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Mark Hamill Directing an Adaptation of His 'Black Pearl' Comic
by Ethan Anderton
May 17, 2010
Though he will always be known as Luke Skywalker, actor Mark Hamill has made a decent living outside of Star Wars by lending his voice to an insane amount of animated programming including a recurring role as The Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series" and several DC Comics' series and feature length spin-offs. However, aside from his acting, he also wrote his own comic book, The Black Pearl, which we heard last month might become a film adaptation to be directed by Hamill himself. At the time, we were to wait until Cannes for an official announcement, so now with the festival in full swing, confirmation has hit in Variety.
It's now confirmed that Hamill will indeed be directing this adaptation of his five issue comic series which focuses on a troubled man named Luther Drake who becomes a costumed vigilante "hero" by accident and media pressure. Hamill has said the comic is "a crime thriller, fairly raw in terms of violence, about tabloid journalism and sensationalism and all the things that thriller come from." This won't be Hamill's first rodeo as director since he also helmed the mockumentary Comic Book: The Movie, but this will definitely be on a bit of a larger scale with more fantastical elements, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles a feature.
About 14 years ago, the story was intended to hit the big screen, but a lot like 30 Days of Night (which was an unsuccessful film pitch before it was a comic book), it just needed to be established in some other form of media for Hollywood to get on board. But when you have a couple currently hot writers like Pal Tamasy and Eric Johnson (who recently collaborated with David O. Russell on The Fighter), you're going to get a decent amount of attention for a project. Though producers were throwing upwards of $30 million for a chance to snag the project, Hamill turned them down because a bigger budget meant that he wouldn't get to direct. So with a $7 million budget, Hamill will sit in the director's chair, and we'll be waiting to see how it turns out.
9 Comments
1
could be interesting...i'll keep a look out for it.
Cmurder on May 17, 2010
2
Let me get this straight... he turned down a bigger budget in favor of a small one, so that he could still direct? Wow, that's a refreshing change. His flannel-wearing Jedi master must have taught him a few things about retaining control of his creative properties.
Jedi on May 17, 2010
3
I am your father......and I build C3PO. Way to go Mark, the Force Is Still With you!
1544K on May 17, 2010
4
I wish Mark all the best in this venture he never got the recognition he deserved after Star Wars Sarga like Harrison Ford did.
Cineprog on May 17, 2010
5
Good luck Mr. Hamill, I wish more film makers would treat their projects with this kind of respect and care...
peloquin on May 17, 2010
6
Way to go Mark!!! *thumbs up*
Dan on May 17, 2010
7
BOOM! This movie is gonna be pretty neat...the script is quite grand. Or at least it was a few years ago...
Bri on May 17, 2010
8
I hope Hamill is successful. If he can make a nice little filme with $7 million, and come in on time and under budget...that would make him a 'proven directorial' commodity. Afterall, all studios love a director that comes in under budget.
Zantorian on May 17, 2010
9
Mark Hamill, I salute you and your integrity.. I will definitely be watching for this. great things coming your way I'm sure!
Sharon on May 22, 2010
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