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  1. #1
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    Default How did Mark Millar manage to get all his comics books made into movies?

    Hey guys,
    I apologize for my ignorance. I mainly follow manga but recently I've been getting a bit into American Indie Comics.

    I notice that out of all the creators out there, Mark Millar was the one who manages to make turn most of his comics into movies.

    This seems like a very rare feat since it seem that a lot of comic book projects go into 'development hell' and never get made.

    However, it seems to me that Mark Millar not only got his comic books made into movies. He also manage to exercise some creative control over the project. Which is even a much rarer feat for a writer.

    From what I understand most authors even the super successful one's like Bryan Lee O Malley once they sold their comic have much less creative control. Sure they have some consulting role but not as much as Millar does on his work.

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    There are a few factors.

    He does have a lot of projects, which increases his chances of getting adaptations made. He was a believer in the idea that it's best to have several shorter projects than one long project. When Scott O'Malley has Scott Pilgrim or Robert Kirkman has the Walking Dead, Millar has several projects ready to go.

    He has a good eye for high concepts. This makes the projects easier to pitch for adaptations. And the graphic novel can serve as a proof of concept (although in some cases, the rights are sold before the comic ships.)

    He also plays the various relevant games pretty well. He's good at publicity, and getting his name out there. And he's able to use earlier successes to increase his reputation and get his other work adapted.

    It is also worth noting that he's able to do this despite not being very prolific (he writes about two comics a month.) And his work for Marvel has been a big influence on the films. The Ultimates was a blueprint for The Avengers and the MCU. Old Man Logan became Logan. Civil War was adapted into a Captain America film.
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  3. #3
    King of Wakanda Midvillian1322's Avatar
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    ^^ All true. Also a big complaint about Millar is that he goes for these usually cool big ideas. But alot of it is cool for the sake of bein cool and also he disregards established character development for the sake of his storys. Oy didnt explain that very well. Anyway I think his writing is perfect for adaption. Alot of cool ideas a screen writer can take and make they're own.

  4. #4
    BANNED Killerbee911's Avatar
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    The simple answer is he got one made and it was hit. It is not really super complicated. He got Wanted made it was hit,Which made him a known commodity He got another hit in Kick ass. Then he got a studio pipeline/connection his stuff to be made. I mean it is basically like that for Robert Kirkman and Neil Gaiman as well. One popular thing then everyone starts to come for your stuff.

    Robert Kirkman and Millar though turn themselves into production companies/studios.Now have easier time getting their stuff made especially in the streaming era with they are looking for original content and Mark Millar struck a brillant deal with Netflix so now most of his stuff can be turn into movie and shows for example The Magic Order which just finished a couple months back is being into movie, Netflix is also doing shows for American Jesus , Jupiter Legacy and couple others ,They are even doing anime for Supercrooks. It would be surprised if Prodigy gets made into something as well(Just check yeah it is being made into a film just like Sharkey the Bounty Hunter)

    sidenote some of his older stuff Kickass, Wanted,Nemesis, Kingsman are under another deal so he can't use them for Netflix
    Last edited by Killerbee911; 06-19-2019 at 11:34 PM.

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member Frobisher's Avatar
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    He knows where the bodies are.

  6. #6
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    There's lots of stuff that Millar did for DC that hasn't made it into the theatrical movies, despite best efforts to get it in.

  7. #7
    Spectacular Member PoorStudent's Avatar
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    It's weird that Mark Millar seems to have the most adaptations, while writers like Ellis, Azzarello, Morrision, and until recently Gaiman haven't had their stuff produced. Even Miller and Moore have only had some of their works adapted, and they've never been as good as the originals. It would be like the rockn'roll hall of fame giving an award to the monkees, but not the beatles, the stones or elvis.

    It's weird what the comics world thinks of as big names and talent and what Hollywood views as being big.

    *I know I spelled a lot of their names wrong, but IDK. That's what they get for being from the UK.

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member Frobisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    There's lots of stuff that Millar did for DC that hasn't made it into the theatrical movies, despite best efforts to get it in.
    The world was not yet ready for “Superman rapes Zod before breaking his neck”.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Cochese View Post
    The world was not yet ready for “Superman rapes Zod before breaking his neck”.
    Wonder why it's taken so long for Snyder and Millar to make a film together? They seem to be made for each other.

