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The Punisher (2004 film)
Encyclopedia
The Punisher is a 2004 American comic book
action film
, based on the Marvel Comics
character of the same name, starring Thomas Jane
as the antihero Frank Castle / The Punisher
and John Travolta
as the villain
Howard Saint, a money launderer who orders the death of Castle's entire family. The story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories; The Punisher: Year One and Welcome Back, Frank along with scenes from other Punisher stories such as Marvel Preview Presents: The Punisher #2
, Marvel Super Action Featuring: The Punisher #1, The Punisher War Zone
, and The Punisher War Journal
.
The film was an attempt at rebooting the character after the failure of the 1989 film of the same name
. The Punisher was shot on location in Tampa
, Florida
, and surrounding environs in mid- to late 2003. It was distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment
in North America
, although Artisan Entertainment
, which produced 1989's The Punisher, financed and co-distributed the film with Lionsgate, while Columbia Pictures
distributed the film in non-North American countries. Director Jonathan Hensleigh
agreed to helm the film during its development stage despite a dispute with Marvel Studios
.
The film was released on April 16, 2004, by Lions Gate Entertainment
, grossing $
13,834,527 in the United States over its opening weekend. A DVD release followed on September 7, 2004 - with $10.8 million in copies sold. The success of the DVD sales prompted Marvel Comics
and Lionsgate to start development on a sequel titled The Punisher 2, which instead became a reboot titled Punisher: War Zone
after Jane and Hensleigh left the project due to creative differences. This was the last film produced by Artisan Entertainment
.
seaport, the FBI intervenes and Saint is killed while Duka is jailed. "Krieg", supposedly killed in the shootout, is actually undercover FBI agent and former U.S. Army Delta Force
operator Frank Castle. Shortly thereafter, he retires from the FBI and attends a family reunion at his father's oceanside home in Aguadilla Bay
, Puerto Rico
. Tampa crime boss Howard Saint is enraged by the death of his son, and with right-hand man Quentin Glass bribes the FBI for confidential information about "Krieg". Once he finds out that "Krieg" is really Castle, Saint orders Castle murdered, and Saint's wife, Livia, demands that Castle's entire family be killed as well to "settle the score".
At Castle's family reunion, gunmen including Glass and John Saint, Bobby's identical twin, kill most of the extended family. Castle and his father kill several of the attackers before Castle's father is killed. Castle's wife and son try to escape in a Jeep
, but Saint runs over them with a truck, killing them. Castle, shot in the chest and blown off a pier in an explosion set by Glass, survives and is nursed back to health by a local fisherman, Candelaria.
Once recovered, Castle travels to Tampa and takes refuge in an old tenement where three young outcasts—Dave, Bumpo and Joan—live. Castle abducts Mickey Duka, who fearfully gives up information about the Saints—whom he, too, hates, and so willingly becomes Castle's mole
. Castle starts exacting revenge on the police and FBI agents who have been bribed to close the investigation of his family's murder. In the process, he sabotages Saint's money-laundering business and severs Saint's partnership with Cuban mobsters the Toro Brothers, and starts tailing Livia and Glass, whom he learns is a closeted
homosexual
.
Saint, realizing Castle is alive, sends two assassins to kill him. Castle kills the first, guitar player Harry Heck, by shooting a ballistic knife
into Heck's throat. The second is "the Russian
", a behemoth who beats Castle in a brutal fight but is defeated when Castle throws boiling oil in his face, blinding him long enough for Castle to throw him down a staircase, breaking his neck. Moments later, Saint's men arrive, led by Glass and John Saint. Dave, Joan and Bumpo hide Frank and refuse to tell Glass where he is, despite Glass sadistically pulling out Dave's multiple facial piercings with a pair of pliers. They leave a man behind to kill Castle upon his return, but Castle kills him once Glass and the others are gone.
With assistance from Mickey, Castle manipulates Saint into believing Glass and Livia are having an affair. Saint, unaware Glass is gay, and believing Livia to be capable of cheating on him, kills each of them personally, neither of them knowing why.
Castle attacks Saint's headquarters, the downtown Tampa nightclub Saints and Sinners, killing many of Saint's henchmen. He kills John Saint, who's trapped under collapsed debris, by having him hold an eight-pound, trip-wire activated grenade in his fully extended arm until his arm wearies and the grenade explodes, killing him. Castle wounds Howard Saint with a pistol when Saint attempts to shoot him in the parking lot of the nightclub. Castle then ties Saint to a slow-moving car, but not before revealing that Glass and Livia were not having an affair. Several hidden bombs go off, and the destruction and wreckage culminate in the shape of the Punisher's iconic skull.
