Spawn (film)

Spawn

Original release poster
Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé
Produced by Clint Goldman
Screenplay by Alan B. McElroy
Story by Alan B. McElroy
Mark A.Z. Dippé
Based on Spawn
by Todd McFarlane
Starring John Leguizamo
Michael Jai White
Martin Sheen
Theresa Randle
Nicol Williamson
D. B. Sweeney
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography Guillermo Navarro
Edited by Rick Shaine
Michael N. Knue
Todd Busch
Production
company
Todd McFarlane Entertainment
Pull Down Your Pants Pictures
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
  • August 1, 1997 (1997-08-01)
Running time
 96 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $40 million[2]
Box office $87.8 million[2]

Spawn is a 1997 American supernatural superhero horror film based on the comic book character of the same name, written by Todd McFarlane and published by Image Comics. Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. Dippé, the film stars Michael Jai White in the title role, and is the first film to feature an African American portraying a major comic book superhero.[3] Spawn depicts the origin story of the title character, beginning with the murder of soldier/assassin Al Simmons. He is resurrected as Spawn, the reluctant, demonic leader of Hell's army. He ultimately refuses to lead Hell's army in the war against Heaven and turns away from evil. The film co-stars John Leguizamo (as Clown/The Violator, Al's demonic guide and enemy of the film's antagonist) and Nicol Williamson (as Al's mentor, Cogliostro). The film was Williamson's final film appearance before his death on December 16, 2011. Martin Sheen, Theresa Randle, D. B. Sweeney, Melinda Clarke, and Frank Welker (as the voice of Malebolgia) also star in the film.

Spawn was released in the United States on August 1, 1997.

Plot

Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is a special forces agent and black ops soldier. Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), head of the covert government agency for which Simmons works, assigns him to infiltrate a biochemical weapons plant in North Korea. Unknown to Simmons, Wynn has ordered his top assassin Jessica Priest (Melinda Clarke) to murder him while he is on the mission. After Simmons dies, he is set on fire by Wynn and the flames cause the plant to explode. Simmons arrives in Hell, where one of the rulers of Hell - Malebolgia (Frank Welker) - offers him a Faustian deal: if Simmons becomes his eternal servant, and leader of his army in Armageddon, he will be able to return to Earth to see his fiancée, Wanda Blake. Simmons accepts the offer and returns to Earth.

Upon his return, Simmons learns that five years have passed since his death. Wanda is now married to his best friend, Terry Fitzgerald (D.B. Sweeney), who is living as the father to his daughter, Cyan. Soon Simmons encounters a clown-like demon named Violator (John Leguizamo), sent by Malebolgia, who acts as Simmons's guide down the path to evil. He also meets a mysterious old man named Cogliostro (Nicol Williamson), a fellow Hellspawn, who has successfully freed his soul and now fights for Heaven. Simmons learns that Wynn, now a high-end weapons dealer, has developed what he calls the ultimate biological weapon, Heat 16. During a reception, Simmons, as Spawn, attacks Wynn, kills Jessica, and escapes with the help of his necroplasm armor.

Following the attack by Simmons, Violator convinces Wynn to have a device attached to his heart, as a safeguard against assassination attempts, that will trigger the worldwide release of Heat 16 should his vital signs flatline. However, Malebolgia actually wants Simmons to kill Wynn and initiate the apocalypse. Spawn confronts Violator, who turns into his demonic form and beats him down. Cogliostro rescues him and teaches him how to use his necroplasm armor. Simmons learns that Violator and Wynn are going to kill Terry, Cyan, and Wanda.

Terry sends an email, with evidence to expose Wynn, to a fellow newsman. Just as the email is sent, Cyan enters the room followed by Wynn who destroys Terry's computer and takes the family hostage. When Spawn arrives, he nearly kills Wynn, despite being warned that Wynn's death will launch the Heat 16 bombs. Realizing that Wynn's death would also mean the death of Cyan, Spawn extracts the device from Wynn's body and destroys it. His plans foiled, Violator draws Spawn and Cogliostro into Hell, where they both battle the demon before subduing him. Spawn is then confronted by Malebolgia, and tells him that he will never lead Hell's army. Spawn escapes with Cogliostro just before they are overwhelmed by Malebolgia's forces. Violator, having recovered, follows them. A final battle ensues, ending with Spawn decapitating the demon with his chains. Violator's head taunts the group and threatens his return before melting and returning to Hell. Wynn is arrested, and Spawn, realizing there is no place for him in Wanda's world anymore, dedicates himself to justice rather than succumbing to his lust for vengeance.

