Screenwriter James Vanderbilt.jpg

If you're a fan of David Fincher's Zodiac, Peter Berg's The Rundown, or are looking forward to either Sylvain White's The Losers, Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboot, or director Kevin Macdonald's Murder Mystery, you're going to really enjoy my interview with screenwriter James Vanderbilt.  That's because earlier today, I got to sit down with the talented screenwriter for an extended interview that covered almost his entire IMDb profile.

We first started talking about The Losers, then we went to Zodiac.  From there I tried to ask about Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboot, and then we got to a project he is writing for director Kevin Macdonald called Murder Mystery.  Finally, Vanderbilt talked about a project he is writing for himself to direct that takes place in the world of journalism, and then we covered how he writes and The Rundown.

Trust me, it's a great interview.  Since it's over 20 minutes, I've time indexed each question so you can decided what you want to hear us talk about.  Hit the jump to check it out.

Finally, if you'd like to watch some clips from The Losers, click here.  And a huge thank you to screenwriter James Vanderbilt for giving me so much of his time today.

NOTE - Minor spoilers are discussed about The Losers.  To avoid those questions, use the time index below.

The Losers movie poster final

Screenwriter James Vanderbilt

  • How did he get involved in The Losers.  Explains how Peter Berg was first involved and how he came to the project.
  • 1:15 - How close was Peter Berg's draft to going and how much work did he do on it.  Was it a page 1 re-write
  • 3:00 - Forlani from Omelete asked about putting Max on screen while he was in the shadows in the comic book and the politics of the graphic novel versus the movie
  • 4:40 - The ending of The Losers - how did he know where to end it
  • 6:00 - Zodiac talk - who does he think was the Zodiac killer is after writing the film
  • 7:00 - How much time did it take for him to write the script and how did David Fincher get involved
  • 8:20 - How much of Zodiac is real and how much is fictionalized
  • 9:10 - Did Fincher want him on set
  • 10:08 - What is being on set like for a writer
  • 10:35 - I ask how did he land the Spider-Man job
  • 11:53  - I ask if he was told the Spider-Man storyline or did he pitch an idea
  • 12:20 - What is it like to work with Marc Webb
  • 12:40 - How much time is he working on Spider-Man or is he also working on other stuff
  • 12:50 - Says he is writing something for him to direct and he's also writing Murder Mystery for director Kevin Macdonald.  Says it's a comedy about a husband and wife that's an Agatha Christie type movie.
  • 14:00 - Is he working on the script with Kevin Macdonald.  Says they are going out to actors
  • 14:27 - Is Murder Mystery going to be Kevin Macdonald's next project
  • 15:00 - What project is he writing for himself. Says it's about journalism and a true life story.
  • 16:00- Says he is writing the film on spec for now.
  • 16:20 - Is he writing the film with any sort of budget - brings it back to The Losers and how they made the film for a limited budget
  • 17:55 - Have they already plotted out for a sequel?  Has he started working on it yet
  • 18:40 - His writing process.  Does he write during the day or at night
  • 19:50 - The Rundown talk
  • 20:15 - Any talk of him working with Peter Berg again
  • 21:00 - Does he have a lot of scripts laying around in his desk
  • 22:10 - Does he have a title for the script he is writing that he wants to direct. Answer is no
  • 22:20 - Since State of Play didn't connect at the box office, is that concern
  • 22:50 - I ask if he's writing just the one Spider-Man script or more than one film

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The Losers movie poster entire cast