In the part of the sequence being finished today, the extras are taking center stage. They represent business people and commuters who stop everything to try and grab some of the cash as it floats down from above.

In the film, the scene will continue inside, where Castle will face off against two guards, then finally exit the office building, marking his first act of vengeance and rechristening himself as The Punisher.

Across the street from the AmSouth building is a viewing monitor flanked by six directors chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs, intently observing the action, is Ari Arad. The tall, quiet young man in a blue dress shirt and glasses looks as if he could be one of the workers from the bank building, but he is the co-producer of THE PUNISHER.

Arad had worked at Village Roadshow and developed comic book properties with Brigade Pictures and Crystal Sky, LLC before joining his father, Avi Arad, at Marvel Studios in 2001.

THE PUNISHER is Arad's first film as a producer, but the weight of this doesn't seem to affect him. Arad remains casual and friendly discussing the film and the character. "The Punisher is actually pretty popular now, ever since about 2000," Arad suggests. "He's actually always been pretty big -- always a big seller. And everyone knows the skull. It's almost one of those things that, even if you don't know The Punisher, you've seen the imagery."

Soon producer Gale Anne Hurd joins Arad behind the monitors. The contrast between the two producers is striking. Hurd is nearly a foot shorter than Arad, and she is dressed more casually, with cargo pants and sneakers. However, both producers share an interesting rapport while discussing THE PUNISHER. Arad and Hurd build on each other's comments as if they had been working together for years.

Hurd's film career began auspiciously at Roger Corman's New World Pictures, where she was in charge of marketing. Hurd formed her own company, Pacific Western Productions, and went on to produce James Cameron's TERMINATOR, ALIENS and THE ABYSS. She continued with many notable action, adventure and science fiction projects, culminating in the blockbuster HULK, which she produced with Marvel in 2003.

Today she is overseeing the final shooting on THE PUNISHER, her second Marvel collaboration. She approaches the members of the press and puts them at ease immediately. "I'm going to attribute the lack of rain to you guys being here," she smiles.

"August had 15 inches of rain," marvels Hurd, "which is more than California gets in two years. That was in one month."

"And in fact," she points out, "we're here because this was our first day's work and we weren't able to turn around."

Arad picks up the story." We spent all day inside, and the moment we stepped outside to do shots, it started to thunder."

Hurd continues, "Honest to God, Jonathan yelled, 'Action,' and the heavens heard, and it started to pour."

"A lightning bolt hit the building over there, the moment he said action," Arad says, gesturing down the block.

"The art department was there, lightning struck, the power went out," Hurd recalls.

"Set off all the alarms," Arad adds.

Weather, it seems, has been a recurring concern for the cast and crew of THE PUNISHER. "See, the thing was," Hurd offers, "we were told that there are afternoon showers, and to expect thundershowers -- they last about twenty minutes, and they go away. So we were prepared for the twenty minutes."

But did anyone tell the producers that Tampa is the lightning capital of Florida?

"Only after we committed to filming here," Hurd says, dryly.

The PUNISHER crew considered New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile and Houston-Galveston as filming locations, but eventually came back around to Florida. "Tampa provided everything in close proximity. Even Puerto Rico," Hurd explains. "Puerto Rico in Pinellas County."

"I've been down here -- I've been living in Tampa with the movie since production started," Arad says. "Shooting in Tampa has been a pleasure, pretty incredible."

A few weeks earlier, a few hundred spectators gathered on one of downtown Tampa's main streets to take in one of the more elaborate location shoots for THE PUNISHER, which included a large explosion and a sports car being flipped. The crowd amiably followed the film crew's instructions and caused no disruptions, even when they had to wait to get a glimpse of the film's stars.

"People coming out have been outrageously considerate, and have always been real accommodating," Arad says. "Shooting in the city's not easy, and everyone's been pretty welcoming and respectful."

As the crew out in front of the AmSouth Bank building resets for another take, the conversation turns to the character of The Punisher and how he compares to others from the Marvel universe that have made the leap to the big screen.

"What was always cool about The Punisher was that he could go toe-to-toe with all these guys without the super powers," Arad suggests. "He's the guy with no powers that you never question when you read it."

"But in terms of the intensity, and in terms of action, and all of that, the intent was certainly not to make the G, PG or PG-13 version," Hurd adds. "And that's certainly quite a difference in distinction from HULK, SPIDER-MAN and the characters that, by rights, belong in a PG/PG-13 world. The Punisher doesn't."