Later that night, Castle returns to his apartment and prepares to commit suicide, but after a brief vision of his wife, decides to continue his vigilante mission against others who in his mind deserve punishment. Before departing on his next mission, he leaves most of Saint's money for Bumpo, Joan and Dave. On the Sunshine Skyway Bridge
, he vows, "Those who do evil to others—the killers, the rapists
, psychos, sadist
s—will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me the Punisher."
Director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad
said in many interviews that Thomas Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as he did not see himself as a superhero actor. Jane said, when asked the second time to play the Punisher, that he became interested when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's
artwork of the character. After learning more about the Punisher, he accepted. Jane went on to read as many Punisher comics he could find to understand the character, and became a fan of the Punisher in the process. Jane trained for six to seven months with the United States Navy SEALs
and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.
Before filming began, Hensleigh was not given the budget he wanted or needed from the studio. Hensleigh knew that most action pictures get a budget of around $64 million. He was only given a $15 million shooting budget for the film, and only 52 days to shoot the film, which is half the time allocated for most action pictures. Most of Hensleigh's original script had to be edited and re-written many times due to budget issues. According to the DVD commentary, the first scene in the film would have been a battle set in Kuwait
during the Gulf War
, but they were unable to film this scene as a result of the budget cuts.
The Punisher was filmed on location in Tampa, Florida
. The Florida location was first chosen at the insistence of screenwriter Michael France, who advised Marvel and Artisan that "it would be cheap to shoot [there] - that they'd get a lot more for their money than in New York or Chicago" as well as wanting to use "both sunny locations, and dark, industrial locations" in the screenplay. For inspiration, Hensleigh and cinematographer Conrad W. Hall looked at dozens of action films from the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Dirty Harry
series, The Getaway
, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
, The Godfather
and Bonnie and Clyde
. In an interview, Hensleigh also stated the film pays homage to Mad Max
and William Shakespeare's
Othello
, though while he was inspired by Othello, the characters were reversed for the film, making the Punisher the instigator of the jealousy which leads to Howard Saint murdering his best friend and wife.
As stated above, the story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories: Welcome Back, Frank
and The Punisher: Year One but before the film was released in theaters Jonathan Hensleigh was asked if the film had been entirely based on The Punisher: Year One storyline. Jonathan Hensleigh stated:
During shooting of the film, Lionsgate (then known as Lions Gate Films) purchased Artisan. In an interview with Jonathan Hensleigh, Hensleigh said that even though the film is distributed under the Lionsgate imprint, they had nothing to do with the film. Lionsgate never gave a green light for the film to be made. The film was still under Artisan Entertainment
.
The character of Microchip
was originally included in an earlier Michael France draft (along with the character Jigsaw
), but was excised from later drafts because of director Jonathan Hensleigh's distaste for him. Instead the character of Mickey Duka (who was heavily based upon the character Mickey Fondozzi
) serves as an ally of Frank Castle. Regarding the exclusion of Microchip, Hensleigh had this to say:
13,834,527 over its opening weekend, ranking at #2 at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $33,810,189 and a foreign gross of $20,889,916, giving it a worldwide total of $54,700,105.
based on 167 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/10. It also received a 27% approval rating from top critics on the site. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film two stars, stating, "The Punisher is so grim and cheerless, you wonder if even its hero gets any satisfaction from his accomplishments." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
said, "By the end, the Punisher's greatest adversaries emerge as an unwelcome trio known as jokey, hokey, and hammy." A few reviewers have defended the film, stating that, compared to most comic book
-based films, it is a well-done throwback to the old-school action films of the 1960s and 1970s. Critic A.O. Scott stated, "But lightness is not among Hensleigh's gifts. Making his directorial debut after a successful run as a screenwriter and producer (on projects like Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumanji
, and The Rock
) he has clearly conceived The Punisher as a throwback to the leathery, angry urban revenge movies of the 1970s." Drew McWeeny
of Ain't It Cool News
said of the style of the film that "The Punisher has more in common with the work of Don Seigel and John Frankenheimer
than it does with the work of Michael Bay
or Simon West
. Which isn't to say that it's the equal of those classics, but at least Hensleigh's got the right idea. ... The Punisher is pulp, served up gritty and ugly and brutal. It's not jam-packed full of one-liners. What humor there is in the film is dark."
feature. Between worldwide film box office and DVD sales, it grossed $
115 million ($55 million worldwide + $60 million from DVD sales).
