (or ostensibly allowing partnerships with various Japanese companies to butcher Witchblade), while creatively coming up with ways to make them profitable - in smaller and smaller chump change ways. Witchblade could have been a Spawn. Instead its a Witchblade. The Howard the Duck satire got it right. On the other hand - The reboot of Battlestar Galactica is great and ranks up high with Firefly and Star Trek and ST: NG and, the inane Queen of the Damned aside, Michael Rymer has really proved his chops over the years in directing. Everett De Roche has a long writing career, but its a history of being the main writer on one season, short-lived television shows, or just being another in a long line of writers on long lived shows. The fact that these shows were of the Matlock ilk doesn't inspire me. On the other hand he's credited for writing two of Australia's most popular Horror Thriller cult movies, Patrick and Razorback. Not that either were great, but they were fun. I'm willing to give Michael and Everett the benefit of the doubt, if they can just keep Witchblade co-creator, Marc Silvestri out of the influence. Some day I'd love to talk to Marc to see why he made the decisions he has regarding Witchblade. I wonder if he has regrets? If Witchblade goes the way of its Anime sister, it will hit the theaters with a Æon Flux thud. If it goes the way of the Ronald Moore's reboot Battlestar Galactica (in comparison to the old BG), it could be a hit.
http://reiem.blogpost.com David

ok hold it about Dark Knight being the pioneer, come on, Spiderman is the real pioneer of all this new wave of comic based movies. as for the main role, I wouldn't like to see angelina on this, she would completely ruin it. come on, big boobs and what else? she's just an empty babe. I would like to see a mixture between Summer Glau (Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Anneliese van der Pol (That's So Raven), exploring a character from a tough outside/weak inside Sara towards a mature woman who embraces her destiny.
http://www.feoamante.com Feo Amante

Wow. Those are some very good choices, David. I would add Raven-Symoné as well. If she's willing to hit the gym for this role, I think she has the acting ability for it. Comic Book characters in live-action movies need all the genuine acting ability they can get. Okay, I've wasted enough time here. Comic-Con starts TOMORROW! YES!
Omega728

#9 I get what you're saying but I doubt that they're going to put as much attention into this movie as Nolan did with TDK. Let's just hope that they do. What you said about proportioned lady cops are great, that sounds just like in the comic books... but honestly I know that not all cop ladies are equally proportioned as you mentioned. I know cause I've seen them. There are some that are a bit more heavily built, then there's the ones that are a bit more muscular, then you have the more typical female body. Don't forget the short and tall ones too. Anyways, talking about the movie, they definitely should find someone who's athletic and attractive to play the role though.
Darrin

who's the chick
Ivan A. Arcaya,Sr.

I am a fan of BSG. I didn't see Queen of the Dammed and don't have enough information to judge Mr. Rymer's Direction. I agree with Spider. I have seen Ms. Erica Durance in person at The Philadelphia Wizard World Comic Convention. She is beautiful and her body is evenly proportioned. Angelina Jolie's body is not evenly proportioned. She has large breast and small hips. Jessica Alba is also evenly proportioned. Michael Rymer's woman on BSG are also evenly proportioned. Angelina is a beautiful woman with a beautiful face especially her lips and a beautiful body especially her breasts. My ex-wife was a police woman and had an evenly proportioned, athletic body as had all her fellow police women who patrolled the streets as either uniformed police or plain clothes detectives . They have to be of medium built in order to be able to handle the physical part of their job. The actress who paid Witch Blade in the TV series looked like a police detective. If Mr. Rymer follows Mr. Nolan's example; he will choose someone whose body is realistically proportioned for the role. Mr. Nolan has set the bar and any one who expects to meet his success will have to make the men and women more realistic.
Ivan A. Arcaya,Sr.

#10: you are absolutely right about today's older non-ex-military police women and men. I made the mistake of being provincial. I live in a small city named Vineland in New Jersey and the police men and women are in good shape. When I travel to big cities like New York or Philadelphia; I see fat, short, muscular and tall police men and women. Being a Marine and having friends both male and female who retired from The Marine Corp and now serve in either the Vineland Police Department or in The New Jersey State Police Department; I took it for granted that all police departments are like my home town and State. I didn't think about the police who didn't just come out of The Marines or are older. Even though Vineland is classified as a city; it's more like a rural area. Vinelanders love their guns,looking great for the beaches in Wildwood, Ocean City, etc. and their Gold weight lifting gyms. Thank-you for reminding me that the world is larger then The Marine Corp and rural Vineland.
Omega728

How about Megan Fox?
Ivan A. Arcaya,Sr.

#13: I like Megan Fox for the role. She looks beautiful and real. She could be a realistic Witchblade/Detective. #8 I will not be able to attend The San Diego Comic Con. You are a lucky man. I am jealous! If you find anything about Witchblade/The Movie let us know.
personx

Alex - "not personally familiar with "Battlestar Galactica", I can't say this makes me any more interested" c'mon dude, only voted the best EMMY AWARD WINNING show on TV! - "The series has won widespread acclaim among many mainstream non-genre publications. Time magazine, Rolling Stone magazine] and New York Newsday named it the best show on television in 2005. Other publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker and National Review also gave the show positive reviews." - Where have you been? Uranus!! - You should be on top of this stuff.
james

#13 and 14: I like Megan Fox but she reads to yung to be taken seriously as a police detective. Vanessa Ferlito would be perfect IMO she played in Quintin Tarintinos Deathproof and proved she could be sexy by doing the second best lap dance ever captured on film and she also proved she can play a police detective when she was a series regular on CSI: NY.
james

Take that back after looking at her GQ mag shoot. She'll do fine.