Cast

Production

Columbia Pictures showed interest in making a film adaptation of Spawn when the comic book was launched in 1992. Negotiations eventually fell through as Todd McFarlane felt that the studio was not giving him enough creative control.[4] He eventually sold the film rights to New Line Cinema for $1 in exchange for creative input and merchandising rights.[5] New Line president Michael DeLuca, a comic book collector himself, expressed interest in having "a character that has as established an audience as Spawn", while declaring that success hinged on an adaptation that "maintains a PG-13 rating but retains its darkness."[4]

As visual effects were the main production concern, the film was to be produced by Pull Down Your Pants Pictures, a company formed by three former Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) artists: Mark A.Z. Dippé, Clint Goldman, and Steve 'Spaz' Williams. Dippé was slated to direct the film, with Goldman as producer, and Williams as second unit director and visual effects supervisor.[6] Dippé and Williams, who at the time was the only one of the three still attached to ILM, have called the film opportunity "our ticket out of the company".[7] The script would be written by Alan B. McElroy, who, along with writing the Spawn comic book, also wrote many episodes of the Todd McFarlane's Spawn animated series.[6]

Michael Jai White found Al Simmons' character appealing; he described Spawn as "the most tragic character I've encountered in any cinematic production." He says it was a challenge to make audiences sympathize with a government assassin who comes back from hell. White had endure two to four hours of make-up work, including a full glued-on bodysuit, yellow contact lenses that irritated his eyes, and a mask that restricted his breathing.[8] He said that his long-time experience with martial arts helped him to endure the uncomfortable prosthetics, giving him "strong will and unbreakable concentration."[4]

Spawn was originally green-lit with a budget of $20 million. The scale of the visual effects led New Line to continually increase the project's budget, which grew to $40 million—a third of which was spent on the effects. The shooting schedule was only 63 days. To cut production time by a week, Goldman lent $1 million to engage John Grower's Santa Barbara Studios to develop the digitally produced Hell sequences.[5] The visual effects shot count increased from 77 to over 400, created by 22 companies in the United States, Canada and Japan,[9] requiring 70 people and nearly 11 months to complete. ILM did most of the work, creating 85 shots at a cost of $8.5 million. The most difficult sequences to render in the film included the Violator, Spawn's digital cape, and some of Spawn's transformations.[5][10] More than half of the final effects shots were delivered two weeks before the film's debut.[5]

Differences from the comic

The theatrical version of Spawn has several differences from the comics' continuity. Terry Fitzgerald, Al Simmons' best friend before his death, is black in the comics. In the film, he is white, portrayed by D. B. Sweeney. Todd McFarlane explained that this change was made by the studio to avoid having too many black leads, as they believed this would give the false impression that film's target audience was the African American demographic.[11] In the film, Wanda was engaged to Al prior to his death whereas in the comics the two were married.

In the comics, Al Simmons' murderer was Chapel, a character created by Rob Liefeld for the comic Youngblood, while Jessica Priest, a character created for the film, took Chapel's place in the movie.[12] In the film, Simmons worked for an agency called A6 while in the comics he worked for the CIA.

The nature of Spawn's powers was also altered. While Cogliostro warns Spawn that he will die if his powers are drained, no reference is ever made in the movie to Spawn possessing a "counter" like he did in the comics.

