Post riassuntivo su un possibile 'Chuck Movie'

Cari chuckster,

abbiamo pensato di creare un post "riassuntivo" su ciò che in questi mesi è stato detto a proposito di un possibile film su Chuck. Abbiamo a tal fine raccolto tutte le dichiarazioni e le interviste fatte a Zac sull'argomento - materiale che avevamo già pubblicato nel nostro vecchio dominio, come ben sa chi ci segue da tempo.

Riassumendo il tutto in poche parole, l'ipotesi di un film su Chuck era balenata nella mente di molti già prima che ne parlasse Zachary Levi lo scorso Marzo 2013 ma, ovviamente, quanto detto da Mr. Bartowski in persona ha incrementato di molto le speranze al riguardo. Zac si era infatti detto speranzoso riguardo ad un tale progetto dopo che una campagna organizzata su Kickstarter aveva reso possibile la realizzazione del film tratto dalla serie Veronica Mars. Zachary sperava in un'operazione simile anche per Chuck e aveva detto di avere in agenda un appuntamento con i produttori esecutivi Josh Schwartz e Chris Fedak per parlare del progetto. Zac garantiva anche la disponibilità di Yvonne Strahovski. Dopo l'iniziale entusiasmo però, le interviste e le dichiarazioni più recenti di Levi si sono fatte più prudenti -  Zachary si dice sempre disponibile ed ansioso di realizzare un film ma con alcune cose da tenere presenti:

- Il film si farà se il progetto avrà il beneplacito di Schwartz e Fedak

- Comunque procedano le cose, l'ipotesi del film non si concretizzerà  prima di un certo periodo in quanto in alcuni paesi (come il Giappone ad es.) la programmazione di Chuck non è ancora terminata.

- L'ipotesi Kickstarter, dopo l'iniziale entusiasmo di Zac, non è stata valutata come la più idonea, anche se la volontà di coinvolgere i fan nel processo rimane.

Ma lasciamo parlare Zac stesso. [NB: I seguenti sono estratti delle interviste, quelli in cui si parla specificamente del film. Se volete leggere le interviste nella loro interezza trovate la fonte alla fine di ogni estratto].

Da EW, Marzo 2013:

[...] “That’s how I felt about Chuck. I love the family that we had making that show, and I love the impact and connection that we had with our fans, and that’s why I’ve always wanted to continue that journey.”

Levi has tried to get a Chuck movie off the ground before. “I went to both [executive producer] Chris Fedak and [Warner Bros. Television president] Peter Roth at the very end of the fifth season and said, ‘Hey what if we made an online movie and just sold it directly to fans? We could keep this going. It could be fun.’”

Obviously, the project didn’t happen, but Levi says, “Even though that was only a few years ago, we’re obviously at a different time.”

While there are no firm plans for a Chuck film right now, Levi feels hopeful. “All I can say at this point is that because Veronica Mars, like Chuck, is a Warner Bros. [production], and because Warner Bros. has now opened that gate, I feel confident in being able to get the same results for a Chuck movie,” he says, adding that he could imagine them using avenues other than Kickstarterfor fund-raising. “If Warner Bros. is game, I’ve got great ideas for what the movie would be that I’m very excited about.”

Really, for Levi, it all comes down to the fans. “It really is just a matter of having faith in audiences and working kind of symbiotically with them,” he says. “That’s the biggest thing I’ve tried to do since day 1 in my career with Chuck and The Nerd Machine and everything else. I just want people to know that we care and that they matter. I want to make content that they like, and if that means a Chuck movie, then great.”

Over the years, Levi and his cast members have talked about what a Chuck movie might look like. “I talked to Yvonne [Strahovski] maybe a month ago and said, ‘If I can get this movie made, would you be open to doing [it]? Even an online version of it?’ And she was totally game. So I know that I’ve got the cast and crew on board.”

Convincing a studio to make a movie is a whole other matter, but Levi feels encouraged by the bold step by both Warner Bros. and Thomas/Bell. “Field of Dreams it,” says Levi. “If you build it, they will come. You’ve got to believe that if you have something good, people will believe in it.”

[Fonte]

Da The Hollywood Reporter, Marzo 2013

"Has 'Veronica Mars' Ushered in a New Era of Movie Development?"