"He's never been aimed toward younger kids," Arad suggests. "I think he was [a character] who was discovered later."

"And they had a terrific history with BLADE, which is an R-rated character and an R-rated audience," Hurd insists. "I think Marvel deserves a lot of credit for not pandering."

And how does the role of producer on THE PUNISHER compare with the job on HULK? "Well, 90 percent of the action in that was CGI. We had CGI interacting with a CGI character. Whereas with this film, it's all on the screen," Hurd says. "It's nice when you're dealing with something that you don't have to explain the fantastical aspect of it, because he doesn't have super powers."

Does that mean the origin story of THE PUNISHER is easier to make into a compelling film? "It's very relatable. Very relatable because of that," Hurd suggests. "This is a guy whose training as a special forces operative prepared him for this. It's not as if he has to come into his powers, he already has them. Now it's just a question of who he uses them against."

"And it's also the betrayal," Hurd continues. "This is a guy who's always abided by the law and only used those abilities when he was given orders. And to have that whole sense of right and wrong turned on its head, when he's powerless to do anything about his own family, and the fact that he's never going to get justice from the system that he upheld for so many years, that he devoted his life to. And that's what creates The Punisher. It's more than just his family; it also has to do with the whole system in which he's been a willing soldier, not giving him the justice."

Of course, some might suggest that the biggest factor in a successful comics-to-screen adaptation is inventing the right villain. In THE PUNISHER, the title character takes on the empire of Howard Saint. "Well, this is the funny thing," Hurd says when asked about John Travolta, who portrays Howard Saint, "he was the only person we offered the role of Howard Saint to. And what really impresses me about him is the research that he does."

"Because Jonathan's a first time director, [Travolta] wanted to get a sense of Jonathan's work. He read the script, he loved it. So he made calls to various people that Jonathan has worked with," Hurd recalls. "And all the reports came back, 'This guy has been preparing to direct since his first day in Hollywood, so thumbs up.' We all talked with him on the phone, and then we made a set visit when he was shooting LADDER 57 in Baltimore. And, you know, we were on the same page from the beginning."

"And John Travolta," Hurd adds, "I had never met him prior to this film. I'd seen him across the room. But it's just incredible what kind of star power he has. He brings enormous star power to the villain of the piece, which I think is really important for THE PUNISHER. A hero is only as powerful and as compelling as the villain that he squares off against."

And what kind of villain is Howard Saint? "He's much more cold and calculating. Very smart, but very charming. And the one thing you'll find also about John Travolta is he doesn't like to play the same character. So it was very important to him to know that Jonathan didn't say, 'Well, I have him to be just like the character you played in SWORDFISH and the character that you played in PULP FICTION."

"But he's very magnetic in our film, and very contained and controlled," Hurd beams, "very intense."

Meanwhile, the extras have dispersed and the cleaning crew has moved in. Hundreds of bills printed with the legend "For Motion Picture Use Only" hang from the trees and litter the road. Long poles are good for picking the bills off branches, and a broom can help on sidewalks, but a street sweeper is needed for the majority of the mess. The noise starts to obscure the conversation, but before breaking for lunch, the question comes up how self-contained THE PUNISHER will be. Will the story be left open for further adventures?

"Almost all of our movies lend themselves to serialization," Arad suggests. "He has not righted all the wrongs of the world yet," Hurd adds with a smile.

But when asked where a potential sequel might take Frank Castle, Hurd's smile turns tight-lipped and she pauses. "We would like to be in the position to have the audience demand one."

As the street sweeper moves on, the press is invited inside the AmSouth Bank building. The high ceilings create an echo, but they also house tall windows that let plenty of sunlight in. Since this is a movie, however, a crane is set up outside the lobby to pour in extra artificial light. While the crew prep one part of the lobby, near the elevators, we are led a small alcove, next to the grip carts full of gizmos and colored gels, to be introduced to director Jonathan Hensleigh.

After honing his skills on George Lucas' YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, Hensleigh launched into feature films in a big way as writer of the blockbuster sequel, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE. Hensleigh then took up with Jerry Bruckheimer, and was involved at various levels of production with CON AIR, THE ROCK, ARMAGEDDON and GONE IN 60 SECONDS.

