It's been seven years since Andy Diggle's action-themed graphic novel
The Losers hit stores. With a film adaptation ready to be released in theaters, Diggle has been more than happy to share his thoughts on both the comic series and movie. His latest interview was with
Publishers Weekely; here are a few excepts:
"Hollywood can look at 'The Losers' and get it. It's something they recognize and go, ‘Oh! I know what that is! That's a fun action movie!'"
Even though Diggle was going for a tone more reminiscent of the hard-charging Stallone/Schwarzenegger genre, Diggle doesn't see it as a mindless romp in the comic book sack.
"One of the main things I wanted to do with 'The Losers' was marry brains and brawn. I hate this idea with action movies that says, ‘Leave your brain at the door and you'll have a good time.' Trying not to insult the intelligence of the reader ended up turning into the political side of [the book]."
Diggle remembers that the comic's original popularity was limited to a select few;
"it never sold gangbusters," he said. According to Diggle, it was most likely because of the series publisher.
"People who want to read action books don't read Vertigo. And people who read Vertigo don't necessarily want action books."
The lack of mainstream popularity changed once the series hit the trade paperback market. That's when it started receiving serious attention from Hollywood. Gregory Novack, the SVP of Creative Affairs at DC, told Diggle,
"he got more expressions of interest from Hollywood in 'The Losers' than any other property DC had."
Once the wheels started turning on the project at Warner Bros., Diggle was surprised he was invited to actively participate in it's production. Regarding his first set visit, he said,
"Meeting the actors, they're all still made up and in costume and everything and it was like they just stepped out of the pages of the comic. It was extraordinary and very odd seeing these characters that we just made them up and now we're talking to them."
The Losers, starring Jefferey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, is due out in theaters April 23rd, 2010.
Information courtesy of Publishers Weekly