Punisher 2 and TV series

[Stephen of Borg 2]

from superherohype.com

 

A small-screen "Punisher" and "Dirty Dancing" are in the works. Two projects are in development with NBC. And there's a new TV documentary division, Feltheimer said.

 

Jane Beefs Up For Punisher 2

 

Thomas Jane, star of 2004's comic-inspired The Punisher, told SCI FI Wire that he's been working out to prepare for the sequel, which begins filming sometime before the end of the year. Jane will again play outlaw vigilante Frank Castle, he said in an interview. "I've been in the gym for seven weeks now," Jane said. "I've already put on 12 pounds of muscle. They want to start going before the end of the year. Ideally I'd like to see the film come out in the fall of 2006, but I don't have any control over that."

 

Jane said that he was "not at liberty" to say who will be writing and directing the sequel, and he wouldn't confirm that the storyline would take place in an urban setting, possibly New York. "That is the rumor," he said.

 

Jane's Punisher was only a moderate success at the box office, but the longtime Punisher comic fan said that he feels the franchise still has great potential. (Dolph Lundgren previously played Castle in a poorly received 1989 movie of the same name.)

 

"I still believe The Punisher has so much material to be mined," Jane said. "There's so much new ground to be broken. I would love to see The Punisher go more in the direction of a film like Taxi Driver. I'd like the audience to be able to visit the mind of this guy. The potential for The Punisher—especially when it comes to the real juicy stuff—should go more in the direction of a gritty, urban street drama like Taxi Driver rather than a glossy, fantasy direction like the X-Men [films]."

 

 

I've been a fan of the Punisher for about 16 years so I'm glad these projects are in the works