  10. #10
    Mighty Member 90'sCartoonMan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PoorStudent View Post
    It's weird that Mark Millar seems to have the most adaptations, while writers like Ellis, Azzarello, Morrision, and until recently Gaiman haven't had their stuff produced. Even Miller and Moore have only had some of their works adapted, and they've never been as good as the originals. It would be like the rockn'roll hall of fame giving an award to the monkees, but not the beatles, the stones or elvis.
    Mark Millar can write a comic book mini-series as though it's the pitch for a live action adaptation. I'm sure that's what he has in mind most of the time (whereas the more famous works of Frank Miller and Alan Moore came out so long ago, adapting them was unthinkable at the time). Gaiman's a different animal, it's mostly his books (like Coraline, American Gods, or Good Omens) that fit more for the screen as opposed to his comic book work. Despite his name recognition, something like Sandman is a tough beast to pull off, and in this current environment, it would have to go through a ton of changes (if something like Lucifer is any indication).

    Morrison has the same problem, he likes out there metatexual genre-bending ideas made specifically for comic books. Seaguy, WE3, stuff like that are incredibly off the wall. That isn't to say he can't do something more grounded (relatively speaking) like Happy! he just doesn't have a history of churning out books ready to go like Mark Millar.

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by PoorStudent View Post
    It's weird that Mark Millar seems to have the most adaptations, while writers like Ellis, Azzarello, Morrision, and until recently Gaiman haven't had their stuff produced. Even Miller and Moore have only had some of their works adapted, and they've never been as good as the originals. It would be like the rockn'roll hall of fame giving an award to the monkees, but not the beatles, the stones or elvis.

    It's weird what the comics world thinks of as big names and talent and what Hollywood views as being big.

    *I know I spelled a lot of their names wrong, but IDK. That's what they get for being from the UK.
    What of his has been adapted? I can only think of Wanted.
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  12. #12
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    I once challenged Millar about this on twitter, years ago. He responded that when these film adaptations are made, the creators retain the rights. Kind of danced around the subject but opened it up more, he writes whatever he wants and gets it released as some 3 or so issue mini so it can be made into a hit feature film, and since he's the creator he gets immense royalties, especially if the film is successful. The comic itself doesn't have to be good and in most cases they aren't and clearly aren't trying to be. Millar is really just some dude with cool ideas who would rather have other people make movies about his ideas so he can profit and not really do much but talk about his ideas some more

    Quote Originally Posted by Sandy Hausler View Post
    What of his has been adapted? I can only think of Wanted.
    Kick Ass movies, Kingsman movies, technically Civil War and Logan, countless of his works are in various stages of development. Netflix is adapting all of the Millarworld stuff.
    Last edited by Elmo; 06-25-2019 at 02:31 PM.

  13. #13
    Extraordinary Member Zero Hunter's Avatar
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    A big thing is he got hot at just the right time too. Companies were gobbling up anything comic related and he had quite a bit of creator owned stuff so the studios came a knocking.

  14. #14
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    It truly is amazing, since he not only got his creator owned comic made but also his marvel owned work like Old man Logan and Civil War as well, he might be this generation's Stan Lee. Considering how difficult is for a movie to be adapted, most end in development hell and its even harder to have ANY creative control even a guys who have hits they are brought up as consultants but given almost a minimal role in the development.

    There's more truth to this. There was an interview with Grant Morrison where he sort of take a snide at Millar saying that he lost faith in humanity because of Millar. Whatever Millar did to be so successful might have contributed to their falling out.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elmo View Post
    I once challenged Millar about this on twitter, years ago. He responded that when these film adaptations are made, the creators retain the rights. Kind of danced around the subject but opened it up more, he writes whatever he wants and gets it released as some 3 or so issue mini so it can be made into a hit feature film, and since he's the creator he gets immense royalties, especially if the film is successful. The comic itself doesn't have to be good and in most cases they aren't and clearly aren't trying to be. Millar is really just some dude with cool ideas who would rather have other people make movies about his ideas so he can profit and not really do much but talk about his ideas some more



    Kick Ass movies, Kingsman movies, technically Civil War and Logan, countless of his works are in various stages of development. Netflix is adapting all of the Millarworld stuff.
    To add to this, "Nemesis" was optioned but hasn't been made as of yet. He actually never finished one of his series, "War Heroes" when the movie deal fell through.

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