Tied to the new Nice Guys trailer, Thrillist asked director Shane Black to dish about his latest buddy action-comedy. The extensive interview delved into everything from the movie’s origins (the script’s genesis dates back to 2001) to its squealing (all Gosling) to its giant bee (semi-spoiler divulged here; click only if you don’t care about this guy). And because that’s not enough, the multihyphenate also shared promising bits of info about his Predator reboot, relationship with Marvel, and Doc Savage adaptation. Read on for the latter highlights below:
Major Spectacle Alert
How the Predator reboot will be less like the Predator, you know, and more like the Iron Man III, you know:
They called me and I was reluctant. I said, “Look. You guys at Fox, I mean, I enjoy these movies, but we’ve been churning out these AVP whatever, they each cost a certain amount of money, they’re okay, but there’s no effort to elevate them or make them any kind of an event.†They’re just sort of another Predator. “Oh, there’s another one that came out.†They said, “What if we said to you we want to reinvent this, and really treat it with as much of an event status, or as much hoopla as we would the Alien prequel, which is coming out also? We really want to make this something. The kind of movie that people line up for.†I said, “Really, you’ll spend a bunch of money?†They go, “Yep.†I go, “Make it really scale, spectacle?†“Yep.†“Shit, that sounds interesting.†… The first one was great, and it was contained, and it was a perfect little gem for what it was. I think there’s an expansion that needs to take place, and also just a love for that era, that movie, and the mythology of the Predator. I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that… they said, basically, if I wanted to make Predator but treat it like it was Iron Man III instead of just another little movie. I said, “Let’s really do it right this time.â€
More Marvel, Please
In case you were wondering whether Black wants to tackle more superhero material:
[Marvel has] directors for the next three, and one’s already prepping. So it was clear that after Iron Man III, I don’t think there was going to be an Iron Man 4. Certainly it wasn’t planned until, like, 2020, so there wasn’t any point in addressing it. The Avengers was all Joss Whedon, and Thor was Alan Taylor. If they ever call me, I’ll be happy to take that call.
What a Savage
The Man of Bronze has been tentatively cast:
Doc Savage is sort of in the ether now. We’re hoping to make it sometime next year. I would very much like to do Doc with a fellow named Dwayne Johnson if we can make that work. I made a decision that Dwayne is the guy. It’s on the back burner while he’s busy.
Catch the rest of the interview, which also discusses the possibility of a Nice Guys TV series, here.