Source:Edward Douglas

June 5, 2009

ComingSoon.net just got off the phone with actor Antonio Banderas, talking with him about his upcoming heist thriller The Code, directed by Mimi Leder (Deep Impact) and co-starring Morgan Freeman, which hits DVD and Blu-ray on June 23.

With the announcement by DreamWorks Animation last week of their animation slate for the next four years--you can read it here--we eventually got around to talking about the role of Puss in Boots, which Banderas has voiced since Shrek 2. Besides plans for a fourth movie Shrek Forever After next year, it was also confirmed that they'll be rolling forward with a spin-off movie called Puss in Boots.

Banderas told us that he has his third recording session next week for Shrek Forever After, which he thinks will be his last one, and then he told us that they've have already given him a look at the script for the spin-off movie. "I'm very happy with what I'm doing. In a way, it's easy work because I know the parameters of the character. I know how to move him around. At the same time, a couple days ago, I went to DreamWorks and they pitched me what is going to be Puss in Boots' own movie, and it looks unbelievable. It looks really, really cool. They've been working very, very heavy on the script for almost three years, and they didn't just want to give me any kind of thing until the other day when Jeffrey finally called me and he said it was done. I went there and I was very surprised how the movie is going to take off. I love it."

Banderas confirmed that the movie would indeed be an origin story for the swashbuckling feline and got into a few more details about the tone. "Yes, we're going to go from the time he's a very little cat, so you see actually why and how he becomes an adult killer, and the reasons why he ends up on that path. It's interesting because it goes away from that kind of use of popular culture that 'Shrek' has. It goes in a different way, and the movie sometimes gets almost emotional, I may say, and it's kind of epic. I found when they pitched the movie to me, and now reading the script, a total real connection with the character. Obviously, he's a cartoon, but (I have) a real personal connection with him in terms of what he's expressing. It's very emotional at some points, it's very special. It's going to surprise people I think; they're not going to expect what we're going to do."

Look for our full interview with Mr. Banderas where we talk about The Code, as well his plans to make the definitive Salvador Dali biopic, as well as an exclusive clip from The Code sometime before its release on DVD on June 23.