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Now I want to discuss the RUMORS about PWZ that have unfairly put some people off. LGF could put an end to all of the bad publicity pretty easily with a press release, but for whatever reason they haven't, so I'm simply going to analyze what is known and how it may affect the finished film; the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. 

Many agree that PWZ director Lexi Alexander is a tough cookie whose enthusiasm for her work is infectious. Cast members Ray Stevenson and Dominic West both attested to being uninspired by early drafts they read, and Lexi talked them into doing the film based on sheer enthusiasm. Crew member Tom Book hadn't cared for the project at first, but he attested that Lexi soon inspired everyone to believe they were working on "a masterpiece" so they worked diligently through the packed 40-day shoot consisting of mostly wintry Montreal nights. Her blog inspired the many Internet-savvy Punisher fans to get excited about the film as well. 

On the flip side, I believe Lexi's made her fair share of enemies (and who in Hollywood hasn't?). The IESB source who slammed Lexi's rough cut as "one of the worst movies ever made" strikes me as just some malcontent Lexi pissed off, especially given that UGO's more impartial "Detective Soap" said that in spite of Lexi's "Jekyll/Hyde" personality, her footage was fantastic. It hasn't escaped me that Lexi's "Hooligans" co-writer Dougie Brimson popped out of nowhere on the FilmSchoolRejects comments section just to retort to Tom Book that Lexi was "disloyal" and "devious", adding "trust me, I'm far from alone in thinking that way." 

So while Lexi may be a brilliant director with a talent for inspiring artists to work hard for her vision, I think she is probably very protective of that vision and tends to butt heads with people who might threaten it. The 2002 Oscar-nominated film she directed before PWZ, "Johnny Flynton", was a 37-minute independent film she had great control over. She co-wrote, directed, and executive produced 2005's feature-length "Hooligans", scrapping with her co-writer along the way. But with PWZ she was suddenly working with a big Hollywood studio that was undergoing change. 

I believe that LGF greenlit PWZ, Lexi delivered, and LGF was mostly pleased with her April 1 screening, as Lexi reported in her blog -- and then the "Midnight Meat Train" (MMT) business began affecting things. Peter Block, who was in charge when both MMT & PWZ were greenlit, left LGF in November 2007 and Joe Drake replaced him. Both MMT and PWZ are bloody, violent, hard-R films based on properties with existing NICHE audiences. Given how Drake shuffled around MMT's release date and then "dumped" it into only 100 backwater dollar theaters with plans for a quick DVD release, I can imagine producer Gale Anne Hurd became concerned and wanted to save PWZ from MMT's fate, so she brought in the Hulk (2008) editors to make Lexi's cut more mainstream, as reported by FilmSchoolRejects' source. I believe the UGO rumor that LGF clashed with Lexi over her publishing unapproved publicity materials to her blog. I believe the FilmSchoolRejects rumor that Lexi's first trailer cut wasn't liked by LGF, so I'm thinking they cut a new one and released that in early June, since Lexi's blog made a point of mentioning she was surprised by it, alarming some that all may not be well. LGF did sack Lexi's chosen composer (Christopher Franke, who had scored both "Johnny Flynton" and "Hooligans"; Charlie Clouser was briefly reported to have come on board, then Michael Wandmacher). 

I suspect Lexi was more than simply frustrated by LGF's tightening control over post-production. She had 6 months to prepare for July's Comic-Con, the US's #1 comic book film promotion event, so she would have had to be EXTREMELY pissed off to schedule her honeymoon during it. All of this is consistent with the FilmSchoolRejects and UGO rumors, which agree with each other that Lexi was unusually difficult and unpredictable for a Hollywood director, and that LGF limited her post-production involvement (but did not fire her). FilmSchoolRejects' source also later called bulls*** on LatinoReview's PG-13 rating rumor and confirmed the film will remain rated-R, which cinematographer Steve Gainer also later confirmed. 

So PWZ's July 24 2008 Comic-Con panel was conspicuously missing the film's own director, and Gale announced Lexi was on her honeymoon. Then "frustrated" long-time LGF insider "Jigsaw" contacted AICN a day later to say Lexi wasn't on her honeymoon -- she was FIRED along with her composer and couldn't talk because of a "non-disclosure clause". He was probably (misguidedly?) trying to pressure LGF to restore Lexi's involvement and save PWZ from a crap hard-rock soundtrack. I think Lexi took advantage of the controversy to let her feelings be known when that very day she removed all mention of PWZ from her blog and replaced it with a picture of the see/hear/speak no evil monkeys. Surely she was aware of the rumor and the message that picture would send ("if I can't speak, I'll say it with a picture!"). I can't imagine LGF demanded she remove all the good publicity she had generated for PWZ with her blog; she started it only after beginning work on PWZ and mentioned Lionsgate controlling what she could divulge. If Lionsgate asked her not to speak further on PWZ there, it would have been simple enough to not touch the archives and quietly comply in the future. Even if Lionsgate DID ask her to remove all mention of PWZ, it would have been easy for Lexi to replace it with a message like "Lionsgate wishes to control publicity about PWZ now and has asked me to remove everything related to it." So there is perhaps truth to the FilmSchoolRejects rumor that Lexi is "childish" and "erratic" and UGO's rumor that she was a "Jekyll/Hyde" sort who resented LGF's "censorship".