[...]“If I had the power and the rights, I would have done it myself already,” says Zachary Levi, star of the spy comedy Chuck, another Warner Bros.-owned series for which fans staged perennial "save our show" campaigns in its five seasons on the bubble at NBC. Levi believes that studios would do well to market revivals of niche properties directly to the fans.

“So much of the budget goes into advertising,” he says. “If we came out with a Chuck movie now, I don't know how many more people who didn't watch Chuck would watch this movie. You don't need to do a theatrical release. You're doing it for the fans. You'd want to do an online release, and if people want to pay extra dollars to get the DVD and Blu-ray, you can make money from those purchases. I would keep overhead as low as possible [with] social marketing.” [...]

“We’re in the zeitgeist moment,” says Levi. “Veronica Mars is moving the needle [toward a new development model]. I think it’ll behoove studios to get on this train.”[...].

[Fonte]

Da E!, Marzo 2013

Move Over, Veronica Mars! Zachary Levi Wants to Make a Chuck Movie: It "Would Be Fun"

Zachary Levi says he'd love to follow in Kristen Bell's' footsteps and make a Chuck movie!

"I've always thought doing a Chuck movie would be fun," Levi told us at the "A Night at Sardi's" benefit at the Beverly Hilton Hotel when asked about following the Mars movie model. "If we had just gone straight to monetizing it and selling it directly to the fans then, we might still actually be on the air."

"There's a lot of conversations that need to happen," the 32-year-old actor said of bringing the fan-favorite spy series to the silver screen. "I'm going to sit down with Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and just kind of gauge their temperature on it. See how much they'd want to be involved. Of course, I'd only want to do it with the blessing of them, they created the show, and the blessing of Warner Bros."

As for the way in which Bell and Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas used Kickstarter to let fans donate to the movie project, Levi said, "I've always had this passion for where content is going to come from in the future—and being able to essentially just make whatever you want and sell it directly to fans."

[Fonte]

Da StarCam, Marzo 2013   (Video Intervista)

Zachary Levi on Making a “Chuck” Movie, What Makes Him Mad 

[Video intervista a Zac fatta in occasione dell’evento di beneficenza A Night at Sardi’s tenutosi il 20 Marzo scorso. A Zac viene chiesto di parlare a proposito dell’eventuale film su Chuck, delle iniziative di beneficenza a cui aderisce e altro ancora. Riguardo al film, Zachary riflette su come ora, con i nuovi mezzi di comunicazione, le cose siano cambiate rispetto al passato dove c’erano solo tre canali ABC, NBC e CBS e quindi una scelta molto limitata. Data la scarsità di scelta, ovviamente la pubblicità aveva un peso molto maggiore rispetto ad oggi. Come già ribadito nelle precedenti interviste, Zachary fa presente come oggi ci siano mezzi come Kickstarter per i fondi o Twitter per pubblicizzare un progetto del genere. Un tale film potrà essere venduto direttamente ai fan. Alla domanda “Quando inizierai allora la campagna per un Chuck movie?”, Zac sottolinea nuovamente come ci sono molte discussioni preventive da fare e di come voglia andare avanti in un progetto del genere con l’approvazione dei creatori della serie e i produttori della WB.]

Da Huffington Post, Aprile 2013

Alexis Bledel And Zachary Levi Talk 'Remember Sunday' And Kickstarter

What about you, Zachary? Is a “Chuck” movie going to happen?
Levi: I believe that entertainment is just in this incredible place. I think we’re kind of entering into a new chapter of artists, consumers, development, distribution and marketing. Technology has literally just turned on its head, and I want to take advantage of that to create a more direct line from the artist to the consumer and foster those relationships and make great content for people. If I can start with a “Chuck” movie — because I think that would be a really funny thing to do — that would be great.

Have you actually talked to the co-creators about it?
Levi: We have a meeting on the books. We’re gonna try to get that done ASAP. 

[Fonte]

Da ET Online, Aprile 2013 

5 Questions with Alexis Bledel & Zachary Levi

ETonline: Zach, a lot of people are now talking about a Chuck movie given the success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter. Are you looking into that, or is it just something the fans are talking about?
Levi: Honestly, I really believe in the new model of content and development and production and distribution and marketing. I think the power is shifting and artists can control their own destinies now. I think a Chuck movie would be a fun way to go into that since we already have an existing fanbase that loves the show. A lot of them are really into the idea, but I’m not rushing it. There are a few reasons why we can’t rush the movie — for example, internationally, the show hasn’t run its course yet. Japan is only on season three or four right now, so if we were to make a movie and send it out to the world right now, some people would be like, “We haven’t even seen the finale yet!” So I think we should wait until its run its course globally, but of course I think it would be fun. I’d love to do one.

