History of the Captain America Movie

*Source: WIKIPEDIA

The First Avenger: Captain America
A film titled The First Avenger: Captain America, produced by Marvel Studios, is due for release on July 22, 2011. It is being directed by Joe Johnston. It has been confirmed that shooting for the film will commence in June 2010.

Development

In April 1997, Marvel Studios was in negotiations with Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn to produce Captain America. In addition Larry Wilson and Leslie Bohem were set to write a script.[7] In May 2000, Marvel teamed with Artisan Entertainment to help finance the film. However, a lawsuit arose between Marvel Comics and Joe Simon over the ownership of Captain America copyrights, disrupting the development process of the film. The lawsuit was eventually settled in September 2003.[9] In 2005, Marvel received a $525 million investment from Merrill Lynch, allowing them to independently produce ten films, including Captain America. Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute the film.

Originally, the film would stand alone; producer Kevin Feige said "about half" the movie would be set during World War II before moving into the modern day.[12] Producer Avi Arad said, "The biggest opportunity with Captain America is as a man 'out of time', coming back today, looking at our world through the eyes of someone who thought the perfect world was small-town United States. Sixty years go by, and who are we today? Are we better?" He cited the Back to the Future trilogy as an influence, and claimed he had "someone in mind to be the star, and definitely someone in mind to be the director".[13] In February 2006, Arad hoped to have a summer 2008 theatrical release date.[14] Jon Favreau approached Arad to direct the film as a comedy, but he chose to make Iron Man instead.[15] In July 2006, David Self was hired to write the script.[16] He explained Captain America was his favorite superhero as a child because "my dad told me I could one day be Captain America".[17] Michael France was also interested. Joe Johnston met with Marvel to discuss directing the film.

Captain America was put on hold during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. However, in January 2008, Marvel Entertainment reached an interim comprehensive agreement with the Writers Guild of America that would put writers immediately back to work on various projects that were under the company's development.[19] On May 5, 2008 (after the success of Iron Man), Marvel announced the film The First Avenger: Captain America for a May 6, 2011 release (before being slightly pushed back the next year).[20] The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier viewed some of the concept art being created for the film, and was impressed enough to offer his services, but Marvel turned him down.[21] Leterrier said "I've seen some of the design work they're doing for Captain America, and it looks amazing". Johnston finally signed on in November 2008,[6] and he hired Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Chronicles of Narnia) to rewrite.[22] Feige cited Johnston's directorial work on October Sky and The Rocketeer and his special effects work on the original Star Wars trilogy as to why he was an appropriate choice. Raiders of the Lost Ark will be an influence on the film, because they hope the film will not feel like a period piece.

When asked whether anti-US sentiments would affect the film's box office, Feige said, "Marvel is perceived pretty well around the world right now, and I think putting another uber-Marvel hero into the worldwide box office would be a good thing. [...] We have to deal with much the same way that Captain America, when thawed from the Arctic ice, entered a world that he didn't recognize," similar to the way Stan Lee reintroduced the character in the 1960s.[24] Likewise, Arad noted "Captain America stands for freedom for all democracies, for hope all around the world. He was created to stop tyranny and the idea of stopping tyranny is important today as it was then and unfortunately it's not going to change because that's how the world works. So I think that we will have some interesting challenges but at the end of the day if the movie is terrific and the movie talks to the world, it's not about one place, it's about the world and I think [on] that basis it will be very successful."[25] Later, after the election of US President Barack Obama, Feige commented, "The idea of change and hope has permeated the country, regardless of politics, and that includes Hollywood. Discussions in all our development meetings include the zeitgeist and how it's changed in the last two weeks. Things are being adjusted."

In December 2009, director Joe Johnston said he plans to start filming in April 2010.[26] In a separate interview that month, he described the film's pre-production: "Rick Heinrichs is production-designing and we're set up down in Manhattan Beach [California]. ... We have eight or ten really talented artists, and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say, 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could do this?' It's that phase of the production where money doesn't matter: 'Let's put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and [then later] see what we can afford.'" The film, he said, will begin "in 1942, 1943" during World War II. "The stuff in the '60s and '70s [comic books] we're sort of avoiding. We're going back to the '40s, and then forward to what they're doing with Captain America now."[27] Johnston confirmed that the Red Skull would be the film's primary antagonist.[28] He has also stated that the World War Two-era super team the Invaders will be appearing in "the entire second half" of the film.[29]