The live-action Dylan Dog film!
The Thalia Power Plant in New Orleans is a cavern of rust, brick and steel situated ten minutes from the French Quarter. In the world of Dylan Dog, which is not unlike the real New Orleans except it’s populated by a myriad of supernatural creatures, this abandoned location is brimming with zombies.
“The place is more overcrowded than Riker’s Island,” explains Dylan, the fictional character based on the popular Italian comic book which is getting the live-action treatment in Kevin Munroe’s Dead of Night. Embodied by Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Dylan cuts a striking figure in his blue jeans and signature red shirt and black blazer. He’s accompanied by Marcus (Sam Huntington), a close friend who’s very much “undead.” They’re descending into the bowels of the Power Plant, Marcus hesitant. Dylan, ready for anything.
It’s day 24 on the set of Dead of Night and ShockTillYouDrop.com is in attendance watching this scene play out. Munroe, making his live-action debut after the all-CG TMNT, is cool and collected. As well he should be. Shooting is going smooth today, furthermore, he has a confident producing team, Scott Rosenberg and Gil Adler, in attendance.
The former, representing production outfit Platinum Studios, couldn’t be more thrilled to see Dylan coming to life. “This has been gestating for about ten years,” Rosenberg says. “I fell in love with the character when finding it through a European library and put together a pitch that [screenwriters] Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Donnelly came up with a great story for.” The pair, responsible for Sahara, opted to tell a Dylan adventure that finds the paranormal detective in a form of retirement. When he’s called upon by a female client (Journey to the Center of the Earth‘s Anita Briem), Dylan is forced to revisit an underworld where zombies, werewolves (played by Peter Stormare and Kurt Angle) and vampires (Taye Diggs) exist.
“We pitched the town like one normally does,” Rosenberg continues. “We took it to a bunch of studios and set it up at Dimension. That didn’t go well for a couple of different development reasons. During that time period after, we talked to one animation house, that’s now defunct, who was going to do an animated version – at the same time we were planning live action.”
Platinum ultimately partnered with Hyde Park Films, Omnilab and Adler, best known for his time on the HBO series Tales from the Crypt, its feature films and the Dark Castle entries House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, not to mention Superman Returns and Valkyrie (yeah, the guy is a pretty big deal). Adler’s involvement came courtesy of Routh, the first actor to commit to the picture over a year ago.
“Brandon’s a really good friend because of Superman Returns,” Adler explains. “He asked me to read the script last summer. I was smiling at the end of the script because I had such fond feelings of Tales from the Crypt, it really felt like it could have been a Tales from the Crypt movie. It’s scary, horrific and yet there’s something deliciously humorous about it.” After multiple meetings with Munroe, the producer agreed to participate in the picture.
Today is just day one of ShockTillYouDrop.com’s two-day visit. In a full set report to come, we’ll bring you interviews with Routh, Huntington, Briem, Adler, Rosenberg, Angle and many more as well as dish you some of the details on how this writer was called upon to do some zombie performing in the film. Hang tight and enjoy this exclusive first look at Routh as Dylan Dog in the film!
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