An extended cut DVD was released on November 21, 2006 with 17 minutes of additional footage, most of which revolves around the character Jimmy Weeks (Russell Andrews), and Castle realizing that it was his friend who had sold him out to Howard Saint. In retaliation, Castle forces Weeks to commit suicide. Features also include a black-and-white stop-motion animated
scene, set in Kuwait
, based on and partially done by artist Tim Bradstreet
, and a Punisher comic-book gallery. An extended version of "In Time" by Mark Collie
also appears in the closing credits of the extended-cut DVD. This version does not include the special features on the standard DVD release.
The Punisher was released on Blu-ray Disc
on June 27, 2006.
."
Nominated
had greenlit a direct sequel titled The Punisher 2 to be made based on the film's strong DVD sales performance. Avi Arad
, chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios
, stated that the second film would "become the fifth Marvel property to become a sequel." Jonathan Hensleigh
said that he was interested in working with Thomas Jane
again for The Punisher 2. Jane said that the villain for The Punisher 2 would be Jigsaw
. The project, however, lingered in development for over three years. Jonathan Hensleigh
completed a first draft of the script before pulling out around 2006. John Dahl
was in talks to direct the film but pulled out due to script quality issues and the studio not wanting to spend a lot of money on the project. In a statement on May 15, 2007 and in two audio interviews Thomas Jane
said that he pulled out of the project due to creative differences and the budget of the film being cut, in addition to director Walter Hill being turned down as director by Lionsgate. After reading the new script by Kurt Sutter
, Jane stated: In Summer 2007, Marvel Studios
announced that Lexi Alexander
would direct the film as a result of Dahl pulling out, and that actor Ray Stevenson
would play the Punisher in the new film, thus replacing Thomas Jane. The Punisher 2 then became Punisher: War Zone
, a reboot of The Punisher film series
with no connection to the 2004 film. The reboot was released on December 5, 2008
. This is the second time the film series has been rebooted, after the 2004 production rebooted 1989's
The Punisher
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, based on the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character of the same name, starring Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
as the antihero Frank Castle / The Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
and John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
Howard Saint, a money launderer who orders the death of Castle's entire family. The story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories; The Punisher: Year One and Welcome Back, Frank along with scenes from other Punisher stories such as Marvel Preview Presents: The Punisher #2
Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview was a magazine-sized black-and-white showcase comic book published by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of Marvel....
, Marvel Super Action Featuring: The Punisher #1, The Punisher War Zone
The Punisher War Zone
The Punisher War Zone is a comic book spin-off series featuring the Punisher, a fictional character published by Marvel Comics. The first installment of the series ran for 41 issues with two 64-page annuals. Multiple writers contributed to this series during its three-year run from 1992 to 1995...
, and The Punisher War Journal
The Punisher War Journal
The Punisher War Journal is the title of two Marvel Comics comic book series featuring the character Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher...
.
The film was an attempt at rebooting the character after the failure of the 1989 film of the same name
The Punisher (1989 film)
The Punisher is a 1989 film starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle, directed by Mark Goldblatt from a screenplay by Boaz Yakin. It is loosely based on the Marvel Comics' character The Punisher. The film changes many details of the comic book origin and the main character does not wear the...
. The Punisher was shot on location in Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and surrounding environs in mid- to late 2003. It was distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, although Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
, which produced 1989's The Punisher, financed and co-distributed the film with Lionsgate, while Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
distributed the film in non-North American countries. Director Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Blair Hensleigh is an American screenwriter and film director, working primarily in the action/adventure genre of films.-Early life:...
agreed to helm the film during its development stage despite a dispute with Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios, originally Marvel Films, is an American television and motion picture studio based in Manhattan Beach, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, a self-contained part of the The Walt Disney Company conglomerate....
.
