Director Kevin Munroe ask to Fans!
Hey Everyone.
Knowing how patient everyone has been over the past year, I’ll try to make these answers as informative as possible, as opposed to 3-word responses. We’ll see how this goes, knowing that it’s quite possible that the 3 word versions may be more humane on you all. For now… Enjoy and thanks for your patience.
How did you familiarize with the world of Dylan Dog, and when did you first heard about this comic-book?
I first heard about Dylan Dog when I was doing some development work at Dark Horse Entertainment (the TV/film division of Dark Horse Comics). At the time they had access to the property of Martin Mystery and I was developing it for a TV show that ultimately didn’t happen. But that’s when I was exposed to the Bonelli line up. And in it, I found a property called Dylan Dog that I thought looked really really cool. Found out they didn’t have any English translations, which just led to a big online search that brought up small fan groups. And all I remember was asking them if they had the rights to Dylan, and they said “no”. So cut to close to 10 years later, and I get a call from Platinum Studios and Hyde Park asking if I’ve ever heard of “Dylan Dog” as they had a script they wanted me to read. And I just smiled.
As far as familiarizing myself with the world, I read the English translations with the Mignola covers. Did a lot of online research to look at the background and history. And then probably the most helpful was just listening to one of our producers, Gioj De Marco (unquestionably the biggest fan I know of the series), speak so passionately about the character and the books that she grew up with in Italy from childhood. You can’t beat real enthusiasm as an inspiration to do a good job and understand the zeitgeist behind a property.
What is your favorite episode in the Dylan Dog comic book series?
My favorite book of the series is unfortunately picked from a limited selection as i have only “read” the 6 that were translated into English. I’ve looked at dozens more in Italian, but I’ve only read the 6 reprinted from Dark Horse. Of those, there was a tale with a lead female named Morgana that was my favorite – set in the world of zombies, but it was also very supernatural. It was a lot of fun and I thought really captured the tone of Dylan Dog. (again, from the 6 i could read) I really wanted to read more with Xabaras, but unfortunately was just relegated to reading issue synopses online or getting told the stories from Platinum’s Gioj DeMarco.
Maybe this question is old, but, is Dylan still English in film?
No, Dylan’s not English in the film. I can see it being crucial in a lot of ways (not just because that’s the mythology of the comic world), but in a lot of ways, Dylan’s character is very English in his dry wit, affectation, etc. But then once you see Brandon Routh embody that role, it feels that way in spirit, so I think we’re still being very truthful to the franchise in that respect. We didn’t get a wise-cracking, always-has-to-be-funny, off the wall character portrayal for Dylan. That to me would have been a much bigger infraction. As an example, I actually liked Keanu Reeves as John Constantine – he wasn’t blonde and wasn’t English, but he still was a great movie-version of that comic character. I think Brandon nailed the essence and the subtlety of Dylan. I’m proud of what he did.
As a sidebar, we also hint at Dylan’s international past in the movie. So I think the idea that he lived in London is still perfectly intact. New Orleans just happens to be where we find him now. I mean, if London is THAT much of a part of who he is as a character, then imagine what horrible event compelled him to leave? That’s a back-story I’d love to see in a sequel…
Will we see any sign of Dylan’s primary antagonist (and father) Xabaras, in the film?
We won’t see any sign of Xabaras in this film. But I wouldn’t rule it out at all for future installments. This movie is a much more personal introduction to Dylan and his recently haunted past as it happens in our New Orleans setting. But I would love to see the more Xabaras-themed storyline be introduced in coming sequels. We haven’t shied away from saying that Dylan has had an eclectic and international past (there’s even a Scotland Yard coffee mug on his desk if you look closely), so it would be great (at least in my opinion) to see that past catch up to him. Or to see Dylan return to his European stomping grounds in a sequel. Xabaras is a great character. But I think, in order to properly introduce Dylan to a mass audience who doesn’t know him yet, we had to focus on him as a character and the world he lives in. Dylan and Xabaras have such a past that I think it should be the focus of a whole new feature story… again, at least in my opinion.
Without jinxing the movie, let’s imagine the this film is successful and a sequel is ordered, and you decide to incorporate Dr. Xabaras. Knowing his character from the research you’ve done on DD, who would be your dream casting for the role?
Good question! For Dr. Xabaras, I think I would cast Hugh Laurie (the guy who is Dr. House on TV). I think he has a phenomenal villain character in him, with a wicked sense of humor. Almost like a young Vincent Price. Y’know, casting is always a funny thing.
I kind of look at casting like life – you think you can control it, you think have all the right answers, but somehow what’s supposed to happen happens… and it turns out that’s the way it should have always been from the start. And there are actors like Sam Huntington who were my first and only pick for his role, and there are others we found along the way. Or actors who found us. Or who we managed to pick up for a fun day of shooting.
How did you get involved in the project? An ad “seeking film director to tackle Italian comic adaptation with vampires, zombies, and werewolves”?
