Recently the Internet was abuzz when Roman Coppola mentioned he had planned to do a comic book movie with his cousin Nicolas Cage (The Rock) portraying Doctor Strange. I brought up the subject while talking to the writer-director about his latest movie A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2012). “Nowadays it’s over saturated with so many comic book movies,” states the recent Oscar nominee. “It has lessened in my mind. In the past, 15 to 20 years ago, when I talked about Doctor Strange most of the comic book movies were terrible. They’ve [I’m speaking of the Marvel Universe] managed to make them more true to the spirit of the comics as I recall reading them as a boy. If someone said to me, ‘We’d love you to do Doctor Strange. Run with it. What’s your take on it?’ I’d be delighted to have a shot at that but it seems that many comic book movies are made with a certain mentality that pervades all of them. If I had my choice I’d rather do an individualistic than a factory movie but you never know. I’m open to whatever adventure comes my way.” As for what cinematic project would appeal to him, Coppola remarks, “I’m interested in certain genres. What comes to mind is if I could do a boy’s adventure tale, a Gunga Din; I would get a kick out of that.”
Originally published January 28, 2013. Updated April 14, 2018.