The film was released on April 16, 2004, by Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
, grossing $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
13,834,527 in the United States over its opening weekend. A DVD release followed on September 7, 2004 - with $10.8 million in copies sold. The success of the DVD sales prompted Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and Lionsgate to start development on a sequel titled The Punisher 2, which instead became a reboot titled Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone is a 2008 comic book action film directed by Lexi Alexander; based on the fictional Marvel Comics vigilante/anti-hero the Punisher. It is the third film to depict the Marvel character Frank Castle...
after Jane and Hensleigh left the project due to creative differences. This was the last film produced by Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
.
Plot
When Bobby Saint and Mickey Duka meet with European arms dealer Otto Krieg at the Tampa, FloridaTampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
seaport, the FBI intervenes and Saint is killed while Duka is jailed. "Krieg", supposedly killed in the shootout, is actually undercover FBI agent and former U.S. Army Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
operator Frank Castle. Shortly thereafter, he retires from the FBI and attends a family reunion at his father's oceanside home in Aguadilla Bay
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Aguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Tampa crime boss Howard Saint is enraged by the death of his son, and with right-hand man Quentin Glass bribes the FBI for confidential information about "Krieg". Once he finds out that "Krieg" is really Castle, Saint orders Castle murdered, and Saint's wife, Livia, demands that Castle's entire family be killed as well to "settle the score".
At Castle's family reunion, gunmen including Glass and John Saint, Bobby's identical twin, kill most of the extended family. Castle and his father kill several of the attackers before Castle's father is killed. Castle's wife and son try to escape in a Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
, but Saint runs over them with a truck, killing them. Castle, shot in the chest and blown off a pier in an explosion set by Glass, survives and is nursed back to health by a local fisherman, Candelaria.
Once recovered, Castle travels to Tampa and takes refuge in an old tenement where three young outcasts—Dave, Bumpo and Joan—live. Castle abducts Mickey Duka, who fearfully gives up information about the Saints—whom he, too, hates, and so willingly becomes Castle's mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
. Castle starts exacting revenge on the police and FBI agents who have been bribed to close the investigation of his family's murder. In the process, he sabotages Saint's money-laundering business and severs Saint's partnership with Cuban mobsters the Toro Brothers, and starts tailing Livia and Glass, whom he learns is a closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
.
Saint, realizing Castle is alive, sends two assassins to kill him. Castle kills the first, guitar player Harry Heck, by shooting a ballistic knife
Ballistic knife
A ballistic knife is a specialized combat knife with a detachable gas- or spring-propelled blade that can be fired to a distance of several feet or meters by pressing a trigger or switch on the handle.-History and usage:...
into Heck's throat. The second is "the Russian
Russian (comics)
The Russian is a Marvel Comics supervillain created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon to become an assassin during the Punisher's relaunch in November 2000.-Fictional character biography:...
", a behemoth who beats Castle in a brutal fight but is defeated when Castle throws boiling oil in his face, blinding him long enough for Castle to throw him down a staircase, breaking his neck. Moments later, Saint's men arrive, led by Glass and John Saint. Dave, Joan and Bumpo hide Frank and refuse to tell Glass where he is, despite Glass sadistically pulling out Dave's multiple facial piercings with a pair of pliers. They leave a man behind to kill Castle upon his return, but Castle kills him once Glass and the others are gone.
With assistance from Mickey, Castle manipulates Saint into believing Glass and Livia are having an affair. Saint, unaware Glass is gay, and believing Livia to be capable of cheating on him, kills each of them personally, neither of them knowing why.
Castle attacks Saint's headquarters, the downtown Tampa nightclub Saints and Sinners, killing many of Saint's henchmen. He kills John Saint, who's trapped under collapsed debris, by having him hold an eight-pound, trip-wire activated grenade in his fully extended arm until his arm wearies and the grenade explodes, killing him. Castle wounds Howard Saint with a pistol when Saint attempts to shoot him in the parking lot of the nightclub. Castle then ties Saint to a slow-moving car, but not before revealing that Glass and Livia were not having an affair. Several hidden bombs go off, and the destruction and wreckage culminate in the shape of the Punisher's iconic skull.
Later that night, Castle returns to his apartment and prepares to commit suicide, but after a brief vision of his wife, decides to continue his vigilante mission against others who in his mind deserve punishment. Before departing on his next mission, he leaves most of Saint's money for Bumpo, Joan and Dave. On the Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a bridge spanning Tampa Bay, Florida, with a cable-stayed main span, and a total length of 21,877 feet . It is part of I-275 and US 19 , connecting St. Petersburg in Pinellas County and Terra Ceia in Manatee County, Florida, passing through Hillsborough...