Release

The original cut of Spawn earned an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America resulting in the producers toning down the violence in the film to get a PG-13 rating.[6]

Box office

Spawn was released on August 1, 1997. It grossed $19,738,749 that opening weekend, ranking it second behind Air Force One. For its second weekend, the film dropped to number three in the box office, reflecting a decreased earnings of 54.7% and a gross of $8,949,953.[13] The film was considered a modest box-office success. Based on a $40 million budget, it grossed $54,870,174 domestically and $32,969,867 overseas for a worldwide total revenue of $87,840,042.[2]

Critical response

The film received negative reviews from film critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film is rated at 19% on the Tomatometer, based on 42 reviews with the consensus: "Spawn is an overbearing, over-violent film that adds little to the comic book adaptation genre."[14] It holds a score of 34 out of 100 from 17 critics on Metacritic indicating generally unfavorable reviews.[15] One of the few positive reviews was from Roger Ebert, who awarded the film 3½ out of 4 stars. He ended his review with "As a visual experience, Spawn is unforgettable."[16]

Accolades

At the Saturn Awards, Spawn was nominated for Best Make-up. The film was also nominated for three Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Male Newcomer (Michael Jai White), Favorite Horror Supporting Actor (John Leguizamo) and Favorite Horror Supporting Actress (Theresa Randle). At the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival, Spawn was nominated for Best Film; the film was also nominated for & won the Best Special Effects award.[17]

Home media

Both the PG-13 and the R-rated Director's Cut versions of the film were released on VHS on May 5, 1998.[18] The Director's Cut was released on DVD on January 9, 1998 and on Blu-ray on July 10, 2012.[19][20]

Cancelled sequel

A sequel, tentatively titled Spawn 2, has been in development hell since 1998.[21][22][23] Michael Jai White maintained that he was part of the project in 2001, as did producer Don Murphy,[24][25] though their involvement was not confirmed. McFarlane has stated that the film will center primarily on the detective characters Sam and Twitch, leaving Spawn without a speaking part.[22][23] During a FanboyRadio.com interview, McFarlane confirmed that the sequel would be a franchise reboot, similar to Batman Begins and both the 2004 version of The Punisher and 2008's Punisher: War Zone.[26]

Reboot

In 2007, McFarlane Funding made plans to make a new Spawn film, scheduled for release in 2008, called Spawn.[27][28] While a guest on the Scott Ferrall show on Sirius radio, a caller asked if McFarlane had any plans to do the sequel. McFarlane said: "It's coming out no matter what. Even if I have to produce, direct and finance it myself, it's going to come out."

McFarlane announced on August 23, 2009 that he had begun writing the screenplay for a new movie based on the character, saying that "The story has been in my head for 7 or 8 years", that "The movie idea is neither a recap or continuation. It is a standalone story that will be R-rated. Creepy and scary", and that "the tone of this ‘Spawn’ movie will be for a more older audience. Like the film The Departed."[29]

On March 31, 2011, McFarlane said that he was three quarters through the script with a planned budget of around $10 million, and that it would feature no supervillains. Michael Jai White said in July 2011 that he was interested in returning to the role for the next film:

I hope [McFarlane] does [make the film]. In the next couple years I might have to produce it myself. It's a no-brainer. Look at how these movies have done, superhero movies that have gone dark, and there hasn't been one darker than Spawn. If we do it like we want to, it could be a game changer. I think Todd feels the same way as me — that we go R. Not a kinder, gentler Spawn, we go straight R — like pushing it, pushing NC-17. Give the fans what they expect. That edge brought [the comic book] to where it is. I would really like to show what that character can be.[30]

In February 2013, McFarlane revealed that he was still working on the script and a new animated series, and also mentioned that an Academy Award winning actor had shown interest for the part of Spawn, but did not reveal his name at the time.[31] In July, Jamie Foxx said he was "aggressively pursuing" the Spawn reboot.[32] In August, McFarlane mentioned that "It's not going to be a giant budget with a lot of special effects; it's going to be more of a horror movie and a thriller movie, not a superhero one."[33] In September, McFarlane mentioned that he hoped to start shooting in 2014, with the studio wanting a draft of his script by December.[34] On October 10, McFarlane revealed that he wanted the film to be an R-rated supernatural thriller without the superhero elements associated with Spawn.[35]

On February 14, 2016, McFarlane announced he had completed the film's script and hoped to start production sometime in 2016.[36]

