The VFX and Gore For THE TOXIC AVENGER Remake Were Created By Special Effects Legend Phil Tippett's Studio
A cool little detail was recently revealed in regard to Legendary’s upcoming The Toxic Avenger remake. The film is set to make its big premiere at Fantastic Fest, and as they shared some details about the film on X, special effects legend Phil Tippet revealed that his studio did all of the VFX and gore work on the film, which is pretty rad!
The initial X from Fantastic Fest reads: "Let's start with the headline grabbers. Opening night: 'THE TOXIC AVENGER.' Peter Dinklage wields the mop. Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon rule. Macon Blair directs. Legendary produces. FF audiences flip."
“Okay, cool. Yeah, this rules, but none of this is new information. And then, the clouds parted and the Mad God himself bestowed upon us the Good News ... Phil Tippett's studio is behind the film's VFX.”
Tippett, then quote-X’d that saying "Congrats team #TheToxicAvenger. Proud of Tippett Studio's VFX & digital gore effects in the film."
So, they are the ones that got to work on those crazy“butt guts” effects that have been teased! There’s no doubt the movie is going to be filled with all kinds of wild blood and gore, after all, the movie is rated R for “Strong violence and gore.” Tippett’s VFX team must’ve had a fun experience working on this movie!
Tippett has had a pretty awesome career and has worked on projects such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, RoboCop, Willow, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Howard the Duck, House II, Starship Troopers, The Haunting, Poker Face, Mad God, and more.
Peter Dinklage plays Winston Gooze in the movie and when previously talking about it, he described the film as being “over the top and crazy”. Sound editor Casey Genton also previously offered a little tease of what’s coming, saying:
"It's a really funny movie. Macon Blair, the director, I think did a really good job with it. Everybody was a dream on the film. I'm so surprised — for me personally, I had not seen the original 'Toxic Avenger' until I had done this film. And it's a huge cult classic, and I know people are really excited about it. When they have tested it, fans of the film have been over the moon with the film. [...] It's pretty out there. I think it's a different crack. They're giving the fans what they want, for sure. There's no lack of — I know everybody references the little kid's head getting run over and stuff. I think that there was an iteration of the film that didn't have enough of that, so they made a very — I don't want to ruin it. But it has, it's been nicknamed the 'butt guts' scene, and it's probably the best way to match that 'head getting run over' energy that everybody's looking for. So it's in line with the fan base, and I think it's hilarious."
The original film told the story of a bullied janitor who becomes a mutant superhero after falling into a vat of toxic waste and transforms into a radioactive hero. The synopsis for the new film reads:
While the original film (which premiered in 1984 - almost 40 years ago!) followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mitch Cohen), who goes from zero to toxic hero in a case of bullying gone awry, Blair’s contemporary take follows a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength all his own.
Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger. This timely reimagining is up to its eyeballs in environmental themes as Winston goes up against the evil forces of greed and corruption to save his son, his friends, and his community.
The Toxic Avenger will premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 21, 2023.