Morgan Kane (film)
Morgan Kane is a series of upcoming major motion pictures in the action-adventure and western genre. The films will be based on the book series of the same name by Norwegian author Louis Masterson. The Morgan Kane book series has become the biggest success in Norwegian leisure reading literature. The 83 books in the series have been published in eleven countries - totaling 20 million copies sold.
The first motion picture Morgan Kane: The Legend Begins, based on novels “El Gringo” and “El Gringo’s Revenge” is currently in pre-production and scheduled for production in the spring of 2012.
Plot
On the wild frontiers of the Old West, lightning fast gunslinger, Morgan Kane, known as “El Gringo” narrowly escapes death by joining a dangerous gang of Mexican outlaws run by a feared bandido - Coyote. They become fast friends and are feared through all of Mexico. But when a powerful landowner hires the men to destroy his longtime rival, El Gringo and Coyote are forced to choose between loyalty and the way of the gun...and the legend of Morgan Kane is born.
Production
In the spring of 2011, WR Films Entertainment Group acquired worldwide rights to do film adaptations of Morgan Kane, and announced in trade magazine The Daily Variety on May 9, 2011, they will produce three major motion pictures based on the books. The film announcement made the front page of Variety, where Jim Cardwell, Chairman and CEO of WR Films Entertainment Group, said: "The Morgan Kane films we will make will be unique in their scope with high-profile cast, gifted filmmakers, compelling stories and non-stop action, This is what the worldwide audience demands today." The film will reportedly begin production in the spring of 2012 and will be released in 2013, with an anticipated R rating.
Several western-bloggers have had access to the production set of WR Films Entertainment Group’ eBook covers related to introduction of the franchise, the same bloggers also report a high level of secrecy surrounding the project. No filmmakers involved have yet to be announced, including the screenwriter who has adapted the novels “El Gringo” and “El Gringo’s Revenge”
James Bond of the West
Louis Masterson have on several occasions said that his main inspiration for the Morgan Kane character came from Ian Flemming’s James Bond, with Morgan Kane moving through his own time as a rouge gunslinger backed by the law, as a Texas Ranger, a U.S. Marshal and later a Pinkerton and bodyguard to Theodore Roosevelt. Kane is always portrayed as a womanizer, card player, and often at conflict with his superiors due to his sociopathic tendencies, effected by his weakness for alcohol.
Ryan Wiik, founder of WR Films Entertainment Group, said in Daily Variety: "The Morgan Kane stories stand out because they had such great characters and kinetic action scenes that were something out of a James Bond film. Kane was the ultimate anti-hero who played by his own rules; he was a gunslinger who used martial arts to kill when he ran out of bullets, and was a borderline sociopath. His creator Masterson was a rogue author who re-imagined the Western novel the way Stieg Larsson transformed the mystery genre."