Soundtrack

Spawn: The Album
Soundtrack album by Various
Released July 29, 1997
Genre Industrial metal, alternative metal, rap metal, nu metal, electronica, experimental rock
Length 62:11
Label Sony, Immortal, Epic
Producer Happy Walters, various
Singles from Spawn: The Album
  1. "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do"
    Released: October 7, 1997
  2. "Long Hard Road Out of Hell"
    Released: November 11, 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[37]
Entertainment Weekly(A) 08/08/1997
Rolling Stone 08/21/1997

Spawn: The Album was released in July 1997 and featured popular rock bands at the time including: Metallica, Korn, Slayer, Marilyn Manson and Silverchair with well-known electronic rock, hip hop, alternative rock, DJs, rock, jazz and electronic producers such as The Crystal Method, Roni Size, The Prodigy, Stabbing Westward, Filter, Incubus, Orbital and Soul Coughing.[37] A similar concept was previously implemented on the rock/hip hop-infused Judgment Night soundtrack.[38] The album debuted at #7 on the U.S. Billboard 200[38] and stayed on the chart for 25 weeks. The album is certified Gold for selling over 500,000 copies in America.[39]

The US version of the album features variant cover art and the bonus track "This Is Not A Dream" (UK "Mix") performed by, Apollo 440 and Morphine. The Australian and Japanese versions, besides the bonus track, feature cover art based on images seen in Spawn #39 and a marquee of Spawn: In the Demon's Hand. The Japanese version contains a third disk with three remixes. The McFarlane Collector's Club made an LP release available to its members, featuring the standard album art and a translucent red disc.[40]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Artists Length
1. "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do"  Filter, The Crystal MethodFilter and The Crystal Method 4:28
2. "Long Hard Road Out of Hell"  Marilyn Manson, Twiggy RamirezMarilyn Manson and Sneaker Pimps 4:21
3. "Satan"  Paul Hartnoll, Phil HartnollOrbital and Kirk Hammett 3:45
4. "Kick the P.A."  Korn, The Dust BrothersKorn and The Dust Brothers 3:21
5. "Tiny Rubberband"  Butthole SurfersButthole Surfers and Moby 4:12
6. "For Whom the Bell Tolls (The Irony of It All)"  Cliff Burton, James Hetfield, Lars UlrichMetallica and DJ Spooky 4:39
7. "Torn Apart"  Stabbing Westward, Josh WinkStabbing Westward, Wink 4:53
8. "Skin Up Pin Up"  Paul Draper, Darren PartingtonMansun and 808 State 5:27
9. "One Man Army"  Liam Howlett, Tom MorelloThe Prodigy and Tom Morello 4:14
10. "Spawn"  Ben Gillies, Daniel JohnsSilverchair and Vitro 4:28
11. "T-4 Strain"  Goldie, Henry RollinsHenry Rollins and Goldie 5:19
12. "Familiar"  Brandon Boyd, Mike Einziger, Jose Antonio Pasillas II, Alex Katunich, Chris "DJ" KilmoreIncubus and DJ Greyboy 3:22
13. "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)"   Slayer and Atari Teenage Riot 4:16
14. "A Plane Scraped Its Belly on a Sooty Yellow Moon"  Mark de Gli Antoni, Soul Coughing, Yuval Gabay, Roni Size, Sebastian SteinbergSoul Coughing and Roni Size 5:26
Total length:
 62:11

Chart positions

Chart (1997) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 15
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[42] 33
French Albums (SNEP)[43] 43
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 38
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[45] 1
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[46] 73
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[47] 15
US Billboard 200[48] 7

