There are two tales of soldiers of fortune on the run from the government coming to multiplexes later this year. The better known project is the adaptation of the 80s actions series The A-Team, but for my money the one that might turn out to be the better movie is The Losers. Based on the DC Comics/Vertigo series by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock, The Losers is about a group of Special Forces operatives who were betrayed by their CIA handler, Max, and left for dead. The group now fights back to get revenge on Max, but discover that his reach into the halls of power is far greater than they expected. The series ran for 32 issues between 2003 and 2006 and featured five storylines that could serve as the basis for sequels if this first film does well.
From the trailer below, it looks as if director Sylvain White is shooting for a breezy, if slightly edgier, variation on the recent Ocean’s 11 pictures. Watchmen‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan is heading up the cast as the Loser’s leader Clay, with Star Trek and Avatar‘s Zoe Saldana as Aisha, a woman who joins up with the Losers who has her own vendetta against Max (Jason Patric). The Wire‘s Idris Elba, the Fantastic Four‘s Chris Evans, Columbus Short and Oscar Jaenada round out the cast.
In addition to the trailer, a new promotion picture for the film has been released. If you’ve read the comic, than it should look familiar to you, as it is a variation of of Jock’s cover for issue number 12 of the book, which he had previously reworked for a promotional poster for the film handed out at last summer’s San Diego ComicCon. You can see all three below. Click on each to enlarge.
