Caffeinated Clint
“Buffy” favourite takes to the big screen
James Marsters, best known as the bad-guy/good-guy ‘Spike’ on “Buffy” and “Angel”, is about to sink his teeth into what could be his cinematic big break.
The American – yes, he’s American; does a great British accent though doesn’t he? – actor will play the villain in Twentieth Century Fox’s hefty-budgeted “Dragonball” movie.
It’s quite the score for Marsters, whose last film was a direct-to-dvd offering called “Shadow Money” and before that, fronted a telemovie titled “Cool Money”. “Dragonball”, based on the video game of the same name, will have about ten times more money – and likely, ten times the audience – of the small-screen efforts.
But in the last year, there’s been a bit of heat around Marsters – he played the recurring role of Braniac on TV hit “Smallville”, and won a supporting role in the new Hilary Swank/Gerard Butler comedy “P.S, I Love You”. There’s currently talk that his “Buffy” colleague Joss Whedon might be looking to reunite with him on the new series “Dollhouse” featuring Eliz Dushku. I know Marsters’ manager has been pushing him big the last couple of years too – seemingly knowing his client was a golden goose ready to be snapped up – so not surprising that he has climbed the pole in recent months.
As The Hollywood Reporter reminds us, “Dragonball” is one of the most successful Japanese cultural exports of all time. The manga, created by Akira Toriyama and published by Tokyo’s Jump Comics, was adapted into graphic novels, video games and a phenomenally successful television series that ran in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. “Dragonball’s” popularity also generated more than $4 billion in merchandising sales. In North America, the property achieved the zenith of its popularity under the name “Dragonball Z.”
The story follows an adult humanoid alien named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name.
Justin Chatwin, last seen in David Goyer’s so-so “The Invisible”, will play Goku. Marsters is playing the bad guy Piccolo.
The film will be captained by James Wong, an “X-Files” vet whose since gone on to be quite the popular genre filmmaker, having helmed “Final Destination” and “The One”. He’s currently attached to direct the supernatural thriller “The Watch”.
