The Day the Punishment Died

It's estimated that about 217 people enjoyed the 2004 version of THE PUNISHER. I'm one of them. I was also one of the few souls who was really looking forward to seeing Thomas Jane get another crack at playing the character in a sequel. It appears as though I'm going to have to find something else to look forward to as Jane himself has stated he's leaving the project.

It wasn't too long ago that I read Kurt Sutter, a writer from "The Shield," was hired to work on the script. This gave me high hopes. I don't know if it was exactly script trouble or just general movie studio bullshit, but whatever the case it has taken its toll on Jane who has been working hard the last 3 years to get a sequel off the ground. Jane really seemed to enjoy playing the character and wanted to give the fans a movie that would make up for the shortcummings of the original (though again, I liked it).

This doesn't exactly mean the sequel itself is dead. HULK is getting a follow-up with a new lead and I gotta believe that a character like THE PUNISHER, who isn't nearly as expensive to portray on screen, will get another chance in front of the camera. The problem now is will they be able to find an actor as psyched to play the part as Jane. Doubtful.

Check out the AICN exclusive where Jane explains the situation in his own words here.

1 comment:

Fazer said...

I was also one of those 217 ppl. Although I saw it a couple months after it hit video stores and didn't have all the negative reviews as baggage.

It really is a pretty good move. Tom jane is fantastic, and there is some great action, but there are a lot of issues with the setting, the bad guys, and basically all the non frank castle characters.