Posted in: Movies | Tagged: arrow, cw, dc, entertainment, film, grant gustin, oliver queen, stephen amell, WBTV

Stephen Amell Talks Arrow's 50th Episode And The Split Between Television And Film Universes

Published Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:30:09 -0500

Stephen Amell, star of Arrow, has been a bit chatty of late. First he took to his Facebook page to talk about the 50th episode of the series that aired Wednesday evening and then he talked with the Wallstreet Journal about a Green Arrow movie and the split between DC television and film.

Facebook… Let me take a second and talk about tonight's episode.

First of all, it's our 50th episode. I know Supernatural just celebrated their 600th episode… that notwithstanding, 0 – 50 episodes is (probably) the toughest trek a television program can make for a variety of reasons. Most of the reasons are anecdotal business-y things that will literally make you fall asleep at your computer. So we'll focus on the important reasons / questions.

What if we made a great pilot but couldn't decide what the second episode should be about? I liked our second episode better.

What if David Ramsey and I hated each other? There is no way – in hell – we make it out of the first 13 episodes if he and I couldn't negotiate 15 hour days in the Arrow Cave with a smile on our face.

What if we got preempted in Chicago all the time? (Sorry… I had to.) I love you Chicago. Watch the show this Sunday!! Hope the Bulls win tonight.

What if John Behring hadn't been available to direct our 6th episode? A spot he nailed so spectacularly that we immediately booked him for 80% of our landmark episodes over the next two years.

What if Caity Lotz's Mad Men character had hopped into bed with Don Draper like EVERY OTHER WOMAN ON THE SHOW and she wasn't available to make our world three-dimensional with one of most badass superhero portrayals – male or female – ever? (Miss you, Caity.)

And what if our show runners didn't have testicles the size of Diggle's biceps and a stunning willingness to tell a story the way people in 2014 want to consume it. Go go go go GO GO GOGOGOGOGOGO!!!

For all the planning that goes into a pilot, there are a thousand variables that push you from that point to the point we're at right now and you need just about all of them to break your way.

Tonights offering is my favorite episode we've ever done. Why? Because it has a maturity and a richness of storytelling that takes 49 episodes to produce. I really hope you enjoy it.

We're honored to present it to you.
xo

And then from the interview:

We've heard so much in recent weeks about Marvel and DC announcing so many comic book movies over the next few years. Are you ready for a Green Arrow movie?

I am completely indifferent. First of all, wanting a movie undersells the idea that making 23 episodes a year isn't a huge achievement. It is and I would put that degree of difficulty up against any feature film that has ever been made…except Lord of the Rings and that gigantic Peter Jackson-led undertaking… and maybe Titanic. But, other than those two movies, I'd put making 23 hours of interesting content in a TV season up against anything on the film side. It is difficult to me to want or envision an Arrow movie when we are shooting the 10th episode of our third season with 13 more episodes to go and in all likelihood 3 more seasons on the other side of that. I'm interested in keeping that content fresh. Once we get to the end of that road, maybe then I'll shift my focus.

There was some talk and controversy about the fact that Grant Gustin is doing the "Flash" TV show but was not named the Flash for the "Flash" movie. If Green Arrow was going to be on screen, do you feel like it should be you?

Yeah. Of course. And I feel like it should be Grant doing the movie. But the important thing to remember is just because Grant Gustin plays the part of Barry Allen doesn't mean Ezra Miller can't also play Barry Allen. There can be different interpretations of the character. Anyone who is a fan of the comics knows the Flash character is one of the forces that leads to parallel universes. And who knows, they might find a fantastic actor to play Oliver Queen on the feature side who has a different take on the character. I'm certainly a departure from the typical Oliver Queen from the comic books. I just think that everybody needs to be patient with the whole thing. The fact that DC and Warner have announced all these comic book features is nothing but good for business.

It seems Mr. Amell is a bit sensitive about the place of the television show compared to film and rightfully so. 50 episodes of television without commercials is over 36 hours of footage… and it will be over 50 hours at the end of the third season. That is pretty impressive for a guy in a green hood that shoots arrows.

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