John Dykstra, the visual effects master who helped “X-Men: First Class” open to $56 million dollars this weekend, has just announced his plans to step into the director’s chair. The Hollywood veteran has been working for almost 40 years, and has created dazzling visuals for films like “Star Wars: Episode IV” and “Spider-Man 2,” both of which he won Oscars for.
According to Variety, Dykstra’s first feature will be “Super Zero,” based on the graphic novel “Tales from the Farm” by Jeff Lemire. John Carr has written the screenplay and the film is likely to be heavily promoted at Comic Con 2011. The film tells the story of an orphaned 10-year-old who goes to live on a farm with an estranged uncle. The young boy, who is infatuated with superheroes, develops a relationship with the town’s gas station owner, and the two then begin creating fantasy worlds in which they can be superheroes or fight alien invaders.
The movie is expected to be heavy on visual effects, which will be familiar territory for Dykstra who also did the visual effects for “Batman Forever” and “Hancock,” so he knows his way around superheroes. The film sounds similar to Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch” in terms of escaping reality through imagination, a theme which has become popular in recent years. The visual effects will be handled by Rhythm and Hues, the vfx company which also worked on ‘First Class.’
No word yet on casting or when production will begin, though it is expected to move forward in the next few weeks. —Matthew Newlin
