STRETCH ARMSTRONG Film will be taken Seriously, it will have the same tone as IRON MAN
I haven't been the biggest supporter of the new Stretch Armstrong film being developed at Universal Pictures. It just seems like an idea born to fail. The film will be written by Nick Stroller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), directed by Rob Letterman (Shark Tale), and it will star Taylor Lautner (Twilight). In the beginning I thought the only way they could pull this movie off, would be to make a comedy, because how in the hell can you take Stretch Armstrong seriously? Well apparently they found a way. Stoller recently gave an interview with Comingsoon in which he reveals that the story in the film will be taken seriously, going as far to say it will be in the same tone as Iron Man. The fact that they are taking this seriously drops my non-existent excitement for the film even further. Here is what Stroller had to say.
Rob had a great take on 'Stretch' and he told me about it, and I said, 'Please let me write it.' It's a superhero origin story taking it totally seriously, kind of in the 'Iron Man' tone—for lack of a better descriptor. We're taking it seriously, but it will have a light tone to it. Hasbro has an idea of it and it's based on a new version of that character. It's kind of a blank slate. There wasn't really much of a backstory to the original Stretch Armstrong so we're just kind of inventing it from the ground up.
With 'Stretch,' I don't think there are a ton of original Stretch Armstrong fans out there. It's more about creating a universe of superheroes that I'm really excited about. Rob and I have cracked a pretty cool story I think and Rob has a really cool take on what this can be, and it's going to be a huge budget spectacular thing. I love 'Iron Man,' I love 'The Dark Knight' and it's exciting to get to play in this world, because the budgets of these comedies are pretty small, and to get to do something that's just gigantic and exciting but a totally grounded human story at the center of it that I think people are going to respond to.
Is Universal seriously going to dump an Iron Man and Dark Knight film budget on this production? What are they thinking? And how in the hell can you even compare Stretch Armstrong to Iron Man or The Dark Knight! I am totally confused by the way these people are thinking regarding this film. I just can't see this film being in the same league as any of these other superhero movies being developed today. Am I missing something? Now my thought is, the movie will be funny because of how serious and gritty ti will end up being. I just can't take Stretch Armstrong seriously.
Do you think Stretch Armstrong has the potential to be huge, spectacular, gigantic and excited like Iron Man and The Dark Knight?