, he vows, "Those who do evil to others—the killers, the rapists
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, psychos, sadist
Sadism and masochism as medical terms
In psychiatry, the terms sadism and masochism describe a personality type characterized by the actor or actrix deriving pleasure and gratification from inflicting physical pain and humiliation ; and from suffering pain and humiliation upon the self ; such pleasure often is sexual, but not...
s—will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me the Punisher."
Cast
- Thomas JaneThomas JaneThomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
as Frank Castle / The PunisherPunisherThe Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,... - John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Howard Saint - Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
as Frank Castle, Sr. - Will PattonWill PattonWilliam Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
as Quentin Glass - Rebecca RomijnRebecca RomijnRebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
as Joan - Ben Foster as Spacker Dave
- John PinetteJohn PinetteJohn Pinette is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He has toured the comedy club circuit since the 1980s and has appeared in cinema and television...
as Bumpo - Samantha MathisSamantha MathisSamantha Mathis is an American actress. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in Pump Up the Volume , opposite Christian Slater...
as Maria Elizabeth Castle - Marcus Johns as Will Castle
- Russell Andrews as Agent James "Jimmy" Weeks
- James CarpinelloJames CarpinelloJames Carpinello is an American film, television, and Broadway actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous. He is also in Rock of Ages.-Broadway productions:...
as Robert "Bobby" Saint & John Saint - Laura HarringLaura HarringLaura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
as Livia Saint - Eddie JemisonEddie JemisonEdward F. "Eddie" Jemison is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the television series Hung.-Life and career:...
as Mickey Duka - Eduardo YáñezEduardo YáñezEduardo Yáñez is a Mexican television and film actor.Yáñez was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He lived with his mother and half brothers. He never met his father. Eduardo had a hard and sad childhood alongside his stepfather...
as Mike Toro - Omar AvilaOmar AvilaOmar Avila is a Cuban-American actor who appeared in the films Once Upon A Wedding and The Punisher. He grew up in Miami and got his big break in the Telemundo series Los Teens. He has appeared in several telenovelas, including Soñar No Cuesta Nada and Watch Over Me. He also played Esteban...
as Joe Toro - Kevin NashKevin NashKevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
as The RussianRussian (comics)The Russian is a Marvel Comics supervillain created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon to become an assassin during the Punisher's relaunch in November 2000.-Fictional character biography:... - Mark CollieMark CollieGeorge Mark Collie is an American country music artist and occasional actor. He has released eight albums, and has charted 16 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His highest peaking singles are "Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin'" at #5, and "Born to Love You" at #6, from 1992 and...
as Harry Heck - Veryl Jones as Candelaria
- Tom NowickiTom NowickiTom Nowicki is an American actor who has appeared in several feature films, television series, mini-series and movies of the week. He is a member of the Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actors' Guild who is best remembered for his lead appearance on RollerJam and also appeared in the...
as Lincoln - Hank Stone as Cutter
Director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad
Avi Arad
Avi Arad is an Israeli-American businessman. He became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s, and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, chairman, CEO and the founder of Marvel Studios....
said in many interviews that Thomas Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as he did not see himself as a superhero actor. Jane said, when asked the second time to play the Punisher, that he became interested when Arad sent Tim Bradstreet's
Tim Bradstreet
Timothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...
artwork of the character. After learning more about the Punisher, he accepted. Jane went on to read as many Punisher comics he could find to understand the character, and became a fan of the Punisher in the process. Jane trained for six to seven months with the United States Navy SEALs
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.
Production
| I had to ask myself intellectual questions like, "To what extent do crimes against a person become so unconscionable, so heinous, that even a person who does not believe in vigilantism can resort to vigilantism in a more just way?" That was the equation for me. I told Marvel that I didn't just want to do a revenge story, that I wanted to do the mother of all revenge stories. I wanted to ramp everything up. I can't really go further without doing spoilers here. The underlying events that give rise to Frank Castle's vigilantism are not from the comic. I invented a lot of that. I made it a lot worse. |
| —Jonathan Hensleigh on The Punisher |
Before filming began, Hensleigh was not given the budget he wanted or needed from the studio. Hensleigh knew that most action pictures get a budget of around $64 million. He was only given a $15 million shooting budget for the film, and only 52 days to shoot the film, which is half the time allocated for most action pictures. Most of Hensleigh's original script had to be edited and re-written many times due to budget issues. According to the DVD commentary, the first scene in the film would have been a battle set in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
during the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, but they were unable to film this scene as a result of the budget cuts.
