STAN LEE AND KEVIN SMITH TO RELEASE AN AWESOME DVD
Comic legend Stan Lee and “Dogma” director Kevin Smith have collaborated on a new documentary that tells all about the creation of Marvel Comics’ characters — including “Spider-Man.”
The Hollywood Reporter said Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has purchased distribution rights for the DVD and VHS release of “Stan Lee’s Mutants, Monsters & Marvels.”
Smith (“Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Chasing Amy”), a devoted comic fan, conducted a two-hour interview with Lee and questioned him about the history of Marvel Comics and the creation of “Spider-Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The X-Men,” “The Silver Surfer,” “Daredevil” and other Marvel heroes.
“This project is primarily about Spider-Man and Marvel Comics, which presents natural promotional opportunities with our ‘Spider-Man’ movie, especially since Stan and Kevin are excited to do press and publicity for this,” Columbia’s Michael Stratford told The Hollywood Reporter.
The project is due for release May 14, a mere 11 days after director Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” movie opens in theatres, the report said.
“We also feel that this is a good opportunity to try something different — it is a very different kind of program than anything we have released before. There is a lot of content there not just for die-hard fans but even for people who may be more interested in the movie than the comics,” Stratford told The Hollywood Reporter.
It’s no coincidence that the video comes at a time when Hollywood and movie audiences are displaying a healthy appetite for comic-book heroes. Aside from “Spider-Man” and an upcoming “X-Men” sequel, director Ang Lee is working on an “Incredible Hulk” movie, while “Daredevil,” “Dr. Strange,” “Ghost Rider” “Iron Fist” are among a host of properties from Marvel and other comic companies being adapted for the big screen.
“Comics are definitely getting more respect now, and that is mostly because of the movies,” Lee told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Hollywood has started to realize that what you have to do is make all of the characters relevant and believable. The characters in these superhero movies, when you strip away the superpowers, they have to be characters you feel could really exist. I think people have started to realize that they may be comic characters, but you can’t treat them in a silly way.”