Ep 24 Book to Movie: The Coldest City (Atomic Blonde) by Antony Johnston
Show Notes
The Coldest City is a 2012 graphic novel by Antony Johnston, with artwork by Sam Hart. It was made into a movie in 2017, starring Charlize Theron. In this episode, Matt Kelland and I discuss the adaption and the differences between the noir style black and white comic vs the full-color, punk style of the movie version, Atomic Blonde.
The original graphic novel was published in 2012 by Oni Press. It was acquired by Charlize Theron’s production company (with her in the lead). David Leitch, a stuntman, was added as director (his first film) along with writer Kurt Johnstad, who adapted the graphic novel to the screen.
You can find information and an interview on the YouTube channel “Page One the Writer’s Podcast” with Antony Johnston here He discusses the difference between his graphic novel and the film adaptation in detail. Sam Hart and Johnston were interviewed on the Den of Geek website. Charlize Theron talks about Atomic Blonde on the Flicks and City Clips (highly recommended).
Superb review of the Atomic Blond Blu-ray disc at High Def Digest. Check out “Anatomy of a Fight Scene (HD, 8 min): Done in picture-in-picture style, an in-depth look at the brutal fight sequence done as long take with commentary and lots of BTS footage revealing the choreography.“
SPECIAL GUEST MATT KELLAND
Once again, to discuss these book-to-movie adaptations, I’m joined by my good friend Matt Kelland. I always enjoy talking about books and movies with him, because, like me, he’s into a wide variety of different styles, genres, authors and directors. He also has a professional background in writing, video games, animation, music and visual art, so he has a lot of different experiences to draw on. He and I don’t always agree with each other, but that’s what makes our conversations interesting! I’d recommend checking out his collection of short stories, Nothing To See Here
NEXT UP:. We’ll look at Stephen King’s (writing as Richard Bachman) Running Man and the film adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.