I got involved with the project very early in 2008. I had just left another project that I sunk a lot of work and passion into, but ultimately wasn’t going to be done the way it deserved. And then one morning I got a call from Patrick Aiello at Hyde Park saying they were producing this movie with Platinum Studios based off of this Italian comic book and asked if I wanted to read the script. I knew Dylan Dog and had read the 6 english translations years earlier and liked them a lot. I read the script and freaked out. It was everything I wanted to do in a live action film, and it was one of those moments when you read something and say “I know how to make this. I need to make this. “
So the next and big step was to meet with Scott Rosenberg and everyone at Platinum Studios.
[Click here to learn more...]
What is the balance between horror, humor, etc. in the film?
Great question. Balancing those elements are always rough. It’s like drawing eyes – the subtlest change in angle or line width can change the whole character of a face. Similarly, it’s the same thing with tone and genre. The hardest part is that I’m really drawn to mixing tones. Be it Lethal Weapon as a balance of action/comedy, Shaun of the Dead as a horror/comedy/action, whatever. It would be so much easier to just make a horror film. Or a straight comedy. Or action film. But I think Dylan Dog is great mix of them all. Mainly a suspenseful action movie that features horror film characters. (I seem to remember that being one of my main points when I was meeting about directing the movie) But like the Dylan Dog property, we treat the “monsters” as regular characters – some are good, some are bad, and most aren’t the “real” monster as we’ll see in the movie. And likewise with the comedy – there is a lot of it in there, but no character seems aware they’re being funny. And that’s when, I think, it works best. So when we were balancing these tones, my goal was to always keep it real and believable – keep the threats real, comedy unaware of itself and action (although big and comic book in style in some spots) adhere to its own believable logic.
Pop culture (well, mostly movies) references have a definite presence, in the comic-book series. Is there any of that in the film?
Yeah, there are a few references to other films/franchises/ideas in the film, as in the comics. The comics are a little different tho, as many of them are obvious homages to actual horror movies or icons. They can get away with it in the comics much easier, but it would come off like a bad Scary Movie installment in movie form. But that said, there are a few things that fans will get a kick out. As an example, there is a certain street name that should make fans smile.
Our last night of shooting was an exterior location, with Dylan speaking on a payphone. (naturally, as he’d never use a cell phone, being a technophobe to some degree) We fought long and hard to get this, as I thought it was more his character to do that, even though it would have been WAY easier to have him on a cell phone at… (fill in blank New Orleans location). So we found a great rural location… right next to a take-out Daiquiri Shop in New Orleans. (there are a ton there… but that’s a whole other post) And yes, that was totally on purpose. Anyway… when we finished the last shot, Brandon gave out wrap gifts to everyone on the crew from himself. And they were the new Dylan Dog collection that were printed last year. And he inscribed a personal note to every person on those covers. Hopefully not betraying any kind of confidence here, but that’s how nice and genuine of a guy he is.
Have you met Tiziano Sclavi, the comick book creator? Did he gave you any advice, and did he see the script?
I have never met Tiziano, and I’m not sure if he read the script. This script has existed for almost 10 years to the day when we started shooting. It’s been around for quite a while and has probably gone through many iterations with many different producers. But, as always is the case in Hollywood, we went back to the very first draft when we started developing the shooting script. I never read any of the other ones. Maybe Mr. Sclavi may have read one of them, but I’m not sure. And we have a great reference to him in the movie as well. While not as on-the-nose as having Stan Lee in the movie as a cameo… he has a cameo of another kind.
[The guy in the photo nexto to Tiziano, has to do with this special cameo]
The trailer is ready? When we see it?
There have been a few trailers over the past few months. Now the word “trailer” means a lot of different things in different venues. But the rumors are true that a few have been produced. We did a sneak peek one for Comicon, last year in San Diego. It was a mix of trailer-ish shots with behind-the-scenes footage of us making the movie, plus a snippet of a scene where Dylan and Marcus encounter one of the nastier creatures in the movie.
Then, as a lot of these films do, we have to do a couple more trailers for International Film Markets – namely Berlin Film Festival/Cannes, American Film Market, etc. These are places where, behind very closed doors, international buyers can see the film and decide if they want to pay to show the movie in their territory (i.e. Italy, France, England, wherever) This is how a lot of the financing of the movie is made. So that trailer is a much slicker production than the Comicon version, but it’s one of those trailers that gives away WAY too much – you see most of the creatures, the plot, a lot of gags, etc. But the reason for that is that these buyers need that info in order to make a decision to buy or not buy the movie.
But the big one that is still up in the air is the Theatrical Trailer – i.e. the one we’ll see before another movie in a theatre. That one is still under construction, and we’ll have to work with whatever studio gets the movie domestically here in the United States as well. And that decision will be coming very soon. We’re also working on one-sheets (Hollywood has a habit of creating their own lingo to feel special – you see, it’s too lame to call it a poster, so some movie exec decides to call it a “one sheet”. But yeah… it’s pretty much just a poster.) We had a lot of great on-set still photography when we were making the movie by this guy called David James – who does a TON of big movies. He left us with thousands of amazing photos to play with for the one sheet.