The Punisher was filmed on location in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
. The Florida location was first chosen at the insistence of screenwriter Michael France, who advised Marvel and Artisan that "it would be cheap to shoot [there] - that they'd get a lot more for their money than in New York or Chicago" as well as wanting to use "both sunny locations, and dark, industrial locations" in the screenplay. For inspiration, Hensleigh and cinematographer Conrad W. Hall looked at dozens of action films from the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry (film series)
Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels starring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan, portrayed by Clint Eastwood...
series, The Getaway
The Getaway (1972 film)
The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.The film is based on a novel by Jim Thompson, with the screenplay written by Walter Hill...
, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
, The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
and Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (film)
The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...
. In an interview, Hensleigh also stated the film pays homage to Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
and William Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, though while he was inspired by Othello, the characters were reversed for the film, making the Punisher the instigator of the jealousy which leads to Howard Saint murdering his best friend and wife.
As stated above, the story and plot were mainly based on two Punisher comic book stories: Welcome Back, Frank
The Punisher (Marvel Knights 2000 series)
The Punisher is a twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Garth Ennis with art by Steve Dillon and published under the Marvel Knights imprint of Marvel Comics...
and The Punisher: Year One but before the film was released in theaters Jonathan Hensleigh was asked if the film had been entirely based on The Punisher: Year One storyline. Jonathan Hensleigh stated:
During shooting of the film, Lionsgate (then known as Lions Gate Films) purchased Artisan. In an interview with Jonathan Hensleigh, Hensleigh said that even though the film is distributed under the Lionsgate imprint, they had nothing to do with the film. Lionsgate never gave a green light for the film to be made. The film was still under Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
.
The character of Microchip
Microchip (comics)
David Linus "Microchip" Lieberman is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Universe. Created by writer Mike Baron and artist Klaus Janson, he first appeared in The Punisher #4 as an ally of The Punisher for many years. He assisted the Punisher by building weapons, supplying technology...
was originally included in an earlier Michael France draft (along with the character Jigsaw
Jigsaw (Marvel Comics)
Jigsaw is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Throughout his many appearances, he has served as one of the Punisher's few recurring villains...
), but was excised from later drafts because of director Jonathan Hensleigh's distaste for him. Instead the character of Mickey Duka (who was heavily based upon the character Mickey Fondozzi
Mickey Fondozzi
-Fictional character history:Before he encounters the Punisher, Mickey is working for the Carbone crime family. They believe that he is Italian-American; in actuality, he is Albanian....
) serves as an ally of Frank Castle. Regarding the exclusion of Microchip, Hensleigh had this to say:
Box office
Prior to The Punishers release, a novelization of the film was written by D.A. Stern and released in March 2004. The Punisher opened in 2,649 theaters on April 16, 2004 and grossed $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
13,834,527 over its opening weekend, ranking at #2 at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $33,810,189 and a foreign gross of $20,889,916, giving it a worldwide total of $54,700,105.
Critical response
On its release, it was met with mainly negative reviews, and received a 29% rotten rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 167 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/10. It also received a 27% approval rating from top critics on the site. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two stars, stating, "The Punisher is so grim and cheerless, you wonder if even its hero gets any satisfaction from his accomplishments." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
said, "By the end, the Punisher's greatest adversaries emerge as an unwelcome trio known as jokey, hokey, and hammy." A few reviewers have defended the film, stating that, compared to most comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
-based films, it is a well-done throwback to the old-school action films of the 1960s and 1970s. Critic A.O. Scott stated, "But lightness is not among Hensleigh's gifts. Making his directorial debut after a successful run as a screenwriter and producer (on projects like Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumanji
Jumanji (film)
Jumanji is a 1995 American fantasy-comedy film about a supernatural board game that makes wild animals and other jungle hazards materialize upon each player's move. It was directed by Joe Johnston and is based on Chris Van Allsburg's popular 1981 picture book of the same name...
, and The Rock
The Rock (film)
The Rock is a 1996 action film that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island and in the San Francisco Bay area. It was directed by Michael Bay and stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and released through Hollywood Pictures. The film...