[Fonte]

 Da TV Line, Luglio 2013 (in occasione del San Diego Comic-Con)

Zachary Levi on "Chuck" Movie, Kickstarter, "Thor," and More - Comic-Con 2013 - TVLine

 [Zac dice che intende davvero fare il film ma non se ne parlerà per un paio d'anni perché Chuck sta ancora andando in onda in alcuni paesi perciò non vuole rovinare il finale a nessuno. Inoltre Zac non si dice sicuro di volerlo realizzare tramite Kickstarter anche se vuole che il progetto rimanga qualcosa che coinvolga i fan. Quello che Zac vuole è trovare un altro metodo di crow founding che non sia Kickstarter. Quello che ha in mente è una cosa simile a quella che si usa per alcuni videogames, dove paghi 20 dollari in più e hai la versione premium di un gioco. Il problema che Zac mette in luce con Kickstarter insomma è quello che se non si raggiunge la cifra esatta il progetto non si realizza e lui invece vorrebbe eliminare quest'incognita o quantomeno fare in modo che sia uno sforzo economico alla portata di tutti].



 Da Huffington Post, Luglio 2013

Nerd HQ 2013: Zachary Levi Talks Conversations For A Cause At San Diego Comic-Con

[...] One of those would involve a "Chuck" movie but, as I explained to some fans recently, that’s not going to be for a couple of years. I mean one of the biggest issues is that the show is actually still airing internationally, in other countries. It might be in Season 4 in Japan, for example. So if we were to go make a movie, we just basically spoil the rest of the series for these countries, so I wouldn’t want to do that.

But I definitely would like to do that at some point ... I don’t know about Kickstarter but ... I have some ideas of new entertainment portals that I would like to create, whereby people will pre-buy things .... but you’re just pre-selling the actual content. You’re not pre-selling a lot of extra add-ons. Maybe it’s because I’m a Libra and I’m all about justice and fairness; I just really believe in making something that’s affordable and fair for everybody and if you can make a movie that’s 20 bucks, and for 20 bucks, you get the movie, plus you get a limited edition collector’s thing ... Basically kind of like what video games do now. As a gamer, if I go pre-buy the new “Call of Duty,” I’ll pay a little bit of a premium. I’ll pay like 10 bucks more or 15 to 20 bucks more, but I get this cool exclusive thing that only those that pre-buy get. And if I don’t, then they’re not not going to make the video game. The video game is still going to come out. It’s not depending on pre-sales for its creation -- you just incentivize those who might go on that journey of faith with you in the beginning.
So that’s the world that I would like to create and that’s the kind of content and that’s how I would like to activate buyers and viewers and fans and make them a part of the process. Because at the end of the day, I really believe them to be the real producers. We have creative producers that are part of telling stories and creating stories, but the ones that put it into existence are the ones who buy the ticket. And the more people recognize that and appreciate that -- and I try to do that as an actor, I really believe that you have a responsibility to your fan base and you’re only as good as the people who care about what you do. I think it’s important to recognize that and to give back to them when you can and continue to foster communication and respect. As a kid, I loved being an entertainer for that reason. It’s a very special relationship that you have with someone.
They’re paying you for a service that is actually not really a necessity. When we hit the apocalypse, it’s the roving bards and comedians that are going to be starving to death. Nobody’s going to be bartering for a little entertainment. They’re going be like, "We need food and water. What do you have?" So I think it’s a very special thing to be able to be an artist and an entertainer and to appreciate your sponsors in that regard, and I think that because of technology, we’re in a place now where you really can cut out a lot of the middlemen and you can produce, you can distribute and you can market directly to them, without the need of a giant machine that you used to need ... I think we’re really heading into a brave new world and I want to be at the forefront of the conversation and making it happen."

[Fonte]

Questo finora è quanto è stato detto su un eventuale film su Chuck. Se ci saranno novità vi aggiorneremo ma se avete commenti o segnalazioni su qualche articolo importante che ci è sfuggito segnalatecelo!