Hensleigh and Hurd had been developing a story for HULK at Marvel with the intention of Hensleigh making his directorial debut with that film. Eventually, Ang Lee got the job, but Hensleigh had a champion in Marvel Studios' president and CEO. "He and Avi go way back," Ari Arad says. "And Avi always wanted him to direct a movie for us." THE PUNISHER finally provided an opportunity for the action-film vet to settle in to the director's chair.

When Hensleigh arrives, he looks a bit disheveled. Wild red hair pokes out from under a yellow Panavision baseball cap, and his white dress shirt is untucked and partially unbuttoned. However, there is no question that he is in charge. He is a tall man, and he has seriousness in his eyes.

When asked if there was anything he held back from the major action pictures he has written to put into his own film, he lights up. "That's a great question, and this picture is chock full of those moments," he says excitedly. "It's in every single frame of stuff that I've been waiting to execute myself as a director. And I'm very proud of the film, and I think it speaks for itself."

Hensleigh is proud to show some of that footage to the press. In scenes shot in this building several weeks earlier, we see the sequence that will eventually include the shots done in the street on this day. While playing the tape, Hensleigh is careful to make sure there are no distractions. After the tape is finished, everyone heads for the lunch tent a few blocks away, where the film's star will join the group.

Thomas Jane has quietly built a career in a diverse body of films from action to drama to romantic comedy. A former stage actor, Jane alternated between small films such as THURSDAY and mainstream movies like DEEP BLUE SEA. He has also worked with notable directors such as John Woo, Terrence Malick and Paul Thomas Anderson. To play The Punisher, Jane dyed his sandy brown hair black and worked out extensively, putting on over 20 pounds of muscle.

Today, Jane sits down for lunch looking stoic and haggard. Dressed all in black, as his character does, he speaks deliberately and with a dry wit. He drags on a cigarette and makes small talk about football and other things, before getting us back on track to talk about THE PUNISHER.

"I treat this Frank Castle as a real guy, playing him like a real guy, you know. Like Mickey Mantle [in Billy Crystal's 61*], or I did a film last year called ANDRE STANDER, about a real life policeman. And THE LAST TIME I COMMITTED SUICIDE, where I played [beat-era writer] Neal Cassady," Jane suggests. "You're lucky to find little clips of people, how they actually move and walk, and the rest, pretty much, you have to leave up to your interpretation to the best of your knowledge of how this person behaves, and thinks, and does what he does. And I treat Frank Castle the exact same way -- he's a real, living breathing human being."

Part of Jane's preparation was to train for the types of special operations that Frank Castle would be involved in. "I trained with Navy SEALS. Did a bunch of training with those guys about guns, weapons handling, hand to hand combat, wedge weapon fighting," Jane says. "How to carry yourself with a mind-body attitude of what it is to actually live the life of someone who has dedicated themselves to a service of one's country. And that's a very interesting and admirable mindset."

Jane's training included several forms of martial arts, however he is quick to point out this should not lead anyone to think THE PUNISHER will be a "martial arts" film. "The way a Navy SEAL uses martial arts is very different from the way Jet Li uses martial arts. A Navy SEAL will employ martial arts to the extent to which it gets the job done, and only gets the job done. Jet Li uses it as a dance, or he's gonna fly off the walls, you know, bounce off the ceiling and stuff - make it very flashy. A Navy SEAL is just gonna poke your eyes out, and leave it at that. He's gonna break your neck and walk on," Jane insists. "When you say 'martial arts,' it implies some movie lingo of, you know, Jackie Chan and all that stuff."

As Ari Arad pointed out, part of THE PUNISHER's mystique is the skull imagery. So how does Thomas Jane interpret his character's trademark wardrobe? "Well, the skull means two things. It means, 'if you see me coming, I am the angel of death.' It also means I'm dead. All the constraints, the physical bounds, the society and the rules that you live by, and all the things that physically constrain you to a social and moral life, I'm dead to all of that, which makes me extremely dangerous, because I don't give a flying fuck if I live or die, or if I'm right or wrong," Jane says emphatically. "And for me, I think the skull more than being a target -- something for the bad guys to shoot at -- the significance is, 'I am not of this world, fear me, because I am dead.'"

"These are aspects of the script that are actually part of this drama, the entire dramatic presentation," Jonathan Hensleigh adds. "We've made that part of the character in terms of scenes and dialogue."

