http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/4-11-06
sandamn confirmed venom on aprill 2006
Church on 'Spidey 3' and 'Hedge'
Church goes 'Over the Hedge' plus Spielberg's reality check, casting news and 'Dallas' is saved
April 11, 2006
"Comeback" doesn't cut it when describing the turnaround in Thomas Haden Church's career. After disappearing from the scene in the late '90s, the one-time sitcom star returned in 2004, garnering critical acclaim and an Oscar nod for his role in "Sideways." Now, the Texas native is giving his fans a taste of his rediscovered talents in the new comedy "Over the Hedge."
The animated flick finds Church voicing Dwayne, a smarter-than-you'd-think exterminator hired to dispose of some pests that are vandalizing a newly established suburban enclave. The cute critters, voiced by Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Wanda Sykes and a hilarious Steve Carell, put up quite a fight, but Church was just glad to be invited to the party.
"It just seemed like a very fun counterpart to the swaggering tough guy that I'm playing in 'Spider-Man 3'," Church says as we sit down for a private chat in a swanky Los Angeles hotel. "A chubby guy with thick glasses and a comb-over just seemed very funny."
It was important to Church that Dwayne wasn't the typical empty-headed, buffoonish cartoon villain. In one scene Dwayne makes it very clear that installing the turbo de-peltor to destroy the pests isn't recommended.
"The thing that is illegal everywhere but Texas," Church says laughing at his own ad lib. "We just wanted him to be that guy who was fiercely proud of his skill level."
Whereas "Hedge" should be a big hit, Church has been working for the past 13 months on another expected blockbuster, the eagerly anticipated "Spider-Man 3." Church was offered the role of the villainous Sandman in January 2005 but was sworn to secrecy by director Sam Raimi about revealing anything about his part. The two have since become good friends, and Church was brought directly into the creative process.
"Sam and I started having really involved sessions about who the guy was," Church says. "Clearly, it's taken from the fourth issue of 'Spider-Man,' which was when Sandman was introduced and which I now have framed on my wall."
Church is still sworn to secrecy regarding plot details (he might want to consider moonlighting as a CIA agent), but he wants to let fans know they won't be disappointed.
"I'm overwhelmed every time I'm around Sam," Church says. "He's been showing me [stuff] since the beginning of last summer. 'This is what we are going to be doing in this sequence, this is what Spider-Man is going to be doing and this is what Venom is going to be doing.' It is a massive, massive process."
Nothing though, prepared Church for what occurred when Sony Pictures released the first image of him as the Sandman on the web.
"They gave me a stack of printed out [posting-board mentions], and it was too much," Church says of the massive pile. "We were all sitting around like going through it and it was all like, 'Dude, that picture of Sandman rules! Church is perfect for the part!' [It makes me] think it's really the biggest superhero franchise."
Church might have thought the "Sideways" Oscar campaign was intense, but wait until this ride takes off.
"Over the Hedge" opens nationwide May 19. "Spider-Man 3" wraps production this June.