Caffeinated Clint
Use the Force “Luke”, Use the Force
Rising action hero – and film producer – in the making, Tyrese Gibson, talked to Crave Online about whether or not he’s still attached to play superhero Luke Cage in the feature film adaptation of the comic classic.
“If they get the script right”, Gibson, who’ll soon be kicking robot-butt in “Transformers”, says. “Right now me and [director] John Singleton are on standby waiting on them to get the screenplay right so we can do what we do.”
“Luke Cage” has been on the drawing board for longer than I’ve been out of nappies – a couple of months now – so it’ll nice to see it come to fruition. And with Tyrese playing the lead, it’s sure to be worth purchasing one of those pretty ticket stubs for.
The rights to the character were snapped up in 2003, and Ben Ramsey (“The Big Hit”) was quickly hired to nut out a screenplay. It was intended that the film would be released in 2005 – but it didn’t happen. The script just didn’t measure up.
This time last year producer Avi Arad stated that he hoped that Luke Cage would be “brutal enough” for an R rating and that it would have an urban soundtrack. According to Arad, “The whole idea behind Luke Cage is that he’s anything but a hero. He’s [a mercenary] for hire, and men like that find out it’s a good business by accident. And then [find out] what’s really inside him.”
Jamie Foxx is someone else they looked at for the role of Cage, but Singleton is said to be still crushin’ on Gibson to play the lead. Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”) has been mentioned as a possible ‘Diamondback’ – the film’s villain; but with Howard’s involvement in another comic-cum-film “Iron Man”, that’ll likely change (though Sam Elliot appeared in both “Hulk” and “Ghost Rider” and nobody questioned that – so you never know).
“Cage” is about a former gang member who is framed for a crime. In prison, he volunteers for a medical experiment that goes awry, giving him superstrength and bulletproof skin. Using his newfound powers, Cage escapes and becomes a hero for hire.
Tyrese Gibson was rumoured earlier this week to be joining Matthew McConaughey for a big screen version of “Magnum P.I”.