This leads to the question of whether Hensleigh had a defining moment for the character of Frank Castle in THE PUNISHER. "I wanted the origin story to take the entire film to tell. So I was interested, mostly, in the underlying event, which is the murder of the family, Castle's family, and then, secondarily, that moment, that series of visuals, where Frank Castle actually becomes [The Punisher]. It's really like the metamorphosis of an insect," Hensleigh says. "And I started to build, kind of moving backwards from that, the underlying event and those visuals where he really becomes The Guy, with the wardrobe and hair and the guns, and the whole deal."

Hensleigh says he read many issues of The Punisher to help define the look, feel and plot of the film. "I took the character Frank Castle and The Punisher and all that from the comic book series, but I invented a great deal," Hensleigh points out. Castle's apartment in a tenement building and the characters of his neighbors are taken from a popular run of the comic written by Garth Ennis. Hensleigh also tried to capture some of the dark humor of the Ennis series.

When asked if there was anything that surprised him about directing a big action picture, Hensleigh replies firmly -- "No."

"You're ready for everything?" a journalist asks.

"Yes."

After a silence that underlines the seriousness of Hensleigh's answer, Jane speaks up for the first-time director. "He's been around the block a few times. He's worked on a lot of, you know, big movies. He's seen every aspect of them. It was just a matter of time before they actually gave him a camera. Let him run wild."

Meanwhile, Hensleigh rethinks the original question, "Did anything surprise me? It surprised me how quickly a black thundercloud can lead to rain in south Florida," Hensleigh adds. "I mean, literally, in any other part of the world, what would be about a 20 minute or 30 minute approach was seemingly like 2 minutes."

While the biggest Marvel characters have commanded big budgets from big studios, THE PUNISHER was developed with independent Artisan (now owned by Lions Gate) with a relatively small budget. "No one in Hollywood would call this big budget. Truly," Hensleigh insists. But did the low budget and smaller studio allow more freedom than a first-time director might usually be allowed?

"You know, this project was so meticulously planned, and we had so much of a tennis match on the script for months and months and months before hand, that, I can't say I had freedom, but I didn't have lack of freedom," Hensleigh explains. "I mean, everything was sort of bargained out between myself and the studio, and then once Thomas got involved, Thomas wanted changes, which we made. So we knew exactly what movie we were making, on the first day of principal photography. We did not alter the script at all. I insisted upon that, actually."

So what kind of changes did Jane want when he came on board? "More lines," he replies with a straight face, causing everyone around the table to laugh. "Yeah, I wanted a pet," he adds. "I didn't get my pet. But we still have a couple more scenes to shoot, so I'm still waiting to work that in."

The next question falls back to Thomas Jane, and how he prepares himself to be Frank Castle, but Hensleigh decides after a moment to interrupt. "I actually don't want my lead actor to talk about his process," he says. "I don't think it's healthy for him, but Thomas Jane is the most intensely prepared actor I've ever worked with. You can quote me on that. I've worked with some intensely prepared actors."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know where to start. I wouldn't know where to begin," Jane adds.

"But I think it's a private matter, and I don't even want him to think about it," Hensleigh concludes.

"But it involves a lot of masturbation," Jane says, leaving everyone laughing.

Following lunch, further pick up shots are completed featuring Thomas Jane back at the AmSouth Bank building. Several takes of Jane in long and medium shots are filmed to be inserted in the sequence shown earlier. Avi Arad and Gale Anne Hurd listen on headphones to the takes as they are filmed.

From the far side of the lobby, even in the most silent of conditions, Jane's lines are barely audible, though two rings of an elevator in the scene can be heard on each take. Although the combination of sunlight and artificial light pouring in the windows is quite bright, the resulting image on film is subdued and layered with shadows, compliments of cinematographer Conrad W. Hall.

In less than two hours, the crew is finished and begins to pack up their equipment. As the members of the press head out of the lobby, Gale Anne Hurd is pleased. "It worked," she beams, "you guys stopped the rain."

As the journalists disperse, Hurd's theory proves true. Once the press is gone, the rain comes back.

THE PUNISHER opens April 16.

All images courtesy of Artisan/Lions Gate. Thanks to Jodie Magid and Amy Johnson from Artisan publicity. Special thanks to all the journalists who attended the press day in Tampa.

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