SGT. ROCK Movie Adaptation is Moving Forward... Finally
It seems like this Sgt. Rock movie has been trying to get off the ground for some time now, Joel Silver has been trying to get it going for almost 20 years! It looks like a film adaptation of the DC Comic based on a World War II war hero is finally moving forward. The only problem is the damn movie isn't going to take place in World War II! It's going to be futurized, which is pretty much bullcrap. The Classic Sgt. Rock will now seize to be the classic Sgt. Rock.
Francis Lawrence has been brought on board to direct the movie. Lawrence has directed such films as Constantine and I Am Legend. The original WWII script was written by Chad St. John, who will also rewrite the script to take place in modern day. Joel Silver is still producing along with Akiva Goldsman, for Warner Bros.
Sgt. Frank Rock was the leader of his infantry unit, Easy Company. He first appeared in a 1959 issue of Our Army at War. In 1977, the comic was renamed Sgt. Rock and ran until 1988.
They always planned on a World War II setting for the film until now. They wanted to make a big budget action adventure film that would be a throwback to films like The Dirty Dozen, which is exactly what I was hoping for! So why the change in plans? Why are they futurizing it? Here is the reason given:
But a big budget always was an obstacle and, Inglourious Basterds notwithstanding, period war movies have not been in vogue in Hollywood for years, unless it was a more serious contemplation of the subject like Saving Private Ryan. Also, American jingoism went out of style after 9/11; even this summer’s G.I. Joe movie dropped the toy’s “A Real American Hero” tagline and made the action team internationally focused.
The studio is hoping that by moving the time period to the future solves the dilemma. I honestly cannot believe that they are using G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra as an example of why they are making the change. That was one of the worst films of the year! Inglorious Bastereds was one of the best films of the year, it was a period film, and it had a decent Box-Office return! Pretty much what I'm seeing here, is they are going to turn Sgt. Rock into what G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra was... a futerized military piece of crap.
The World War II version was always popular with the executives and talent. At one point Arnold Schwarzenegger was attached to play the lead role. Guy Ritchie was attached to direct it before he got the Lobo gig then he moved on.
It's sad that we will most likely never see Sgt. Rock made the way it was meant to be made. Hollywood has to disappoint us with most of their decisions lately.
Source: THR