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Road to Perdition (2002)

Plot: Michael O'Sullivan (Hanks), aka The Angel, is a mob hitman who goes on the war path when most of his family is executed by a rival.

News:

12 March, 2002

The poster is out. It's over there on the right.

23 January, 2002

The LA Times ran an article talking about the film recently with comments from the filmmakers. "When I read the script, I said I'd like to pursue it, but I also wanted someone you would never expect to play [Sullivan]," director Sam Mendes told The L.A. Times. "Because it's much more interesting to cast against type."

Fans of the comic shouldn't expect the film to hold too closely to the original story. "It's a comic book," Mendes said, laughing. "I can't bring myself to say 'graphic novel.' But it's a serious story. The script is loosely based on it. The film took a swift diversion from the source material the minute I got hold of it."

The original adaptation was written by David Self (Thirteen Days). Mendes said of the original script, "A lot of what I saw in it had the same kind of nonverbal simplicity of art-house pulp movies like Once Upon a Time in America and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. The story isn't just about what's said." Hanks adds, "The graphic novel was much more pulpy. They call [Sullivan] 'The Angel,' and he strikes fear into everybody. In the movie, he is still an enforcer, but his notoriety is soft-pedaled."

Hanks appreciated the film's somewhat ambiguous morals. "At times, movies can be like a standard morality play, a bracing tonic. But there are also times when the audience is dying for another view, about the paradox of being alive."

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9 December, 2001

The DreamWorks Fansite is reporting that the movie will now premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2002. That means it should appear in wide release sometime in the summer or early fall. They also mention that Max Allan Collins is working on a sequel novel to Road to Perdition called 'Road to Purgatory' which is a prose novel, not a graphic one.

1 November, 2001

Jude Law spoke to the British press at a screening of A.I. and had some comments on the movie. "We shot in Chicago. Sam [Mendes] was working with these two 70-year-olds - Paul Newman and [cinematographer] Conrad Hall but he hasn't let anyone off the hook. He drove us all really hard," says Law. He also said that his main regret is that his part (a hitman chasing the Hanks character) meant he had very few scenes with either Hanks or Newman.

24 May, 2001

Dark Horizons got an interesting set report from Geneva Hotel in Illinois.

Monday: "I was down there today and what they shot was Tom Hanks and his son coming into town in a burgundy Model T Ford. Tom then gets out of the car and walks across the street into the Geneva Hotel. I guess Jude Law was spotted in the morning filming but I didn't see him. I also got a chance to talk to a member of the crew and he said they would be filming the shootout on Wed. with machine guns and SPOILER ALERT Tom Hanks is shot and I believe killed."

Tuesday: "Not much action today although I did get to meet and talk with Dylan Baker (Happiness, Disclosure, Thirteen Days) for a few minutes which was really cool. Also saw Tom Hanks up close and personal as well as Jude for a second, he's kind of a recluse. They shot more of the same with Tom Pulling up into town and walking across the street to the Geneva Hotel, they shot some interior stuff of the hotel as well which has been closed for years but reopened for the movie"

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6 April, 2001

We kick off our coverage of this movie with an EXCLUSIVE review of the script by David Self (Thirteen Days). Our man 'Lester Livermore' gave the script a huge thumbs up and then settled into a corner drooling in anticipation of the movie's release. Here's a piece:

Possibly the hardest thing about reading this script for me was imagining Hanks as this hitman. It calls for some astounding physical feats that we have never seen the likes of from Hanks previously. Of course that is also part of the appeal of that particular piece of casting. We'll really get the opportunity to see something new from him if it can be pulled off convincingly. At the same time though, this is a really meaty part for Hanks to sink his teeth into. O'Sullivan is a hitman but is also paradoxically a good and decent man. A family man. He cares more about his wife and kids than anything else in the world. He is also a very religious man. He clings to the Catholic practice of confession as his soul's lifeline. He knows murder is wrong but believes almost desperately that the confessional absolves him of his sins.

You can read the entire review here.

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