Comic Con wasn’t all about Iron Man and Avatar this year; the Warner Brothers panel in Hall H also shone a spotlight on an upcoming film from a twin brother directing team who have been off the radar for a while. After a nine-year absence from movie theaters, the Hughes Brothers will return to the big screen with the Book of Eli, which is being described as a post-apocalyptic western (just don’t mention it to them).
“I don’t like that word” said Allen Hughes said in the press conference following Friday’s panel. “… somebody said it once and it caught on. It takes place in the west, but it could just as easily take place on the east coast. It is 30 years after an event… but if you have a good story and good characters, it doesn’t matter.”
The film stars Denzel Washington, without whom the film would never have been made, according to the brothers. Denzel was rather vague in his description of the film and his role in it:
“I carry this book. And the mission that my character is on is to get that book across the country. Gary’s character is a man who also wants this book.”
The Gary he’s speaking of is none other than Commissioner Gordon himself, one of the finest actors of our time and no stranger to genre films, Gary Oldman. Oldman plays the stepfather of Mila Kunis, whose character develops some sort of idol worship towards Denzel’s character.
Denzel Washington does press for BOOK OF ELI at SDCC 2009
I think. Actually, it was kind of hard to tell what anyone was talking about: there was definitely a lot of excitement in the room and everyone involved with the film seemed genuinely happy to be there and happy to be working with each other. As a result, there was a lot of talking over each other, especially in the case of the Hughes brothers. As siblings so often do, they completed each others sentances and occasionally seemed to complete each others’ thoughts… which made it kind of hard to follow what the heck anybody was talking about. But here are a few other points I managed to glean from the press conference:
There is no vegetation in the film until the end of the movie. Everyone in the film is a scavenger or a “survivalist” as the Hughes Bros. put it. People are willing to kill for the things that we currently take for granted and throw away. But according to Denzel, “… there’s a few sandwiches. Meat sandwiches.” When pressed for more information he smiled cryptically and left it at that.
The brothers made a conscious effort to avoid anything to do with The Road, the upcoming film based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and attempted to create a unique look for their film that was unlike what has previously been done in other films set in a world ravaged by disaster.
Naturally, someone asked why the Hughes Brothers had been away from film for so long.
“It’s hard to find great material” was the short answer. From the sounds of it, they’ve found something worthy of a comeback. The Book of Eli opens in January, 2010.
Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington promote THE BOOK OF ELI at Comic-Con
Mila Kunis is also in THE BOOK OF ELI
Is it just me or does Denzel seem to die in this movie often. That seems to be what happens to his characters in many of his flicks lately. Maybe if he is doing a movie he request to die so he doesn't have to come back for any sequels. I can see him dying and Mila becoming the new carrier of the book. But the preview looks good, looking forwards to see him Denzel kick some ass on screen.
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I wanna see if the Hughes Bros can do something that isn't about crime. The movie looks dope, can't wait.
With this movie and The Road coming out, why can't someone try to bring Jericho back to TV? Jericho FTW!!!