) he has clearly conceived The Punisher as a throwback to the leathery, angry urban revenge movies of the 1970s." Drew McWeeny
Drew McWeeny
Drew McWeeny , also known by his pseudonym Moriarty, is a film critic, screenwriter, and the former west coast editor of the Ain't It Cool News website...
of Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
said of the style of the film that "The Punisher has more in common with the work of Don Seigel and John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
than it does with the work of Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
or Simon West
Simon West
Simon West is an English-born film director. West started as a film editor with the BBC, then directed documentaries and commercials including many for Budweiser...
. Which isn't to say that it's the equal of those classics, but at least Hensleigh's got the right idea. ... The Punisher is pulp, served up gritty and ugly and brutal. It's not jam-packed full of one-liners. What humor there is in the film is dark."
Home media
The Punisher DVD was released on September 7, 2004 and sold nearly 1.8 million copies in its first five days and netted $10.8 million in rentals its first week out, making it number one in DVD sales. Sales continued at a steady pace, ultimately topping 4 million units. During October, The Punisher DVD rentals were still in the top ten and various cable and satellite providers had started to offer The Punisher as a pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
feature. Between worldwide film box office and DVD sales, it grossed $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
115 million ($55 million worldwide + $60 million from DVD sales).
An extended cut DVD was released on November 21, 2006 with 17 minutes of additional footage, most of which revolves around the character Jimmy Weeks (Russell Andrews), and Castle realizing that it was his friend who had sold him out to Howard Saint. In retaliation, Castle forces Weeks to commit suicide. Features also include a black-and-white stop-motion animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
scene, set in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, based on and partially done by artist Tim Bradstreet
Tim Bradstreet
Timothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...
, and a Punisher comic-book gallery. An extended version of "In Time" by Mark Collie
Mark Collie
George Mark Collie is an American country music artist and occasional actor. He has released eight albums, and has charted 16 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His highest peaking singles are "Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin'" at #5, and "Born to Love You" at #6, from 1992 and...
also appears in the closing credits of the extended-cut DVD. This version does not include the special features on the standard DVD release.
The Punisher was released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on June 27, 2006.
Soundtrack
The score to The Punisher was composed and conducted by Italian composer Carlo Siliotto. Director Jonathan Hensleigh wanted the music to be very emotional, and was aware of Siliotto's previous work which led to him being chosen. When scoring the film Siliotto saw Frank Castle as a tragic figure stating, "This man, Frank Castle, is somebody who has a slaughtered family. He comes through that slaughter, and becomes a punisher. But he's a sad man - he drinks, and has bad memories always coming to him. There's a lot in the film, and at times it is like a modern version of a classic tragedy - like OthelloOthello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
."
- "The Punisher" (0:56)
- "Otto Krieg" (3:14)
- "Unusual Resurrection" (1:40)
- "Moving" (3:09)
- "I Can't Believe I'm Home" (1:23)
- "His Whole Family" (1:27)
- "The Massacre" (5:45)
- "Death and Resurrection of Frank Castle" (1:47)
- "God's Gonna Sit This One Out" (3:57)
- "Ice Lolly and Meat" (1:28)
- "You're Gonna Help Me" (1:24)
- "Entering the Fort" (1:58)
- "About Your Family / Setting a Trap" (3:11)
- "A Bomb for John Saint" (1:08)
- "Good Memories Can Save Your Life" (1:13)
- "The Thugs" (1:30)
- "The Torture" (3:12)
- "Elevator and Headache" (1:07)
- "A New Family / Joan's Suffering" (3:34)
- "Quentin's Glass Home" (1:32)
- "Killing a Best Friend" (1:43)
- "You Don't Understand... End of a Dark Lady" (2:34)
- "She Took the Train / Punishment" (1:47)
- "The Arrow" (1:48)
- "Both of Them" (1:32)
- "The Skull" (2:34)
- "Castle's Loneliness" (1:35)
- "Call Me ‘The Punisher’" (2:23)
- "Jealous One" by J.C. Loader (3:52)
- "La donna è mobileLa donna è mobile"La donna è mobile" is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto . The inherent irony is that it is the callous playboy Duke himself who is mobile...
" by Peter Dvorsky (2:06)
Awards and nominations (2005)
Won- Taurus World Stunt AwardsTaurus World Stunt AwardsThe Taurus World Stunt Awards is a yearly award ceremony that honors stunt performers in movies. It is held each year in Los Angeles.- Categories :*Best Fight*Best Fire Stunt*Best High Work*Best Work with a Vehicle*Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman...