References

  1. ↑ "SPAWN (12)". Entertainment Film Distributors. British Board of Film Classification. August 13, 1997. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Spawn (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Michael Jai White is first Black comic superhero to star on the movie screen in 'Spawn.'". Jet magazine. September 22, 1997. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "As Once-Dead Heroes Go, He's Tough to Beat - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Marla Matzer (2010-03-08). "'Spawn' of a New Era : Studios Turning to Mix of Houses for Modest-Budget Effects Films - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  6. 1 2 3 Wolf, Jeanne (1997-08-03). "Bringing The Dark Comic `Spawn' To The Screen - philly-archives". Articles.philly.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  7. ↑ "The `Spaz' Who Spawned His Own Style / Computer animator Steve Williams doesn't look or think like a typical designer". SFGate. 1997-07-27. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  8. ↑ O. Thompson, Andrew (September 1997). "Spotlight". Vibe. 5 (7): 216. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  9. ↑ "ILMCP's Dippe, Williams 'Spawn' effects-heavy action adventure: more than 20 post/FX houses around the world contributed to New Line Cinema's latest. (Industrial Light + Magic Commercial Production's film director Mark Dippe and visual effects supervisor Steve Williams) | HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". Business.highbeam.com. 1997-08-08. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  10. ↑ "SPAWN". VFX HQ. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  11. ↑ "Spawn as a Black Man - Todd McFarlane | SUPERHEROES | PBS". YouTube. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  12. ↑ Beatty, Scott (August 1997). "Spawn: The Movie Figures". Wizard (72): 86.
  13. ↑ "Spawn (1997) - Weekend Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  14. ↑ "Spawn (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  15. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Spawn". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  16. ↑ Ebert, Roger (August 1, 1997). "Spawn". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
  17. ↑ "30ed. Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya (9/10 - 19/10)". Sitges. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  18. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Elleen (April 4, 1998). "Shelf Talk". Billboard. 110 (14): 63. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  19. ↑ "Spawn Blu-ray: Director's Cut". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  20. ↑ "Spawn - DVD - IGN". Uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  21. ↑ Head, Steve (2001-03-12). "Michael Jai White Gives IGN FilmForce the Latest on Spawn 2". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  22. 1 2 "Spawn". Comics 2 Film. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  23. 1 2 Campea, John (2006-02-27). "Spawn 2". The Movie Blog. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  24. ↑ Stax (2002-12-03). "Spawn 2 Update". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  25. ↑ Stax (2003-07-10). "Who Might Direct Transformers?". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  26. ↑ "Fanboy Radio #357 - Todd McFarlane LIVE" (MP3). FanboyRadio.com. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  27. ↑ Weinberg, Scott (June 4, 2007). "Todd McFarlane Funding a New "Spawn" Movie?". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  28. ↑ "Todd McFarlane Begins Work on New 'Spawn' Film". Bloody-Disgusting.com. May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  29. ↑ On, Cs (2009-08-23). "McFarlane Starts Writing New Spawn Movie". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  30. ↑ "Michael Jai White Wants to Return for a Hard-R Rated 'Spawn' Movie". Screenrant.com. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  31. ↑ mtv (2013-02-14). "Todd McFarlane Gives Spawn Movie Update". MTV. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  32. ↑ "Comic-Con Interview: Jamie Foxx on Spider-Man, 'Annie,' Sinister Six and... a 'Booty Call' Sequel? | Movie News | Movies.com". Web.archive.org. 2013-08-08. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  33. ↑ "Todd McFarlane's Got Big Plans for Spawn Reboot | Vh1 India". Vh1.in. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  34. ↑ "'Spawn' Reboot: Todd McFarlane Talks DIY Approach; Not Happy with Jamie Foxx". Screenrant.com. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  35. ↑ Bernstein, Abbie (9 October 2013). "Interview: Todd McFarlane on SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE". Assignment X. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  36. ↑ Lucas Siegel (2016-02-14). "EXCLUSIVE: Todd McFarlane Is Finished with New Spawn Movie Script". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  37. 1 2 "Spawn: The Album - Original Soundtrack". AllMusic.
  38. 1 2 Ward, A. A. (October 26, 2016). "Like its inspiration, Spawn's soundtrack cobbled together coolness". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  39. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 01, 2015". RIAA. 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  40. ↑ Triman, Steve (December 20, 1997). "Immortal/Epic, New Line Team For 'Spawn' Promo". Billboard. 109 (51): 51, 109. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  41. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Soundtrack – Spawn". Hung Medien.
  42. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Soundtrack – Spawn" (in German). Hung Medien.
  43. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Soundtrack – Spawn". Hung Medien.
  44. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  45. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Soundtrack – Spawn". Hung Medien.
  46. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Soundtrack – Spawn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  47. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Soundtrack – Spawn". Hung Medien.
  48. ↑ "Soundtrack – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Soundtrack.

External links


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