Bernhardt Talks About Upcoming Shi Project

By Rob M. Worley
Courtesy of Comics2Film

Two weeks ago it was announced that producer Mimi Polk Gitlin had entered into a new development deal with Billy Tucci for a feature film version of his comic character Shi. The movie is to be written by Tucci and his long-time collaborator Kevin Bernhardt.

Comics2Film talked with Bernhardt about the new deal and his plans for the movie.

Bernhardt has been the driving force behind the Shi movie in the past, initially setting it up at Franchise pictures as a vehicle for Tia Carrera. However, after that deal came apart the screenwriter/producer approached Gitlin. "[She's a] very prestigious producer with a great track record, who I've been in business with on other projects," Bernhardt said. "I brought her this and she fell in love with it."

Bernhardt tells us that there were other interested parties, but Gitlin fought for the project and won. He credits the strength of Tucci's comic with generating enthusiasm in Hollywood.

"[You have an] action samurai in the form of a woman, which I think is interesting, but beyond that the book is so intelligently written and drawn," Bernhardt said. "The way that the 'Senryaku' and the 'Book of Five Rings' are built into his strategy: it's not just action for action's sake, there's a method to the Tucci madness.

"He really paints a picture that's really just laden with interesting cultural and Japanese backdrops. It's just head and shoulders above any comics I'd read at that time."

Although Bernhardt acknowledges that the recent surge of interest in comic book movies will likely help the Shi project, he also hopes that the concept's differences are apparent.

"We're going to strive to be a little bit less black and white than those were. It'll certainly have all the action that those have, but we're trying to root this a little more in reality being that she's not super-human. She's just a very special human," Bernhardt said.

"It's rooted in the age-old revenge story but we want to take it further than that and to a sensibility that's a little more current. A large part of what makes it attractive is the juxtaposition of East against West. A lot of the Eastern culture, set within Manhattan provides a very interesting backdrop."

The screenwriter also feels the characters have a depth and ambiguity that will translate to the big screen. He calls the antagonist Arashi "a very grey character...someone who in the past was more a ninja than samurai. He's now come full circle with his own life and spirituality and is someone who is a lot more of a grey area for [Shi] to contend with."

Bernhardt and Tucci are set to begin writing the script immediately, with a target delivery of the first draft happening late this year. Bernhardt is also working on a spy film with Gitlin called The Swallow, a movie for animator Will Vinton (The PJs) called Pigeon and a project called Ungodly for Paramount Pictures.

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