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Rainn Wilson & Elen Page in James Gunn's SUPER - they prepare for war.

Here Ellen Page as Libby and Rainn Wilson as Frank Darbo – also knows as Boltie and the Crimson Bolt – prepare for WAR!

Here’s what the Toronto International Film Folks said about SUPER:

With the recent onslaught of superhero send-ups, it seems as though this premise has become somewhat of a genre unto itself. No stranger to rebel filmmaking, James Gunn cut his teeth writing for Troma before making his directing debut with 2006’s Slither. In a similar vein, his follow-up feature combines absurd humour with balls-out violence to create something that is both unashamed and inimitable. But this time Gunn adds a new ingredient, one that is dark, dramatic and subversive to the core.

When sad sack Frank D’Arbo (Rainn Wilson) sees his ex-addict wife (Liv Tyler) willingly snatched by a seductive drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), he finds himself unable to cope. But when the finger of God blesses his brain (don’t ask), D’Arbo decides to fight back under the guise of a DIY superhero called Crimson Bolt. In order to get his wife back, he must first fight his way up the criminal ranks, and he begins by taking a monkey wrench to the foreheads of a couple who cut in line at the movies. As Crimson Bolt begins to make the headlines, a young woman from the local comic book store (Ellen Page) joins in on the fun as his sexually charged sidekick, Boltie.

The cast is dead-on, with Wilson making the heroic leap to leading man status. Page and Bacon are equally impressive and self-effacing in their supporting roles; both say and do things you could never imagine and we could never print. Rounding out the cast are appearances from longtime genre icons Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) and Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman.

While Crimson Bolt bears likeness to the Watchmen, Defendor and Kick-Ass, James Gunn has created what is perhaps the definitive take on self-reflexive superheroes. If this outlandish dark comedy is not the zenith of its breed, God help us from what’s to come. Whether you’re new to the graphic novel game or a seasoned fanboy, you will find SUPER to live up to its name.

Colin Geddes

The Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson) does his best to warn criminals of his arrival in James Gunn's SUPER.

They forgot to call out a few stellar performances from actors in SUPER, including Andre Royo (‘The Wire”), Gregg Henry (SLiTHER), Linda Cardellini (“ER”), Sean Gunn (“Gilmore Girls”), Stephen Blackehart (Tromeo & Juliet), William Katt (“The Greatest American Hero”), Don Mac, Steve Agee (“The Sarah Silverman Show”), Valentine Miele (Tromeo & Juliet), Michelle Martin Gunn (The Changeling), and so many more!  And they also left out our overwhelmingly amazing composer, Tyler Bates (300, SLiTHER, Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen), who you can now follow on Twitter here..

Hope to see you guys in Toronto!! The whole gang will be there for the premiere on Friday, September 10!  I just got a new suit yesterday!  And there are additional screenings and other stuff you can read about HERE.

Be good,
James

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Yes, it’s true!! SUPER will be debuting SOON, and I’m rushing to get it finished. In fact, I’m late to my sound mix so I can let you know all about this.

SUPER has been screened by the officials at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been invited as an Official Selection. We will be screening on Friday, September 10, and much of the cast will be in attendance – as of now, Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Sean Gunn, Andre Royo, Stephen Blackehart, and more will all be there. And that’s not the end of our all-star list as many of the other cast members are trying to clear their busy film and TV schedules so that they can join us on the crimson carpet (there are even a couple more big names I know are coming but can’t quite share yet!)

The Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson) does his best to warn criminals of his arrival in James Gunn's SUPER.

What’s also exciting is that my good pal James Wan’s film INSIDIOUS will be playing at TIFF as well. And John Carpenter’s THE WARD! So it’s going to be a grand ol’ Masters of Horror time in Toronto this year.

I’m so, so excited to share this movie with all of you. I have never put myself so fully into any project ever, and I have never been surrounded by such an incredibly talented group of people to help pull a project, kicking and struggling and screaming, into existence!

And, in other news, after a long struggle of trying to get a Cheap Trick song in SUPER on our very meager budget, Sony Music and EMI have both agreed to the smaller fee. So thank you Sony Music, EMI, and especially the great Cheap Trick for supporting independent cinema! It’s great to know that even in these huge conglomerates there can sometimes be kind individuals with big hearts!

See you in Canada!

James

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So here are a few photos from the San Diego Comic-Con a couple weeks ago, I haven’t yet had a chance to post.  The first few are from the great Albert Ortega. Every time I do a press line or a red carpet event, I know he’s there because he always yells out “Minute Man!!”  He’s a great guy, and I hope he doesn’t care that I ripped these photos from his awesome Facebook Page.

The whole SUPER panel crew! Ellen Page, panel moderator Ted Stryker, Michael Rooker, producer Miranda Bailey, Liv Tyler, me, Rainn Wilson, producer Ted Hope, and Fucky the Mongoose (seated).

Obviously, this was the most thrilling panel of my entire life. I couldn't have been more enthusiastic!

And it was great to see Rainn Wilson cleaning up and looking all prim and proper.

After seeing the film, Ellen Page skipped a lot of other press opportunites for Inception to come join us in San Diego. I'm really grateful. I can't wait for you guys to see her work in SUPER as it's so different from anything she's ever done.

Liv is even more beautiful in person than she is on screen - yet, strangely, she was the most nervous about doing a panel in front of 6,000 people. Once up there, however, you couldn't tell at all.

Nathan Fillion stole the show with his cheesy smarmy self, and, similarly, Rooker stole anything that Comic-Con didn't have nailed down.

One more photo of Nathan for you ladies and all you gay fellows out there.

Onto some other, non-Albert-Ortega photos.

While on the floor I ran into Sarah Agor, former Scream Queen contestant, and then we hooked up with the Scream Queens creators Biagio and Joke.

I did a Troma panel with Lloyd Kaufman, Darren Bousman, Adam Green, and Adam Rifkin. While trying to show clips from our films, the DVD player went screwy. Here are three so-called "Masters of Horror" trying to figure out how to work a DVD player.

On Saturday Mia dressed up as the artist Trevor Brown's Little Miss Sticky Kiss character. Although I'm fairly recognized at Comic-Con and get stopped a lot for autographs, this became dwarfed by the amount of 55 year old guys asking Mia to stop so they could take her photo (with their erections clearly pulsating through their never-washed jeans).

Here we are with mega-talented comic book artist David Mack and adult star Mika Tan, who is dressed as Voodoo, and happens to be...

…one of the Top 35 Superheroes You Most Want to Have Sex With.

Here is 4 foot 9 Mia with our friend The Guild's 5 foot 10 Michelle Boyd at Zach Levi's Nerd party.

Also at Zach's party, Jason Rose and I challenged Mia and Michelle to a Kinect DANCE OFF. They looked so completely gay when we KICKED THEIR ASSES with our smooth dance moves.

I filmed my whole Comic-Con adventure for XBox and Zune.

Have an XBox or Zune? Download my experience at Comic-Con HERE.

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Finally, I can quit keeping secrets!  My new film Super was announced in Variety this morning; Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler are set to star.
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