- Best Fire Stunt (Mark Chadwick)
Nominated
- Prism Awards
- Wide Release Feature Film
- Taurus World Stunt Awards
- Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman (Donna Evans)
- Best Stunt Coordinator and/or 2nd Unit Director (Gary Hymes)
- Best Work with a Vehicle (Keii Johnston & Dane Farwell)
Sequel / Reboot
Despite the modest reception the film received at the box office, Lions Gate EntertainmentLions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
had greenlit a direct sequel titled The Punisher 2 to be made based on the film's strong DVD sales performance. Avi Arad
Avi Arad
Avi Arad is an Israeli-American businessman. He became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s, and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, chairman, CEO and the founder of Marvel Studios....
, chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios, originally Marvel Films, is an American television and motion picture studio based in Manhattan Beach, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, a self-contained part of the The Walt Disney Company conglomerate....
, stated that the second film would "become the fifth Marvel property to become a sequel." Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Blair Hensleigh is an American screenwriter and film director, working primarily in the action/adventure genre of films.-Early life:...
said that he was interested in working with Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
again for The Punisher 2. Jane said that the villain for The Punisher 2 would be Jigsaw
Jigsaw (Marvel Comics)
Jigsaw is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Throughout his many appearances, he has served as one of the Punisher's few recurring villains...
. The project, however, lingered in development for over three years. Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Hensleigh
Jonathan Blair Hensleigh is an American screenwriter and film director, working primarily in the action/adventure genre of films.-Early life:...
completed a first draft of the script before pulling out around 2006. John Dahl
John Dahl
John Dahl is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the neo-noir genre.-Life and career:John Dahl was born in Billings, Montana, the second of four children . Dahl spent his young life in and around Montana all the way up through his college years...
was in talks to direct the film but pulled out due to script quality issues and the studio not wanting to spend a lot of money on the project. In a statement on May 15, 2007 and in two audio interviews Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist...
said that he pulled out of the project due to creative differences and the budget of the film being cut, in addition to director Walter Hill being turned down as director by Lionsgate. After reading the new script by Kurt Sutter
Kurt Sutter
Kurt Sutter is an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. He worked as a producer, writer and director on The Shield, also appearing on the show as hitman Margos Dezerian. Sutter is also the creator of Sons of Anarchy on FX and writes, produces, directs and performs for the series,...
, Jane stated: In Summer 2007, Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios, originally Marvel Films, is an American television and motion picture studio based in Manhattan Beach, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, a self-contained part of the The Walt Disney Company conglomerate....
announced that Lexi Alexander
Lexi Alexander
Lexi Alexander is a German film director and martial artist.-Career:In her childhood, she began kickboxing and karate. At the age of 19, she became world champion in both. She is represented by Endeavor Agency and Gotham Group in Los Angeles, United States.After this, she went to Hollywood...
would direct the film as a result of Dahl pulling out, and that actor Ray Stevenson
Ray Stevenson (actor)
George Raymond "Ray" Stevenson is a Northern Irish-born English film and television actor. He is known for playing Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series Rome , and in film as Dagonet in King Arthur and as Frank Castle/The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone and The Super Hero Squad Show...
would play the Punisher in the new film, thus replacing Thomas Jane. The Punisher 2 then became Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone is a 2008 comic book action film directed by Lexi Alexander; based on the fictional Marvel Comics vigilante/anti-hero the Punisher. It is the third film to depict the Marvel character Frank Castle...
, a reboot of The Punisher film series
The Punisher (film series)
The fictional character Punisher, a comic book anti-hero featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared in three films unrelated to each other. The first film was in 1989 and was released straight to video and starred Dolph Lundgren. The second film was released in theaters and starred Thomas...
with no connection to the 2004 film. The reboot was released on December 5, 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
. This is the second time the film series has been rebooted, after the 2004 production rebooted 1989's
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
The Punisher
The Punisher (1989 film)
The Punisher is a 1989 film starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle, directed by Mark Goldblatt from a screenplay by Boaz Yakin. It is loosely based on the Marvel Comics' character The Punisher. The film changes many details of the comic book origin and the main character does not wear the...
.
External links
- The Punisher on Marvel.com